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The Kaaba's curtain The Kaaba's curtain, also known as Kiswa, is a black fabric that covers the walls of the Kaaba. Covering the Kaaba with a curtain is considered a sign of respect. The tradition of draping the Kaaba with fabrics of various colors and materials dates back to ancient times, predating the advent of Islam. Historical sources record events related to the preparation and installation of the Kaaba's curtain. Additionally, the Kaaba's curtain is the subject of certain legal rulings in Islamic jurisprudence.
Today, the curtain is woven in a dedicated workshop in Mecca and consists of five pieces, each covering one of the Kaaba's walls, with an additional piece allocated for the Kaaba's door.
Word and Concept Semantics The Arabic phrase "كسوة الكعبة" in Persian is referred to as "Pardah-ye Ka'bah," "Pirahan-e Ka'bah," or "Jameh-ye Ka'bah," all of which translate to the Kaaba's curtain or garment.(1) Dehkhodā, ʿAlī Akbar. Lughatnāma.'vol2.p7642'.) (2)( Dehkhodā, ʿAlī Akbar. Lughatnāma.vol12.p18341 (3)( • Daqan, Muḥammad. Kʿba wa Jamie ān..p91,,, • Sādiqī Ardistānī, Aḥmad. Hajj az mīqāt tā mīʿād.p127)
This black covering adorns the structure of the Kaaba, constituting part of the Black Stone section.(4)( Ibn Fāris. Muʿjam maqāyīs al-lugha.VOL3.P132) (5)( Fāsī al-Makkī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām.vol 1.p122) The Kaaba's curtain is a symbol of respect.(6) (• Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Muḥammad al-Mahdī al-. Al-Tuḥfat al-kirām..p159-160)
And it holds the value and prestige of the house of God, constituting a part of the history of the Kaaba.(7)( • Nāblusī, ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-. Kashf al-nūr.p14,,, • Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. Al- Tawḥīd wa al-shirk.p210) There has also been a specific position for the custodian of the curtain's affairs, known for its veil management or curtain-keeping, from the past until now.
Additionally, the Kaaba's curtain is the subject of certain legal rulings, with the most significant being the permission to cover the Kaaba with silk.(8)( Ḥillī, al-Ḥasan b. Yūsuf al-. Taḥrīr al-aḥkām al-sharʿiyya ʿalā madhhab al-imāmiyya.vol4.p363 ,,,• Samhūdī, ʿAlī b. ʿAbd Allāh. Wafāʾ al-wafā bi akhbār dar al-Muṣṭafā.vol2.p140,,, • Bahūtī, Nanṣūr al-. Kashf al-qināʿ.vol3.p180) The impermissibility of tearing, cutting, buying, and selling the Kaaba's curtain is contrary to the viewpoint of some Shia Muslims and also some followers of the Shafi'i school, diverging from the common perspective among Sunni Muslims.(9)( Ḥillī, al-Ḥasan b. Yūsuf al-. Tadhkirat al-fuqahāʾ.vol7.p380,,, • Rāfiʿī, , ʿAbd al-karīm b. Muḥammad. Fatḥ al-ʿazīz..vol7.p513) The permissibility or impermissibility of adorning it with gold and silver,(10) (• Shirwānī, ʿAbd al-ḥamīd al-. Al-Ḥawāshī.vol1.p121 ,,,Ḥalabī, Nūr al-Dīn. Al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya.vol1.p280) The permission to enter behind the curtain for supplication.(11)( • Damyāṭī, Al-Sayyid al-bakrī al-.Iʿāna al-ṭālibīn.vol2.p95)
The history of the Kaaba's covering There is a difference of opinion regarding who first covered the Kaaba. Some narratives attribute this action to Prophet Adam.(12)( Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh.vol2.p235,,, Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa..vol13.p208)
Some historical accounts suggest that one of the kings of Himyar in Yemen was the first to cover the Kaaba, around the year 190 or 220 BCE before the Prophetic mission.(13)( Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Fatḥ al-bārī bi sharḥ ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī .vol3.p365-366 ,,, Ḥalabī, Nūr al-Dīn. Al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya.vol 1.p280,,, • Bāslāma, Ḥusayn ʿAbdullāh. Tārīkh al-kʿba al-muʿaẓẓama.p291, ,, • Fākihī, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq. Akhbār Makka fī qadīm al-dahr wa ḥaīthih', .vol5.p230-231)
The weaving of new curtains for the Kaaba continued by the Quraysh, and after the advent of Islam, it was carried on by the Prophet and his successors. This practice experienced significant development during certain periods of the Abbasid era, with the Kaaba's garment being occasionally replaced three times a year.(14)( Ḥalabī, Nūr al-Dīn. Al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya'.vol1.p281,,, • Imām Aḥmad, Muḥyi al-dīn. Fī riḥāb al-bayt al-ʿatīq.vol1.p211 ,,, Amīn, Sayyid Muḥsin al-. Kashf al-irtīyāb. P360) Kings of other Islamic lands. (15)( Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar. Al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya.vol13.p26)
And some wealthy individuals would occasionally procure the Kaaba's curtain and send it to Mecca.(16)( Ibn Khaldūn, ʿAbd l-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad. Tārīkh Ibn Khaldūn.vol3.p513,,, Ibn Athīr al-Jazarī, ʿAlī b. Abī l-Karam. Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh.vol11.p65,,, • Nawīrī, Aḥmad al-. Nihāyat al-irb.vol23.p284)
The weaving of the Kaaba's curtain in Egypt After the extinction of the Abbasids (in 659 CE), providing the covering for the Kaaba became the exclusive responsibility of the rulers of Egypt from 661 CE onward.(17)( Amīn, Sayyid Muḥsin al-. Kashf al-irtīyāb.P360)
