The Kiswa is the veil that covers the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and the sacred Kaaba is replaced with a new Kiswa every year on December 10 of the Islamic calendar to welcome the Hajj. This is a custom that began 4,000 years before the prophet Ismail began in Islam, and the word kiswa means "clothing to cover the body" in Arabic, covering the Kaaba, the veil.
The cost of making a kiswa
The current cost of manufacturing Kiswa is as high as 40 million yuan. The drapery is 658 square meters, and the outer layer is made of nearly 700 kilograms of raw silk. The inner layer is a sturdy cotton lining that helps protect the silk on the outside. The embroidery contains 120 kg of gold thread and 100 kg of silver thread. The scriptures are sewn with gilded thread on a black cloth. It consists of 47 pieces of cloth, each 14 meters long and 101 centimeters wide.
The plant takes about ten months to complete. Kiswa was wrapped around the Kaaba and secured to its base with copper rings. Hand-designed scripture embroidery is now slowly being helped by computers, which increases productivity.
The size of the Kiswa
- The mangers at the Kiswa plant consist of 47 rolls of cloth, each 14 meters long and 95 centimeters wide.
- At the top third of the cloth, there is a 95 cm wide and 46 m long Kiswa embroidery belt.
- The embroidery tape consists of 16 pieces and surrounds the Kiswa from all sides.
- The part covering the door is located on the northeast side wall, 2.13 meters above the ground, and is individually covered with rich embroidery of Qur'anic scriptures, and the embroidered curtain was first placed on the Kaaba Gate in 819 A.D. There is also an opening left for the black stone
What is written on Kiswa
Calligraphy: - The text is written on it in the ass-soul style of Arabic calligraphy.
1) Kiswa is made of pure natural silk and dyed black. This is embroidered with a word of praise for Allah.
2) Below the embroidery band, in every corner of the Kiswa, the verses of the Ihras (purity of faith) are written inside a circle, and on the outside is a square decorated with Islam
3) At the same height, also under the belt, there are six verses. Each verse in these verses is written in a separate square frame.
4) In the area that separates these frames there is the shape of a lantern with the verse phrase written on it: "Most gracious, most merciful", or "Praise Allah". Embroidery tape below all written all these are ass-Souls style, embroidery is a prominent design and intertwined with gold and silver thread.
5) Earlier, Kiswa was plain. It was not until 1340 that the Egyptian ruler Hassan introduced the tradition of embroidered borders.
6) Kiswa is not black at first: during the reigns of different caliphs, the color of Kiswa is constantly changing. Once, the grandmother of the Prophet Muhammad offered a white kiswa.
During the time of the Caliph Al-Mamun, the Kaaba was draped three times a year, each time with a different colored drapery: red on the 8th of December in the Islamic calendar, white on the 1st of July, and red brocade on the 29th of Ramadan. Later, Nasir covered the Kaaba with a green drapery; He and Mamon disagreed over frequent color changes and switched to black, the only color used in Kiswa since then. Nasir (1160-1207) began green kiswa, later turned black, and since then black kiswa has become a tradition.
Production of Kiswa
1) More than 200 men have been working in the Kiswa factory for nearly 10 months, producing gold embroidery, black Kiswa, which is the silk drapery of the Kaaba
2) Today, the 658 square meters of drapery is made of 670 kg of high-quality silk imported from Italy and Switzerland,
3) Silk dyed black, spun into fine materials in Saudi Arabia, and then hand embroidered with 120 kg of gold thread and 100 kg of silver thread
The actual "Kiswa" is divided into three main parts: the Starr (curtain) of the Kaaba Gate, the lining and curtain of the Kaaba interior, and the "Shiza wood" (embroidery belt) of the Kaaba. All of this is made in a unique and professional Kaabakiswa factory.
The curtain is 6.5 meters high and 3.5 meters wide and is made of black silk with a thick green silk lining. Scriptures are written on it, and it is prominently embroidered with Islamic motifs, all of which are gold and silver threads.
