KISWAH (GHILAF) THE BLACK CLOTH THAT COVERS THE KAABA

KISWAH (GHILAF) THE BLACK CLOTH THAT COVERS THE KAABA

Every year Dhul Hijja-9, (12th month in Arabic Calendar), when the pilgrims are in Arafah, whereupon the old Kiswah is removed, and the new one is draped on the Kaaba and the old one which costs 17 Million Saudi Riyals will be cut into pieces and gifted by the guardians of the Sacred Mosque to visiting Muslim foreign dignitaries, organizations and other people of their choice.

Every year at the time of Hajj the following narration goes viral in the internet, which shows the dissatisfaction of the believers who are against extravagance in consideration of the priorities established by Islam.

When Umar ibn Al-Khattab (RadiyAllahu Anhu) was asked: "O Umar why don't you clothe the kaaba with silk?" He said: "The stomachs of Muslims are a priority."

In fact the above statement was not reported from Umar ibn Al Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) but it was from another pious caliph Umar ibn Abdul Aziz (may Allah be pleased with him). One of his governors wrote to him saying that the clothes covering the Kaaba have become worn out and thus requesting him to provide for getting new clothes. Umar wrote to him in reply: I have carefully studied your request; However, it is my opinion that feeding the hungry is of a greater priority than getting a new cover for Kaaba."

According to the following report there are priorities than spending a handsome amount of 17 Million SR for new Kiswah on yearly basis.

“Reporting of poverty remains a state taboo. Statistics on the issue are not available through the UN resources because the Saudi government does not issue poverty figures. Observers researching the issue prefer to stay anonymous, because of the risk of being arrested. Three journalists: Feras Boqna, Hussam al-Drewesh and Khaled al-Rasheed were detained after posting 10-minute film 'Mal3ob 3alena', or 'We are being cheated' on Saudis living in poverty to YouTube. Authors of the video claim that 22% of Saudis are considered to be poor and 70% of Saudis do not own their houses”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia#Economy

May Allah help the guardians of the holy mosque to think about reusing the Kiswah by keeping two sets of Kiswah; wrapping one at a time and taking the other one for maintenance on yearly basis, or at least to reuse the gold and silver from the removed kiswah, this can reduce the manufacturing cost dramatically.

And the money saved can use for constructing some free residential flats on yearly basis for the hard working citizens who drive taxis for long hours around Haram, selling goods on the streets of Haram, and still they the citizens finds difficulty in paying the house rent. Distributing the pieces of 17 million Kiswah will not bring the reward of Sadaqa Jaariyah as is done in the case of distributing free residential flats to the needy.

There is no Sharai text approving the extravagant spending of 17 million SR yearly bases for a new Kiswah, but if this was done as onetime expenditure then it would have been justified as in the case of door of kaaba which is made of wood and covered with 280 kg of pure gold.

The origin of Kiswah (covering the kaaba) is a well disputed issue, and some historians generally agreed that the Kaaba was covered by cloth in the pre-Islamic era from the days of Abraham to the Prophet Mohammed, and the first person to drape the Kaaba with cloth was either Prophet Ismail (son of Prophet Abraham), Adnan, the great great grandfather of the Prophet Mohammed, or the Himyarite King Tub’a of Abu Kariba.

Covering the Kaaba was something approved by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and followed by the rightly guided Caliphs. The Prophet (peace be upon him) covered the Kaaba with Yemeni cloth, while the Caliphs that succeeded him, draped the Kaaba with a white Coptic cloth from Egypt, which was later replaced with silk by Muawiyah.

If we assume that the Prophet (peace be upon him) is coming with his rightly guided Caliphs for tawaf today, and anyone who knows the Shariah of Muhammad (peace be upon him) will say that the Prophet (peace be upon him) will approve of the present day Kiswah of 17 million SR in pure silk embroidered with gold and silver?

Even after realizing the fact the Saudi scholars opt for silence due to the risk of being imprisoned, and the non-Saudi scholars are scared of being banned from entry to Saudi. So join us to say Aameen that; “may Allah reach this message to the guardians of the holy mosque to understand the sin involved in extravagance, while millions of people-most of them Muslims themselves-are suffering due to extreme starvation, malnutrition and lack of access to clean water and other basic needs.” (Aameen)