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Curtain of the Ka'ba

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The Ka'ba's curtain, also known as Kiswa, is a black fabric that covers the walls of the Ka'ba. Covering the Ka'ba with a curtain is considered a sign of respect. The tradition of draping the Ka'ba 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 Ka'ba's curtain. Additionally, the Ka'ba'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 Ka'ba's walls, with an additional piece allocated for the Ka'ba's door.

Word and Concept Semantics

The Arabic phrase "كسوة الكعبة" means the Ka'ba's curtain or garment. This black covering adorns the structure of the Ka'ba, constituting part of the Black Stone section.[1] The Ka'ba's curtain is a symbol of respect.[2] And it holds the value and prestige of the house of God, constituting a part of the history of the Ka'ba.[3] 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 Ka'ba's curtain is the subject of certain legal rulings, with the most significant being the permission to cover the Ka'ba with silk.[4]The impermissibility of tearing, cutting, buying, and selling the Ka'ba'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.[5] The permissibility or impermissibility of adorning it with gold and silver,[6]The permission to enter behind the curtain for supplication.[7]

The history of the Ka'ba's covering

There is a difference of opinion regarding who first covered the Ka'ba. Some narratives attribute this action to Prophet Adam.[8] Some historical accounts suggest that one of the kings of Himyar in Yemen was the first to cover the Ka'ba, around the year 190 or 220 BCE before the Prophetic mission.[9] The weaving of new curtains for the Ka'ba 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 Ka'ba's garment being occasionally replaced three times a year.[10]Kings of other Islamic lands [11] And some wealthy individuals would occasionally procure the Ka'ba's curtain and send it to Mecca.[12]

The weaving of the Ka'ba's curtain in Egypt

After the extinction of the Abbasids (in 659 AH/ 1260-1), providing the covering for the Ka'ba became the exclusive responsibility of the rulers of Egypt from 661 AH/1262-3 onward.[13] During the Ottoman Empire era, the weaving of the curtain also took place in Egypt.[14] In Egypt, since the Mamluk era, endowments and special workshops were allocated for the production of materials for fabric weaving.[15]

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.[16] This practice continued until 1358/ 1939-40 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 1382/1962-3 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.[17]

The size and weight of the Ka'ba's curtain

The Ka'ba'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 "Burqa'." In total, the Ka'ba'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.[18] Many of the pieces, inscriptions, and patterns on the Ka'ba's curtain are adorned with gilding.[19]

The belt around the Ka'ba's curtain

The "Hizam" refers to the belt or band around the Ka'ba'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 "یا حی یا قیوم," "یا رحمن یا رحیم," and "الحمد لله رب العالمین" are embellished with golden letters.[20]

The curtain in the Ka'ba

The curtain of the Kaaba's door, known as the "Borqa'," 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 Borqa' is made of silk, with a height of 5.7 meters and a width of four meters.[21]

The verses inscribed on the Kaaba's curtain are as follows:

The verses inscribed on the Ka'ba's curtain and belt are as follows (from top to bottom on the curtain):

1. "قَدْ نَرَىٰ تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِي السَّمَاءِ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْضَاهَا" (We have seen thee turning thy face about in the heaven now We will surely turn thee to a direction that shall satisfy .) [22]

2. بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِیمِ* رَبِّ اَدْخِلْنی مُدْخَلَ صِدْقٍ وَ اَخْرِجْنی‏ مُخْرَجَ صِدْقٍ وَ اجْعَلْ لی مِنْ لَدُنْکَ سُلْطاناً نَصیراً And say: My Lord, lead me in with a just in going, and lead me out with a just outgoing; grant me authority from Thee, to help me.[23]

