Miscellaneous by Al-Albani-186
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : And from 'Abbas ibn Rabi'ah, who said: "I saw 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) kissing the Stone, meaning the Black Stone, and saying "Indeed, I know that you are a stone that neither harms nor benefits, and were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you". This hadith from Ibn 'Umar is too well-known to need mention.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : From 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), it is too well-known to need mention. But with great regret, very few people benefit from the benefit that 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) intended with this statement when he said it before the Black Stone. They do not benefit from the benefit 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) intended, even though it is explicit in this statement. When 'Umar ibn al-Khattab stood before the Black Stone during one of his pilgrimages in his caliphate to kiss it, he said "Indeed, I know that you are a stone that neither harms nor benefits, and were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you". 'Umar's statement represents the principle of the Salafi call that we call ourselves.
- And upon you be peace -.
'Umar's statement is, in fact, the methodology of our call to which we invite people, which is following the Messenger (peace be upon him) in both action and omission. We do what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did in terms of acts of obedience and worship, and we leave what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) left, even if we think it is an act of obedience or worship. We do what he did and leave what he left, because 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) explicitly says to the stone: "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah kissing you, I would not have kissed you." Why? Because what is the meaning of kissing? It is that the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not legislate for us anything except that we resemble the Legislator, who is Allah, who legislates for people what He wills. So we legislate from ourselves what we will, and this is not permissible.[Ash-Shuraa 42:21] There is absolutely no difference between a man who kisses something to draw near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that the Messenger of Allah did not legislate for us, as some of the grave-worshippers do by kissing the thresholds, doors, windows, and shutters of the graves of the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous. There is absolutely no difference between this kissing, which the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not legislate, and a man who builds a house for people and orders them to circumambulate it, or circumambulates it himself. There is no difference; he is a disbeliever, except for one difference: many people have become accustomed to kissing the thresholds and doors of the awliya and the righteous, so they found it acceptable and liked it, and... and until today, praise be to Allah, no shaykh among the shaykhs has built a house, decorated it, and then started circumambulating it with his companions.
This has not happened, but if it did, it would be the same as this kissing they do today... Why? Because this is what the Messenger of Allah legislated, and that is what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) legislated.
Today we kiss many things that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do. So why do we not say, as 'Umar said, "Since the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not kiss you, I do not kiss you," and when he did kiss it, we say, "Since the Messenger kissed you, we kiss you"? Why do we not follow 'Umar's method in this? Because we have deviated from Islam and deviated from the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, while we claim that we follow the Rightly Guided Caliphs. If we tell people to pray tarawih for eleven rak'ahs, they rise up against us and say, "'Umar ibn al-Khattab prayed it for twenty." They are wrong in that, and 'Umar did not pray it except as the Messenger (peace be upon him) prayed it, for eleven rak'ahs. In the thing that 'Umar did not do and is not established from him, they cling to it and act upon it, though it is not established from 'Umar and is contrary to the Sunnah. And in the thing that 'Umar would not do, they cling to it and say, "Brother, what is the problem?" We give a tangible example of this. Now, this book and the hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him): when I open the lesson with it, I take it and do this with it. Many people do this, especially with the Noble Qur'an. If I rebuke people for kissing the Noble Qur'an, they rise up against you all at once and say to you, "This is honoring the Qur'an." We say, as 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you." Did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kiss the mushaf? Did he kiss the Noble Qur'an? Did he kiss a written hadith in his time (peace be upon him)? No. Did he kiss the walls and thresholds of the righteous among his Companions, the martyrs who died before him in the path of Allah? He did not do any of that.
