Ka'aba caretaker Saleh Bin Zain Al-Abdeen Al-Shebi urged rich Muslims to repossess the Ka'aba key sold at a British auction on Wednesday. But he initially rejected to take the claim of the authenticity of the sold key on its face value saying he can't yet confirm whether it was a real one. A 12th century key to the Ka'aba was sold for 9.2 million pounds ($18.1 million) late on Wednesday at Sotheby's in London, setting a new record for an Islamic work of art at auction. But if the claim was genuine, how did the Ka'aba key land in the British auction? Yet Al-Shebi didn't rule out the possibility of “smuggled Ka'aba keys during the early periods of Islamic governments that controlled Makkah.” He stressed on the security of Ka'aba keys for their religious and historic value saying since the foundation of modern Saudi Arabia, the Ka'aba door has been changed only twice with the same key and lock. The key has been secured and maintained ever since. If the precious relic, however, is confirmed to be a real one, it would be undoubtedly one of the oldest and of antique value, he said. - Okaz (Ahmad Doosh contributed to the story) __
