MAKKAH, 9 February 2003 — The first thing pilgrims do when they arrive in Makkah is to walk seven times around the Holy Kaaba, the cube-shaped stone structure that stands in the center of the Grand Mosque.
The Kaaba is the house of God Muslims turn toward during daily prayers. It was the world’s first building, made by Prophet Adam but rebuilt in its actual size by the prophets Ibrahim and his son Ismail more than 5,000 years ago.
The Kaaba includes a black stone at its eastern corner, which was brought from heaven by the angel Gabriel to Ismail.
Visitors frequently touch and kiss the stone, which is 30 centimeters in diameter. The Kaaba and the stone were revered even by pre-Islam Arab pagans. Circling the Kaaba must be repeated before leaving Makkah and followed by walking seven times between two hilltops called Safa and Marwa to commemorate an exploit by Hager, Ibrahim’s wife and Ismail’s mother.
After Ibrahim left them in the Makkah valley alone without food and water, Hager ran between the two hills, 500 meters apart, seven times searching for water for her baby until she found the Zamzam spring, which is still running.
The Kaaba is covered with a pure silk black cloth, known as the kiswa, that is changed every year. The kiswa, costing about $4.5 million, is changed during a traditional ceremony on the day that pilgrims ascend Mount Arafat near here, the culmination of Haj.
The silk is imported, but the kiswa is manufactured, designed and tailored at a special factory set up by the Kingdom some 30 years ago. More than 200 highly-skilled Saudis work on the new cloth for more than 10 months. It must be ready two months before Haj.
The upper half of the kiswa is decorated with a 95-centimeter wide strip featuring verses from the Holy Qur’an inscribed in gold-plated silver threads that weigh 120 kilograms. (AFP)
