Islamabad , July 19, 2023: Touching or having a piece of Kiswa, the covering cloth of the Holy Kaaba, is considered of great honour and blessing among Muslims.
Usually, the Kiswa, as the fabric is called in Arabic, is changed in an event that takes place during Hajj pilgrimage.
However, this year it was changed in an intricate ceremony after Saudi Arabia marked the beginning of the new Islamic year, 1445 Hijri, today (Wednesday), Al Arabiya News reported.
The gold-laced black cloth that shrouds the Holy Kaaba is hand-made with great effort and love by thousands of workers. It is made of dyed silk embroidered with 120 kilograms of gold and 100 kilograms of silver wires.
The preparation surely takes months of work but pilgrims from across the globe can partake in it by making stitches in the magnificent embroidery that features verses from the Holy Quran.
However, there came a year in Pakistan’s history when the nation had the honour to prepare the holy cover of the Kaaba at home.
As per a report by a local media outlet Urdu News, a Saudi delegation visited different workshops in Pakistan in 1962 and assigned Karachi’s Waheed-ud-Din Ansari with the sacred task.
Ansari was the owner of a fabric store in the Saddar area, which sold silk cloth.
The Saudi authorities had ordered the silk-house to prepare a sample first, which Shah Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the then-Saudi monarch liked so much that he entrusted Ansari and his team with the production of Kiswa. However, the fabric was sent from Saudi Arabia.
Ansari’s son Rizwanullah told Urdu News that 34 workers were employed for the task, who prepared the Kiswa in three months under Ansari’s supervision.
As per the report, the then-Pakistani president General Ayub Khan also participated in the holy work.
Before being sent back to Saudi Arabia, the Kiswa was displayed to thousands of people at Polo Ground, Karachi.