Additionally, other verses, chapters, and phrases are written on the curtain and belt.[24]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ibn Fāris. Muʿjam maqāyīs al-lugha, vol. 3, p. 132; Fāsī al-Makkī, Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām, vol. 1, p. 122.
  2. ↑ Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Al-Tuḥfat al-kirām, p. 159-160.
  3. ↑ Nāblusī, Kashf al-nūr, p. 14; Subḥānī, Al- Tawḥīd wa al-shirk, p. 210.
  4. ↑ Ḥillī, Taḥrīr al-aḥkām al-sharʿiyya ʿalā madhhab al-imāmiyya, vol. 4, p. 363; Samhūdī, Wafāʾ al-wafā bi akhbār dar al-Muṣṭafā, vol. 2, p. 140; Bahūtī, Kashf al-qināʿ, vol. 3, p. 180.
  5. ↑ Ḥillī, Tadhkirat al-fuqahāʾ, vol. 7, p. 380; Rāfiʿī, Fatḥ al-ʿazīz, vol. 7, p. 513.
  6. ↑ Shirwānī, Al-Ḥawāshī, vol. 1, p. 121; Ḥalabī, Al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya, vol. 1, p. 280.
  7. ↑ Damyāṭī, Iʿāna al-ṭālibīn, vol. 2, p. 95.
  8. ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, vol. 2, p. 235; Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 13, p. 208.
  9. ↑ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-bārī bi sharḥ ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, vol. 3, p. 365-366; Ḥalabī, Al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya, vol. 1, p. 280; Bāslāma, Tārīkh al-kaʿba al-muʿaẓẓama, p. 291; Fākihī, Akhbār Makka fī qadīm al-dahr wa ḥadīthih, vol. 5, p. 230-231.
  10. ↑ Ḥalabī, Al-Sīra al-ḥalabiyya, vol. 1, p. 281; Imām Aḥmad, Fī riḥāb al-bayt al-ʿatīq, vol. 1, p. 211; Amīn, Kashf al-irtīyāb, p. 360.
  11. ↑ Ibn Kathīr, Al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 13, p. 26.
  12. ↑ Ibn Khaldūn, Tārīkh Ibn Khaldūn, vol. 3, p. 513; Ibn Athīr al-Jazarī, Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh, vol. 11, p. 65; Nawīrī, Nihāyat al-irb, vol. 23, p. 284.
  13. ↑ Amīn, Kashf al-irtīyāb, p. 360.
  14. ↑ Sakhāwī, Al-Dhaw ʾ al-lāmiʿ, vol. 4, p. 26; Bāslāma, Tārīkh al-kaʿba al-muʿaẓẓama, p. 320.
  15. ↑ Sakhāwī, Al-Tuḥfat al-laṭīfa fī tārīkh al-Madīna al-sharīfa, vol. 2, p. 107; Fāsī al-Makkī, Shifāʾ al-gharām bi akhbār al-balad al-ḥarām, vol. 1, p. 123; Bāslāma, Tārīkh al-kaʿba al-muʿaẓẓama, p. 317; Imām Aḥmad, Fī riḥāb al-bayt al-ʿatīq, p. 216; Ḥamdī, Mawsū ʿa al-mafāhīm, vol. 1, p. 553.
  16. ↑ Daqan, Kaʿba wa Jamie ān, p. 172; Bāslāma, Tārīkh al-kaʿba al-muʿaẓẓama, p. 347.
  17. ↑ Imām Aḥmad, Fī riḥāb al-bayt al-ʿatīq, vol. 1, p. 215; Bāslāma, Tārīkh al-kaʿba al-muʿaẓẓama, p. 331-332; Daqan, Kaʿba wa Jamie ān, p. 175-178.
  18. ↑ Imām Aḥmad, Fī riḥāb al-bayt al-ʿatīq, vol. 1, p. 215; Bāslāma, Tārīkh al-kaʿba al-muʿaẓẓama, p. 474.
  19. ↑ Sādiqī Ardistānī, Hajj az mīqāt tā mīʿād, vol. 55, p. 133.
  20. ↑ Imām Aḥmad, Fī riḥāb al-bayt al-ʿatīq, vol. 1, p. 215; Bāslāma, Tārīkh al-kaʿba al-muʿaẓẓama, p. 474.
  21. ↑ Qalashqandī, Ṣubḥ al-aʿshā, vol. 4, p. 282; Azraqī, Akhbār Makka wa mā jāʾa fīhā min al-āthār, vol. 1, p. 258; Bāslāma, Tārīkh al-kaʿba al-muʿaẓẓama, p. 358.
  22. ↑ Sura Al-Baqarah, 2:144.
  23. ↑ sura Al-Isra, 17:80.
  24. ↑ Bāslāma, Tārīkh al-kaʿba al-muʿaẓẓama, p. 311-352; Mawsū ʿa al-ʿarabīyya al-ʿālimīyya, vol. 19, p. 319; Qāʾidān, Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madīna, p. 89.


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