Ancient key to Ka`ba auctioned  

London, April 11: A historic 12th-century iron key to the holy Ka'ba in Mecca, Islam's holiest shrine, was sold for 9.2 million pounds at leading auctioner Sotheby's here.
Originally estimated at 400,000 to 500,000 pounds, the key went for a price 18 times higher than that. It was part of an auction of islamic art totalling 405 lots sold in all for 21.5 million pounds.
the 37-cms long key was formerly in a private collection in the Lebanon and dated from 1179-1180. It was bought anonymously and is the second earliest of only 58 known examples. Others are in european and middle eastern museums.
The engraved key was the ultimate symbol of religious power. "This is what was made for the servant of ... God during the time of our lord the Imam, son of the Iman Al-Muqtadi Abu Ja'far Al Mustansir Abu'l-Abbas 575".

The rarity was the highlight of a week of Islamic sales in London Christie's also took 11.8 million pound in an auction on Tuesday.
A leaf from a 7th century copy of the Koran on vellum, probably from Medina, took 2.4 million pounds against an estimate of 100,000 to 150,000 pounds, setting a new world auction record for any Islamic manuscript.

All of a sudden the key topic in the news seems to be the Key of the Holy Kaaba in the possession of Syed Sha Waliullah, a gentleman residing at Sedam in Gulbarga District. It is surprising that this relic which is said to have been in the possession of his family for the past so many centuries has never made it to the news any time in the past. Incidentally this man is an uncle of my very close friend Dr. Syed Hasan Hussaini Jagirdar who was one of my former hostel-mates at the M. R. Medical College in Gulbarga and who still looks after large tracts of ancestral agricultural land at Sedam.

Waliullah has in fact met me more than once during my student days when he used to visit his nephew but strangely without at any time having mentioned his priceless heirloom! When I called up my friend Syed last evening to discuss this he reiterated that what his uncle has is indeed one of the few real keys of the Kaaba and offered to even let me examine it. The question of whether the key in question is an authentic one or just an imitation is a very pertinent one no doubt as an artefact of this nature is a very valuable possession if it is genuine. This is because the Kaaba which is the central structure of the Grand Mosque at Mecca is undoubtedly the holiest of all holy shrines to all Muslims who comprise the second largest religious majority in the world after the Christians. Therefore possessing the key of this shrine is symbolically akin to possessing the keys of the Islamic kingdom!

The Kaaba is actually a cubical room roughly measuring about forty feet by forty feet constructed of grey stone blocks which all Muslims believe was built upon Allah’s command by the Prophet Ibrahim with the assistance of his son Prophet Ismail and it is therefore considered to be the world’s first mosque. Prophet Ibrahim was also commanded by Allah to invite all the people of the world to visit Mecca and the Kaaba for an annual pilgrimage. He followed this command and also prayed that Allah should ensure that all the fruits and other bounties from all over the world should flow into his town for the benefit of the pilgrims. This prayer finds a mention in the Holy Koran too and strange as it may seem, it seems to have been answered in full measure as even today we find that Mecca continues to be one of the most prosperous cities where one can taste the best fruits from all over the world all round the year.

Contrary to some common misconceptions held by many non - Muslims the Kaaba is not a solid stone structure but a hollow windowless chamber with a single door although in pictures it seems to appear as a monolithic block due to its being covered by a black silk cloth. Although it has a black stone called the “Hajre Aswad” embedded in its eastern corner which all pilgrims try to kiss or at least touch as it is said to have been sent down from heaven, the Kaaba does not contain any object of veneration or worship as such. Scientific evidence also suggests that this black stone is a meteorite supporting the popular view that it has indeed fallen from the heavens.

The cloth called the Kiswa, which is draped over the Kaaba and which is renewed every year during the Haj at a cost of 17 million Saudi Rials weighs 670 kilograms    with an area of 658 square meters actually has one hundred and twenty kilograms of pure gold and fifty kilograms of pure silver that goes into all the intricate calligraphic embroidery of verses from the Holy Koran. In the past it used to be made in Egypt and also in Yemen out of Indian silk yarn but now it is woven at a special facility at Mecca itself.

The Kaaba predates Islam in its present form by many centuries and even when Mecca was the commercial hub of pagan religions the Kaaba was still the centre of all religious rituals and worship. Now the Kaaba continues to be the only man made object which gives a common direction to the ritual prayer of every Muslim on earth without any exception.

The key of the Kaaba even from the pre-Islamic era used to be in the possession of its traditional custodians from the Shaibi tribe who are the descendents of Hazrath Usman Bin Talha. After the advent of Islam when Prophet Mohamed (Pubh) declared it the central shrine of the Muslims he prayed for its eternal safety and proclaimed that the key would continue to remain with its original custodians. This tradition has been maintained unchanged to the present day and even now when the Kaaba is opened for just one day every year during the Haj season the present custodian who enjoys the rank and status of a cabinet minister brings the key in a casket for the purpose. Although the authenticity of the key in the news is open to question it is certainly possible for it to be a genuine one as the doors of the Kaaba have been replaced many times down the centuries and the disused keys could have easily been acquired by anyone influential enough to be close to its custodians.

The argument that the key in Gulbarga does not resemble similar authentic specimens does not hold water as each time a door was replaced it had a lock and key of a slightly different design. Going by the available historical records and also by the specimens preserved and displayed at a special museum in Mecca showcasing the history and evolution of the two holy mosques at Mecca and Madina this point becomes very clear.

The pictures, which I have taken very recently of the locks and keys preserved there bear this out. In fact the key at Gulbarga resembles the key at the Topkapi Museum in Turkey more than the key at the museum in Mecca both of which have at some time or the other been in actual use. Incidentally the Topkapi museum possesses some of the most important artefacts relating to the history of Islam including a clay impression of the Prophet’s right foot.

A recent newspaper article about the Kaaba key also speaks of many other rare artefacts in Waliullah’s possession like pieces of the Kiswa cloth used to cover the Holy Kaaba. This is not surprising as it was a very common practice until some decades ago to allow Haj pilgrims upon request, to take home such pieces as keepsakes whenever the cloth was replaced. My paternal grandmother and my maternal grandfather who performed their Haj way back in the year1949 had brought back these mementoes including the pieces of the cloth used to drape the grave of the Holy prophet at Madina. These are now very much in Mysore in the possession of my uncle Prof. M. J. Sadiq and every year on the occasion of the Prophet’s birthday they are kept on display for public viewing at his residence.