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Saudi prince performs ritual of washing Islamic shrine

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February 11, 2001 

RIYADH-- (AP) - A brother of King Fahd on Saturday led the ritual of washing the Kaaba, the sacred ancient stone structure that Muslims face during their five daily prayers.

Prince Abdul-Majid, governor of the holy city of Mecca, performed the ceremony on behalf of the Saudi monarch, King Fahd.

The Kaaba, a cubic stone structure revered in Islam, is washed twice a year with perfumed water - once before the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, and the second time before the annual pilgrimage, or hajj.

Muslims believe the Kaaba was built by Adam, then later rebuilt by the prophet Abraham, who was the first to call people to make the pilgrimage.

The ritual used to be carried out by King Fahd, who bears the title "Custodian of the Two Holy Shrines," in Mecca and Medina. But he has been unable to wash the Kaaba in recent years because of ill health following a stroke in 1995.

Some 2 million pilgrims are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia this year for the hajj, which begins in early March. The hajj is required once in a lifetime of every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it.