120 kg of gold Gilaf will be installed in the Holy Kaaba

On the night of Hijri New Year, the Holy Kaaba will be wrapped with new gilaf. On the night of 1 Muharram, 1446 Hijri, the official ceremony of changing the Gilaf will be held in the courtyard of Masjid Haram in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. 159 expert craftsmen will participate in this traditional work. Before this, the Gilaft will be brought to the Kaaba square in a specially made truck.

This information was revealed in a report of Saudi media Arab News on Saturday (July 6).

Since the beginning of the month of Muharram in the Hijri New Year is determined by the sighting of the moon. The Muharram moon was not sighted anywhere in Saudi Arabia on Friday (July 5). As a result, the counting of the month of Muharram will start from Sunday (July 7). In this case, the work of changing the Kiswa or Gilaf of the Holy Kaaba will be completed on Saturday (June 6) night.

Arab News reports that the Gilaf of the Holy Mosque is changed every year. Old sheath is removed and new sheath is worn. It basically consists of four pieces of cloth and a door section. The new pieces of cloth are raised upwards and the old cloth pieces are gradually lowered down.

Before this, on June 18, the Saudi king officially handed over the new Gilaf to the recently deceased Chief custodian of the Kaaba, Sheikh Abdul Malik Al-Shaybi. Shaykh Abdul Wahab bin Zainul Abedin Al-Shaybi is currently serving as the chief guard.

Originally from the first era of Islam, it was a custom to change the Gilaf of the Kaaba on the 9th day of the month of Zilhaj, Arafat. According to the year 2022, the Saudi government changed the Kaaba Gilaf change schedule from 1444 Hijri. Since then, the Gilaf is changed on the first night of Muharram to commemorate the Hijri New Year.

670 kg of black natural silk is used to make the 658 square meter gilafty. The whole Gilaf is stitched with 47 pieces of cloth. These works are done on the world's largest sewing machine with a length of 16 meters. Many of the crafts are also done by hand. Five different pieces of cloth are sewn together and fixed at the base with copper rings.

120 kg of 21 carat gold and 100 kg of silver thread are used to write the verses of the Holy Qur'an and the praises of Allah on that cloth. It takes six to eight months to complete all the work of Ghilaf. In total, 25 million Saudi Riyals or six and a half million US dollars are spent on making this Gilaf weighing 1300 kg. This Gilaf is considered to be the most expensive cloth in the world.

The Ghilafti of the Kaaba is made in a specialized company called 'The King Abdulaziz Complex for Manufacturing the Kaaba's Kiswa' located in Umm al-Zawd, Makkah. In 1928, under the orders of King Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia, a company for manufacturing Gilaf was established. Then from 2017, under the direction of King Salman, it was named 'The King Abdul Aziz Complex for Manufacturing the Kaaba's Kiswa.'