The ruling on kissing the Black Stone amidst the crowd

Question:
In his final question, he says: Shaykh, I saw some of the people performing tawaf with women and children, pushing them to kiss the Stone. Which is better: kissing the Stone, or keeping away from the crowding of the men?

Answer:
Do not crowd; women do not crowd. Men, children, and the weak do not crowd, because there is danger to them from the crowding. A man does not crowd a woman, and a woman does not crowd a man at the Stone, because of the fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) involved in that. The prescribed practice is that one points to the Stone, even from the farthest part of the tawaf path, when it is opposite him; he points to it with his hand and says takbir (Allahu akbar). This is the prescribed practice. Do not crowd, because crowding that leads to fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) or harm is forbidden. One does not crowd for the sake of the sunnah (recommended practice) of touching the Stone. Touching the Stone is a sunnah (recommended practice), but crowding that involves fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) or harm is forbidden. Yes.