KISWAH (كسوة). Lit. “A robe.” The covering of the Kaʿbah, or cube-like building, at Makkah. [[KAʿBAH].]
When Captain Burton visited Makkah in 1853, he found it to be a coarse tissue of mixed silk and cotton, and of eight pieces, two for each face of the building, the seams being concealed by the broad gilt band called the ḥizām. It is lined with white calico, and has cotton ropes to secure the covering to metal rings at the basement. But on the occasion of Captain Burton’s visit, the kiswah was tucked up by ropes from the roof. The whole is of a brilliant black, with the gold band running round it.
The burqaʿ, or veil, is a curtain hung before the door of the Kaʿbah, also of black brocade, embroidered with inscriptions, in letters of gold, of verses from the Qurʾān, and lined with green silk.
According to Burton, the inscription on the gold band of the kiswah is the ninetieth verse of the third Sūrah of the Qurʾān: “Verily, the first House founded for mankind was surely that at Bakkah, for a blessing and a guidance to the worlds.” The whole of the kiswah is covered with seven Sūrahs of the Qurʾān, namely, XVIIIth, XIXth, IIIrd, IXth, XXth, XXXIXth, and LXVIIth (i.e. al-Kahf, Maryam, Ālu ʿImrān, at-Taubah, T̤ā Ḥā, Yā Sīn, and al-Mulk). The character is the ancient Kufic, and legible from a considerable distance.
Mr. Lane says that the kiswah is made of a mixture of silk and cotton, because the Prophet expressly forbade silk as an article of dress.
The kiswah and burqaʿ are now manufactured at Cairo, at a manufactory called the K͟hurunfīsh, and is made by a family who possess the hereditary right, and who are called the Baitu ʾs-Saʿd. When they are completed, they are taken to the mosque known as the Sult̤ān Ḥasan, and there kept until they are sent off with a caravan of pilgrims to Makkah. This usually takes place a few days after the ʿĪdu ʾl-Fit̤r, generally about the 6th day of the month of Shawwāl, and two or three weeks before the departure of the regal canopy or Maḥmal. [[MAHMAL].] The procession of the kiswah is similar to that of the Maḥmal, and therefore requires no separate description.
According to Muslim historians, the Kaʿbah was first dressed with a kiswah or robe by a Ḥimyarite chief, named Tubbaʿu ʾl-Arqān. From the time of Quṣaiy it was veiled by subscriptions collected from Pagan Arabs, until Abū Rabiyah ibn al-Mug͟hīrah ibn ʿAbdi ʾllāh provided the covering, whereby he obtained the title of al-ʿAdl, “the Just.” When Muḥammad obtained possession, he ordered it to be covered with fine Yamānī cloth, and ordered the expense to be defrayed from the public treasury. The K͟halīfah ʿUmar chose Egyptian linen, and ordered the robe to be renewed every year. K͟halīfah ʿUs̤mān, being a man of eminent piety ordered it to be clothed twice a year. For the winter it had a robe of brocade silk, and in the summer a suit of fine linen. Muʿāwiyah, the Umaiyah K͟halīfah, was the first to establish the present kiswah of silk and linen tissue, but being reminded of the Prophet’s well-known dislike to silken robes he changed it again to the more orthodox covering of Yamānī cloth. The K͟halīfah Maʾmūn (A.D. 813) ordered the dress to be changed three times a year, the fine Yamānī cloth on the 1st of Rajab, white brocade on the 1st of Shawwāl, for the pilgrimage two months later, and rich red brocade on the 10th of Muḥarram. The K͟halīfah al-Mutawakkil (A.D. 847) sent a new robe every two months. During the Abbaside dynasty, the investing of the Kaʿbah with the kiswah was regarded as a sign of sovereignty over the holy places. The later K͟halīfahs of Bag͟hdād are said to have sent a kiswah of green and gold. The Fāt̤imide K͟halīfahs made the kiswah at Cairo of black brocade of mixed silk and cotton; and when Sult̤ān Salīm assumed the power of the K͟halīfate (A.D. 1512), the kiswah still continued to be supplied from Cairo, as is now the case under the Ottoman rule.
(Burckhardt’s Arabia, Lane’s Egyptians, Ali Bey’s Pilgrimage, Burton’s Mecca and Medina.) [[KAʿBAH], [MASJIDU ʾL-HARAM].]
AL-KITĀB (الكتاب). “The Book.” A term used for the Qurʾān, and extended to all inspired books of the Jews and Christians, who are called Ahlu ʾl-Kitāb, or believers in the book.
KITĀBĪ (كتابى). A term used for one of the Ahlu ʾl-Kitāb, “the people of the Book,” or those in possession of the inspired word of God, as Jews or Christians.