(RNS) — Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein purchased sacred cloth that once covered the Kaaba, according to newly released files that include emails detailing a shipment of three framed pieces from Mecca to Florida.
The Kaaba Kiswah — or the black, gold-embroidered cloth that shrouds Islam’s holiest site in Saudi Arabia — is a revered artifact that carries spiritual meaning for Muslims worldwide.
The emails, included in the latest tranche of Epstein files unsealed Friday (Jan. 30) as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, show United Arab Emirates-based businesswoman Aziza al-Ahmadi working with a man named Abdullah al-Maari to organize the Kiswah shipment between February and March 2017.
“By the way the black piece was touched by minimum 10 million Muslims of different denominations, Sunni, Shia and others,” al-Ahmadi wrote to Epstein on March 22, 2017, nearly a decade after he first served time for sex crimes and two years before he was again arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking in July 2019.
The correspondence listed three pieces with pictures of the cloths and short explanations: one from inside the Kaaba, one from the exterior covering and a third cover that had not been used. The pieces were classified as “artworks” and transported via British Airways Air Cargo, the emails show.
It is unclear why Epstein was interested in the Kiswah or how he used the cloth pieces when they arrived at his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Saudi workers embroider Islamic calligraphy, using either pure silver thread or gold-plated silver thread, during the final stages in the preparation of a drape, or Kiswah, that covers the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure at the heart of the Grand Mosque, at the Kiswah factory in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Here are 3 things to know about the Kaaba and its decorative cover:
1. The Kaaba was a holy site prior to Islam.
Kaaba, meaning cube in Arabic, is considered by Muslims to be the “house of God” on Earth. Muslims believe it was built by the Prophet Ibrahim (known as Abraham in the Jewish tradition) and his son Ismail (Ishmael) as a house for monotheistic worship thousands of years ago.
The Kaaba retained its sacred status over the years. Before Islam was founded, the Kaaba housed idols and attracted a range of worshippers from Arab tribes across the Arabian Peninsula who visited for an annual pilgrimage.
The Kaaba became the focal point for Muslim worship and pilgrimage when the Prophet Muhammad and his Muslim followers returned to Mecca after exile, according to Islamic tradition.
All Muslims aspire to make the annual pilgrimage, or Hajj, to the Kaaba once in t