The curtains inside the Kaaba are hand-woven, so accuracy and skill are required as well as a true artistry. Its production consists of several stages, starting with dyeing silk green. Verses and designs were drawn and printed on green silk for subsequent embroidery. One of the most delicate and longest processes is embroidery, which embroiders with white thread on intricate designs and printed verses. Green silk then spreads out and covers the interior walls of the Kaaba and its ceiling. This part of the lining is replaced every 3 to 5 years.
The third major part of the Kiswa is the embroidered belt of the Kaaba. It's a beautiful work of art. The embroidery band, located two-thirds between the ground and the top of the Kaaba, crowns the Kaaba with golden beauty and radiance. The "belt" is an embroidery belt woven from scriptures and Islamic designs, embroidered with thick silver thread and dense gold thread embroidery. It is 47 meters long and 95 centimeters wide.
Due to the spiritual significance of the Kaaba, King Abdul Aziz established an official "Kiswa" factory during his reign in 1346, of which Sheikh Abdul Rahman Muzar was its first manager. In the same year, the plant produced the first "Kiswa", and later the work area was expanded from three sections to a total of six sections.
The production of kiswa is divided into five stages. The first is the dyeing stage, the first is the soaking of the raw silk material and soaking for 24 hours in hot water mixed with soap and other elements. The silk then turns into a dazzling white and then dyed black or green depending on which part of the Kiswa applies to. Any thread used for lining is also dyed in the appropriate color.
Then there is the second stage of weaving. Previously, most of the weaving was done by hand. However, for most of the materials of kiswa, which do not require much fine art, weaving is done mechanically. Hand weaving can only be added through the art of human craftsmanship.
The next stage is to print all the designs and calligraphy, which will be placed on the "door curtain" or the kiswa part of the embroidery. The fourth stage is the actual embroidery, but also the longest and most laborious stage.
All designs and calligraphy are covered with hand-embroidered silver and gold threads. The verse and design are filled with cotton fillings, then covered with yellow and white cotton threads in adjacent positions. Then it is covered with a silver wired embroidery in gold, embroidered with 2 centimeters protruding on the kiswa, which is why this process cannot be done mechanically.
The final stage is the preparatory process for dressing up the Kaaba, which involves coordinating and locating the corners of the Kiswa in order to display the appropriate design and scriptures in the designated place. Some areas may have additional lining added.
The history of Kiswa
Kiswa has been manufactured in Saudi Arabia since 1927. In fact, the history of Kiswa covers several historical periods. The most important of these is the time of the Prophet Muhammad, which did not begin to cover the Kaaba until the conquest of Mecca.
The cloth used remained there and was accidentally burned by an attempt to smoke the cloth with incense. Muhammad Sowa then began the tradition of replacing kiswa every year, which was subsequently continued by the caliph who took his place.
With the rise to power of the Umayyad Caliph, the new Kiswa replaced the old twice a year. The first is held at a ceremony on the tenth day of the first month of the Islamic calendar, and the second is on the last day of Ramadan, before the Eid celebrations.
During the Abbasid period, three different colors were used at different times, until the 34th Abbasid caliph Nasir decided to use only black Kiswa. This tradition continues to this day.
In 1927, King Abdulaziz issued a royal order calling for the construction of factories and villages dedicated to the manufacture of Kiswa. Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Anzari was the plant's first manager and in 1977 a new plant was built to manufacture it. Although these materials used to come from Egypt and neighboring countries, the best silk threads are now imported from Switzerland and Italy. At a cost of 22 million Saudi riyals (40 million yuan), Kiswa is the most expensive fabric in the world. This money includes the cost of raw materials, so the salaries of the participants.
Where the old Kiswa went
Every year, old Kiswab tablets are given as gifts to Muslim countries and Muslim celebrities.
(The book card has been added here, please check it out in today's headlines client)
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