Entertainment25 May, 20262 min read
UN Ceremony Displays Kaaba Kiswah Door Curtain With Ban Ki-moon And Saudi Envoy
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The Kiswah door curtain was displayed at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Ban Ki-moon and Saudi Arabia's UN envoy Abdallah Y. Al-Mouallimi attended the ceremony.
Kiswah at the UN
The Kaaba door curtain, part of the kiswah, was displayed this week at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where a special ceremony included UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations, Abdallah Y. Al-Mouallimi.
Senegalese outlet Senenews described the kiswah as a black silk fabric adorned with Qur'anic verses covering the Kaaba in Mecca, and said it also includes a curtain called 'Burqa' that partially covers the Kaaba's large copper door.
Senenews added that the curtain is entirely made of silk with a height of 6.5 meters and a width of 3 meters, and that it bears Qur'anic texts and Islamic ornaments made of silver threads overlaid with gold.
Senego similarly said the ceremony featured a speech outlining the history of the kiswah of the Kaaba, and it noted that the kiswah is changed every year on the eve of Eid al-Adha.
Exhibition in Medina
An exhibition dedicated to the Kiswah of the Kaaba is being held at Masjid An Nabawi ﷺ, with the stated aim of letting pilgrims who have arrived for Hajj learn the history of the black cloth embroidered in gold. alNas.fr said the exhibition is open to visitors and described it as an opportunity for pilgrims to visit while in Medina.
In the name of King Salman, the Prince Governor of Mecca, Khalid Al-Faisal, handed over the Kiswah to the Kaaba’s chief guardian, Saleh bin Zain Al-Abidin Al-Shaibi, according to alNas.fr. The same source said the Kiswah will be replaced on the ninth day of the month of Dhul Hijjah, following in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions, and it added that the Kiswah is replaced once a year during Hajj after pilgrims go to Mount Arafat.
When it changes
The sources tie the kiswah’s timing to the Hajj calendar, with Senego stating that the kiswah is changed every year on the eve of Eid al-Adha. alNas.fr adds that the Kiswah is replaced once a year during Hajj after pilgrims go to Mount Arafat, and that when they return from their pilgrimage and go to the Grand Mosque, they find the new fabric.
“The kiswah of the Kaaba is changed every year on the eve of Eid al-Adha.”
In its longer feature, Al Jazeera frames the kiswah as a garment with a history that spans “over a thousand years of faith, craft, and empire woven into a single garment,” presented by Basel Ghazoghli and Alma Milisic. The Al Jazeera segment is dated “Published On 25 May 2026,” and it is presented as “THE KISWA: BEYOND THE CLOTH,” focusing on the story behind the cloth that covers the Kaaba.