So, is it prescribed for us to kiss the mushaf? There is no book better than the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), which is the Noble Qur'an. Is it prescribed to kiss it? All people kiss the Qur'an, and when people bring the Qur'an into a gathering, they... stand up. This is what souls incline toward without doubt; souls are enslaved to it because it is a very sensitive emotional issue. Therefore, you hardly find anyone who rebukes this act, which is standing up for the Qur'an when it is brought into a gathering, or kissing it when a person receives it to read from it. We follow 'Umar's rule: "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah kissing you, I would not have kissed it." So 'Umar did not kiss the stone if the Messenger had not kissed it, but he saw the Messenger kissing it, so he kissed it. Did the Messenger (peace be upon him) kiss the mushaf? The answer is no... and we leave off innovations; we do not kiss it. As for the people who take their religion with their minds and emotions, they say, "We are the ones who call people to follow the Book and the Sunnah, so we do not do anything that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do." Our evidence for this is very abundant, and we are not now in the position of citing it, but we are in the position of reading what came in this chapter in this famous book, al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib by al-Mundhiri. This is 'Umar's statement addressing the Black Stone: "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you". This is the principle of every Muslim, or it should be the principle of every Muslim: not to do anything that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do. And what is appropriate for this place is that 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas performed Hajj in the time of Mu'awiyah with Mu'awiyah. When Mu'awiyah came to the tawaf (circumambulation) and started, as is the custom and Sunnah, with the Black Stone, he kissed the Black Stone. Then when he passed the first and second Sham corners, he wiped his hand with them, and likewise for the Yemeni corner, he wiped his hand. 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas rebuked him for that and said to him, "Wipe only the Yemeni corners." Mu'awiyah's answer, which we state explicitly, is the answer of the innovators today, and Mu'awiyah... was a Companion, but some of the Sunnah was hidden from him, as you will see, and we should take a lesson from this. Mu'awiyah's answer to Ibn 'Abbas when he rebuked him for wiping the four corners of the Ka'bah was: he said to him "There is no part of the House that is neglected". All the blessing of the House, why should I not wipe all its corners? He said to him "The Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is the best of what you say. He (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wipe the Yemeni corner and kiss the Black Stone, and he did not wipe the two Sham corners". So Ibn 'Abbas argued with Mu'awiyah using the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him). He said to him, "Seek blessing, wipe what he wiped, and leave what he left. The Sunnah is better than your statement." And we must now illustrate for you, for those who have not performed Hajj, what is meant by this statement, as it may be hidden from them.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : This, my sir, is mostly in Sahih Muslim.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, the Ka'bah is a large cubic building, meaning it has four corners. This is a corner and this is a corner, and it is square, so here is a corner and here is a corner.
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
These two corners, the Ka'bah is approximately fifteen meters high. It is roughly cubic, meaning the height is about the same as the length, roughly a hand's span like this. So these corners: one, two, three, four. Two of them are toward the south, meaning toward Yemen, and two of them are toward the Levant, toward us. The two corners toward the Levant are called and known as the Levantine corners, and these two corners toward Yemen are called the Yemeni corners. This is one, and this is the second. This corner is the southeast direction, and this is the southwest corner. These two corners... this corner here is the southeast corner, which contains the Black Stone; it is this angle. So when the pilgrim begins and leans in, his tawaf starts from here, from the Black Stone.
The questioner : A northeast corner, or a southeast corner?
The Shaykh : Southeast, this is as...
The questioner : The four directions.
The Shaykh : As it is...
...
The Shaykh : As we represent reality, I have performed Hajj, praise be to Allah, four times, so I will describe to you as I saw it.
The questioner : ... the mercy ... the mercy between the Levantine corners.
The Shaykh : The spout of mercy; I did not know it, and I did not know it until I was... because this has no basis.
The questioner : It does not mean in...
The Shaykh : It is not sufficient with these Yemeni and Levantine corners.
The questioner : The Levantine ones.
The Shaykh : And these Yemeni corners.
Another questioner: Yes, exactly.
