Rajab Mahoos Al-Malki

RIYADH — The oldest weaver of the black cloth covering the Holy Kaaba cloth died Monday at a private hospital aged 90.

Rajab Mahoos Al-Malki had spent over 47 years of his life doing the same job he was proud of, weaving the kiswa (black cloth).

He liked to talk a lot about his job whenever he met his friends or family members even after he retired in 2004.

Scores of tailors and embroiders learned many things from him while he was working for the Kaaba Kiswa Factory in Makkah.

His apprentices and colleagues said they would always remember him as a very polite and charity-loving person.

Born in 1930 and raised in a small village near Makkah, Al-Malki told Okaz during an interview a long time ago that he participated in weaving the first kiswa with colleague Abdulraheem Amin Bokhari. They both worked on it for six months, he said.

He said during the interview: “We were asked to weave the kiswa after the factory production lines in Egypt came to a halt.

“We used the old kiswas as prototypes and worked hard to deliver on time.” The second kiswa was weaved in Makkah during the era of the late King Faisal Bin Abdulaziz.

“We wanted to prove to everyone that we were the best qualified to do this work,” Al-Malki said.

Dr. Muhammad Bajoada, director of the factory in Makkah, said the factory has lost a “great asset”.

 
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