What Is the Wisdom Behind Kissing the Black Stone?
Question: What is the wisdom behind kissing the Black Stone? Is it to seek blessing (barakah) thereby?
Answer from Sheikh Muhammad ibn Salih Al-`Uthaymeen
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
As for kissing the Black Stone, it is an act of worship in which a person kisses a stone to which he has no connection except worshipping Allah by venerating it and following the Messenger of Allah by doing that.
The late prominent Saudi Muslim scholar, Sheikh Ibn `Uthaymeen, states:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) explained the wisdom behind tawaf when he said: “Circumambulation of the Kabah (tawaf), going between As-Safa and al-Marwah (sa`i), and stoning the Jamarat have only been ordained to establish the remembrance of Allah.” (Abu Dawud)
The one who circumambulates the House of Allah (may He be exalted) does that whilst feeling awe of Allah in his heart.
Thus, he is in a state of remembrance of Allah and all his movements – walking, kissing or touching the Black Stone and the Yemeni Corner, or pointing to the Black Stone – all come under the heading of remembering Allah because they are all acts of worship, and all acts of worship are remembrance of Allah in general terms.
As for the words that he utters of takbeer, dhikr and duaa, they obviously come under the heading of remembering Allah.
As for kissing the Black Stone, it is an act of worship in which a person kisses a stone to which he has no connection except worshipping Allah by venerating it and following the Messenger of Allah by doing that, as it is proven that Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said, when he kissed the Black Stone: I know that you are a stone and have no power to harm or benefit; were it not that I saw the Prophet kissing you, I would not have kissed you.
With regard to what some ignorant people think, that the purpose behind that is to seek blessing from it, there is no basis for that, so it is invalid.
With regard to what some heretics have said that circumambulating the Kabah is like circumambulating the graves of their saints, and that it is tantamount to idolatry, this is part of their heresy.
The believers only circumambulate it in compliance with the command of Allah, and whatever is done in compliance with the command of Allah, doing it is an act of worship of Allah.
Do you not see that prostrating to anything other than Allah is major shirk, but when Allah commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam, prostration to Adam was an act of worship to Allah and refusing to prostrate to him was an act of disbelief?
Hence circumambulation of the Kabah is one of the greatest acts of worship; it is the foundation of the Hajj, and Hajj is one of the pillars of Islam.
Hence when the place of tawaf is calm, the one who does tawaf experiences the joy of tawaf and feels in his heart that he is close to his Lord, which confirms the virtue and high status of the House of Allah. And it is Allah Whose help we seek. (Shaykh Muhammad ibn Uthaymeen, Fatawa al-Aqeedah, p. 28-29)
Almighty Allah knows best.
Source: www.islamqa.info