During the Ottoman Empire era, the weaving of the curtain also took place in Egypt.(18)( • Sakhāwī, shamsu l- dīn. Al-Dhaw ʾ al-lāmiʿ.vol4.p26,,, • Bāslāma, Ḥusayn ʿAbdullāh. Tārīkh al-kʿba al-muʿaẓẓama.p320) In Egypt, since the Mamluk era, endowments and special workshops were allocated for the production of materials for fabric weaving.(19)( Sakhāwī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Al-Tuḥfat al-laṭīfa fī tārīkh al-Madīna al-sharīfa'.vol2.p107,,, • Fāsī al-Makkī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām.vol1.p123,,, • Bāslāma, Ḥusayn ʿAbdullāh. Tārīkh al-kʿba al-muʿaẓẓama.p317)
(20)( • Imām Aḥmad, Muḥyi al-dīn. Fī riḥāb al-bayt al-ʿatīq..p216,,, • Ḥamdī, Maḥmūd. Mawsū ʿa al-mafāhīm.vol1.p553) The curtain-weaving workshop in Mecca. With the establishment of the Al Saud government, a workshop in Mecca was dedicated to the weaving of the curtain.(21)( • Daqan, Muḥammad. Kʿba wa Jamie ān.p172 ,,,, • Bāslāma, Ḥusayn ʿAbdullāh. Tārīkh al-kʿba al-muʿaẓẓama..p347) This practice continued until 1358 when the Egyptian government requested Abdulaziz to allow the transportation of another curtain from Egypt. Abdulaziz accepted this request, and the workshop was closed. The curtain was once again brought from Egypt. This continued until 1382 when, due to the disagreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the sending of the Kaaba's covering from Egypt was halted. Since then, the weaving of the Kaaba's curtain in Mecca has continued in the remaining curtain workshop.(22)( • Imām Aḥmad, Muḥyi al-dīn. Fī riḥāb al-bayt al-ʿatīq.vol1.p215,,, • Bāslāma, Ḥusayn ʿAbdullāh. Tārīkh al-kʿba al-muʿaẓẓama.p331-332,,, • Daqan, Muḥammad. Kʿba wa Jamie ān..p175-178)
The size and weight of the Kaaba's curtain: The Kaaba's curtain is composed of five main parts, each covering one side of the Kaaba. The fifth piece encompasses the Kaaba's door, known as the "Borqaa." In total, the Kaaba's garment consists of 54 pieces, with each piece measuring 14 meters in length and 95 centimeters in width. The total area of the curtain is 2650 square meters, and its weight reaches two tons.(23)( • Imām Aḥmad, Muḥyi al-dīn. Fī riḥāb al-bayt al-ʿatīq.vol1.p215,,, • Bāslāma, Ḥusayn ʿAbdullāh. Tārīkh al-kʿba al-muʿaẓẓama.p474) Many of the pieces, inscriptions, and patterns on the Kaaba's curtain are adorned with goldwork.(24) •( Sādiqī Ardistānī, Aḥmad. Hajj az mīqāt tā mīʿād. Vol55.p133) The belt around the Kaaba's curtain The "Hizam" refers to the belt or band around the Kaaba's curtain. The belt is made of black silk fabric and is adorned with patterns and Quranic verses in Thuluth script. The belt is composed of 16 pieces, with a circumference of 47 meters and a width of 95 centimeters. Quranic verses are inscribed on the belt, and at specified intervals, phrases such as "Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyum," "Ya Rahman Ya Rahim," and "Alhamdulillah Rabb al-Alamin" are embellished with golden letters.(23)( Imām Aḥmad, Muḥyi al-dīn. Fī riḥāb al-bayt al-ʿatīq.vol1.p215,,, • Bāslāma, Ḥusayn ʿAbdullāh. Tārīkh al-kʿba al-muʿaẓẓama.p474)
The curtain in the Kaaba The curtain of the Kaaba's door, known as the "Borqaa," is made of black silk fabric and is adorned with Quranic verses and Islamic decorations in gold and silver. Additionally, Surah Al-Fatiha is inscribed on it from three directions. The Borqaa is made of silk, with a height of 5.7 meters and a width of four meters.(25)( Qalashqandī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Ṣubḥ al-aʿshā.vol4.p282,,, Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Akhbār Makka wa mā jāʾa fīhā min al-āthār.vol1.p258,,, • Bāslāma, Ḥusayn ʿAbdullāh. Tārīkh al-kʿba al-muʿaẓẓama..p358)
The verses inscribed on the Kaaba's curtain are as follows
The verses inscribed on the Kaaba's curtain and belt are as follows (from top to bottom on the curtain):
1. "قَدْ نَرَىٰ تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِي السَّمَاءِ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْضَاهَا" (Indeed, We see the turning of your face to the heaven, so We shall surely turn you to a Qiblah which you shall like.) - Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:144
Additionally, other verses, chapters, and phrases are written on the curtain and belt.(26)( • Bāslāma, Ḥusayn ʿAbdullāh. Tārīkh al-kʿba al-muʿaẓẓama.p311/352,,, • Muʾssisa Aʿmāl al- mawsū ʿa li-l nashr. . Mawsū ʿa al-ʿarabīyya al-ʿālimīyya.vol19.p319,,, • Qāʾidān, Aṣghar. Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madīna.p89)
References
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.Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Fatḥ al-bārī bi sharḥ ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, [n.d]. .Ḥalabī, Nūr al-Dīn. Al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya. Edited by ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad Khalīlī. Beirut: 1422 AH-2002. .Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa. Qom: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt, 1416 AH.
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