The Kaaba is adorned with a new kiswah, a covering, annually to mark the occasion of the first day of Eid Al Adha.
The kiswah is usually put in place on the ninth or 10th day of Dhu Al Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar.
Abdulhamid bin Said Al Maliki, the deputy general president for affairs at the King Abdulaziz Complex for Manufacturing the Kiswah al Kaaba, said the new covering would be draped over the Kaaba on the first day of Muharram instead of the ninth day of Dhu Al Hijjah, marking the beginning of the new Islamic year.
The covering, made of black silk and embroidered with gold patterns, weighs 670 kilograms and measures 658 square metres. It covers the Kaaba, the stone structure in the centre of the Grand Mosque of Makkah that millions of pilgrims circumambulate as part of Hajj.
The draping of the kiswah over the Kaaba predates Islam by about two centuries, but the tradition continued during the Prophet Mohammed's lifetime and to this day as a way of protecting the holy building and honouring the site.
From the 12th century, the kiswah was produced in Egypt using materials from around the Muslim world before being transported to Makkah. In 1927, manufacture begun to be transferred to Makkah and by 1962 it was being produced solely at the city's Kiswah Al Kaaba factory.
Owned and run by the Saudi Arabian government, the factory takes the whole year to produce the cover, of which six to eight months is taken up by the embroidery alone. The creation of a new kiswah involves more than 200 specialist fabric workers. It comprises 47 pieces of natural silk, each 98 centimetres by 14 metres. The outer layer is made from 670kg of raw silk. The inside of the covering is a strong cotton lining, which helps to preserve the silk on top.
Gold thread adorns the black silk, spelling out Quranic passages as well as phrases such as “no God but Allah", and "glory to God" in the Al Thuluth style of calligraphy.
Before it is sewed on to the Kaaba, it is heavily perfumed with oud.
Doors to the Kaaba open only twice a year for cleaning: 30 days before Ramadan and again 30 days before Hajj.
Once the Hajj season is over, the kiswah is removed and cut into small pieces for distribution among selected people and organisations.
How the kiswah is made
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
