It is the most recognizable landmark of Islam’s holiest site, but it actually pre-dates Islam. The black cloth of the Kabaa, or the Kiswa as it is known, is the covering of “God’s House." For Muslims, the cloth itself an object of reverence.
And for nearly a century it’s manufacture has been entrusted to only a handful of local artisans.
“Before the Saudi time it used come from Egypt by the order of the Ottoman Empire,” Dr. Fawwaz Al-Dahhas, an Islamic history expert at Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca told us. “But when they brought it from Egypt they brought with it a group of singers and that wasn't accepted by the King Abdulazziz at that time.”
Read Full Article »