Why The Covering of the Kaaba Should be So Glamorous?

By Shah A Siddiqui

It has bothered me since last so many years when I see every year on 9^th Zill Hijjah the changing of covering of the Kaaba takes place in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Since the last couple of years, I have searched so many books on this issue and found nothing but a ritual not mentioned in the Quran or Hadith.

The practice of changing of the covering of the Kaaba has been carried out since last 5,400 years. It is a custom started by the Prophet Hazrat Ismail (PBUH) 4,000 years before the origin of Islam. There is a different narration about who put the first covering around the Kaaba but it is reported that Hazrat Ismail (PBUH) was the first person who put the covering around the Kaaba. It is also more widely accepted that a Yemeni King, Asad Abu Karib, put the first covering around the Kaaba. Once he traveled to Makkah and stayed there for six days; he sacrificed animals and gave the meat away to the people of Makkah and to the poor. When he was in Makkah, he saw in his dream that he put a covering around the Kaaba and the next morning he realized and put a fabric around the Kaaba. He saw in the dream three consecutive nights, so he changed three days with different fabrics. Thus he was known as the first person to put covering around the Kaaba.

According to a narration, our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had once covered the Kaaba with Yemeni fabric. Hazrat Umar and Hazrat Usman covered it with thin Egyptian fabrics. The Islamic scholars explaining Hadiths say that it is possible that Hazrat Muhammad (saws) used different fabrics at different times around the Kaaba. During the era of Ignorance, the Kaaba used to be covered by woolen fabric. During the era of four Caliphs, the covering was changed every year. Hazrat Muawiyah changed it twice a year. Different color of fabrics was also used like red, white, green, yellow and black. Caliph Mamun Abdul Rashid and Fatimid Caliph used white covering for the Kaaba. During the time of Abbasid Caliph Nasir, used the green covering for the Kaaba then during the time of the same Caliph it was changed to black. From then on, the covering of the Kaaba is black. The covering of the Kaaba was never ignored during the history of Islam. There was set up a foundation in a village near Cairo by Salih Ismail bin Nasir to cover the expenses of covering of Kaaba.

The covering called ‘Kiswah’ used to be prepared out of Saudi Arabia in Egypt, Iraq, Sudan and India until 1927. Later the covering of Kaaba started manufacturing in Saudi Arabia.

I know some of us don’t know the history of the covering of Kaaba, so I thought it is important to apply a little historical background about the “Ghilafe Kaaba” the covering (Kiswa) of Kaaba for our readers. The purpose of bringing this sensitive issue of “Kiswa” is to know the concept of spending millions of Saudi Rials to change the covering is justified or not.

This year the Saudi monarchy spent 22 million SAR which is equal to 5,866,000 US dollars in the preparation of ‘Kiswa’ the covering of the Kaaba. This is a huge amount and the details are as below:

• 150 KG pure gold and silver has been used in inscribing the calligraphy on the covering.
• 670 KG Pure silk fiber used for making the Kiswa measuring 657 Square Meter. The covering ‘Kiswa’ was made in 47 pieces which are 14-meter high.

At the early age of Islam, the covering ‘Kiswa’ use to be very simple and just covering the Kaaba with fine clothes and not unusually expensive fabrics. At that time the Muslim population was not much compared to this time and everyone was happy with their life. Saudi Arabia’s total population is estimated about 32.2 million and according to an estimate as quoted by an American Journalist in New York Times Lynsey Addario that at least 20 percent of the population if not more, lives in crippling poverty. You can see beggars panhandle Riyadh’s luxurious shopping mall and a few kilometers from the world richest capital Riyadh people are struggling to survive with a meager wage in a capital’s southern slums. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has strict control of the media and the foreign journalists are not having much access to the underprivileged neighborhood to find out the facts or interview the people who are suffering there under the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia spends 22 Million SAR every year on the changing of covering of the Kaaba ignoring their own citizens who are suffering from the poverty and could not pay their electric, water and medical bills. Although it is propagated in the media that the inhabitant of the Kingdom is living their lives lavishly which is totally untrue.  The Muslim world always looks for Saudi Arabia to come forward and help the poor countries. What we can anticipate from the Kingdom who could not eradicate poverty from his own country.

In my opinion, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia should stop spending a huge amount on Kiswa, instead start working on uplifting the daily life of his own more than 20% people who are still living under less than poverty level in the country. If you look around the world from Africa to Asia people are dying due to starvation, sickness, unavailability of clean water and shortage of medicine. There is no education at all in so many countries, so the money which is being utilized in making the expensive covering of the Kaaba (‘Kiswa’) could be spent on the making the world a better place to live for the mankind.

Allah, is not going to be “pleased” with the expensive covering of Kaaba or its ornaments, if his own people die with hunger, shortage of medicine, unavailability of clean water. I would propose that instead of annual changing of Kiswa in the month of Zill Hijjah, it could change every five years or every three years at most.

If something has not been told by Allah or it is not cited in the Quran or Hadith, then why it is so significant for the Saudi Kingdom to spend millions of Saudi Rials on the preparation of Kiswa (Ghilaf e Kaaba) and why it is not important for this monarchy to donate these millions of dollars to the poor who are in need of basic necessities of life. But from this huge amount the Kingdom should start working in his own country first and eradicate the poverty from his own land and then start helping another country regardless of religion which is the lesson of Islam. 

The religion of Islam shuns and discards ostentation and show off. The draping of the cubical shape Khana e Kaaba does not fit into the obligatory duties and fundamental beliefs of Islam. Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) never did it although he could have done it with any amount of gold and silver. He lived a very pious and simple life and emphasized the same for all other Muslims of his age and of coming times.

The covering Khana e Kaaba with gold & silver studded wrap is not the only negation of Islamic essential beliefs but also a violation of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad(PBUH). The fact is that other religion or non-Muslims can be impressed by our piety and noble conduct but not by the show off of richness and unnecessary ostentation for the performance of Hajj which is one of the five fundamental obligations of Islam. These obligations are shahada (faith), five times prayer, fasting, Hajj (Pilgrimage to Makkah) and Zakat(charity). As such we Muslims must ponder which way we are going.

Do we want to impress the followers of other religions that Islam loves gold, wealth, and richness? What can impress them are simple and chaste life. What the Saudis are doing by spending millions of dollars on simply covering Kaaba is not in accordance with the basic teachings of Islam. On the contrary, it is a violation of Islam.

The accumulation of wealth and gold is strictly prohibited in Islam. That is why I would beseech the custodian of Khana-Kaaba to initiate the noble and simple ritual of covering Khana Kaaba with simple clothes on which should be written Kalema and other Quranic ayas concerning hajj. The money that is spent on the extremely expensive wrapping of Kaaba should be distributed among the poor and needy people. Thus not only we would be fulfilling real Islam but also Allah will be pleased with us.

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 Shah A Siddiqui

 Bureau Chief,

 Muslims Abroad

 Columnist,Critique Writer, Freelance Journalist, Calligrapher, Artist

 shahjeesblog.blogspot.com