The Shaykh : The southeast corner is the one that contains the Black Stone. So, when a person begins tawaf, he stands here facing the Black Stone and walks off toward the north, passing by this corner, this first Levantine corner, and this second Levantine corner. This is the second Yemeni corner, because the first one is the one with the Black Stone, and this second one is to the southwest. What did Mu'awiyah do? When he stood to begin tawaf at the Black Stone, he kissed the Stone, and this is a recommended practice (sunnah). When he came to the first Levantine corner, he touched it with his hand and sought blessing from it. Then when he came here, he also touched it and sought blessing from it. And when he came here, he also touched it. Ibn 'Abbas observed him and disapproved of that, saying, "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not touch anything but the two Yemeni corners." He kissed this one, wiped this one with his hand, and it is not prescribed to kiss this one; only touching it is prescribed. What was Mu'awiyah's answer? He said, "The entire House is a blessing, so there is nothing neglected." He said to him, "The Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is better than what you say." Does the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) not know what we know about the etiquettes of tawaf, the Ka'bah, its recommended practices, its obligations, and its pillars? Does he not know that the entire House is a blessing? Without a doubt, he knows. So why did he kiss this one, wipe this one with his hand, and leave this one and this one? Because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is the One who prescribed that for him and informed him that this kissing is prescribed, and this touching is prescribed, but for this one and this one, kissing is not prescribed. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do it. If kissing the Levantine corners had been prescribed and part of the Sunnah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would have prescribed it for the community. Since he left it, it is Sunnah for us to leave it. The scholars have mentioned the reason for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) leaving the touching of the Levantine corners. What is the reason? They said the reason is that these Levantine corners are not in the position of Ibrahim (peace be upon him). The description I gave you of these corners: there is a wall, about a meter high, forming a semicircle.
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And peace be upon you.
An arch around the corners, but the ends of the arch are not connected to the corners; there is a gap here of about a meter. A gap from the corner to the first end of this arch, and then another gap at the second end, such that a person can... in the middle is what is called al-Hajar or al-Hatim. So when people perform tawaf, they do not enter this gap, but they pass behind the arch, behind this wall which is about a meter high. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified to us the reality of this place surrounded by the arch of the wall. When he entered during the Farewell Pilgrimage, when he entered the Ka'bah and prayed in it, 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) wanted to enter the Ka'bah and pray in it, following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). This is also a hadith that came incidentally on the occasion of our chapter here on the Companions following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) enter the interior of the Ka'bah, so she wanted to do as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did. But entering the House of Allah, the Ka'bah, the interior of the Ka'bah, has been and remains, unfortunately, one of the most difficult things, because one cannot enter it except by a step, by a ladder, because its door is high, above a person's height. So today, it is their custom after the Hajj season that the prince or the king himself comes. These are matters, of course, that have nothing to do with Islam; they are displays for which Allah has not sent down any authority. They place this ladder at the door, and the prince or king comes up, enters, and prays in the interior of the Ka'bah. They allow some of the prominent people to enter, but for the general public, they allow them to enter only with fighting and struggling for the Sacred House of Allah. This is the current state of the Ka'bah: one cannot enter it except by a ladder, and entry is not allowed except for the prominent people. As for the shepherds and the general public, they cannot enter the interior of the Ka'bah and follow the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
This is the current state, and this was the case in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And this is an innovation in the matter, namely that the ground of the Ka'bah is high and the door of the Ka'bah is high, so one cannot ascend to it except by a ladder. This is contrary to what the Ka'bah was when our father Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him) built it. This is how the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) found the Ka'bah when he prayed in it. 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) wanted to ascend and enter to pray in the interior of the Ka'bah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her, "Pray in al-Hajar." What is al-Hajar? The place that is between the Levantine corners and the arch of the wall; this is called al-Hajar. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to 'A'ishah:Sunan an-Nasa'i 2911Sahih (Darussalam) This open place that is surrounded by this arch of the wall is part of the House. So why would you exhaust yourself and go up... the crowd and miss praying in the Ka'bah? Do not exhaust yourself; pray in this open place that is easy to reach, for it is part of the House, and your people . Meaning, he included the open place surrounded by this arch of the wall, adding it to the Ka'bah, because it is originally part of the Ka'bah. The polytheists, when they destroyed the House in a time before the revelation of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), it was struck by fire, so they were unable to rebuild the Ka'bah on the foundation of Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him), meaning by including al-Hajar in the interior of the Ka'bah. So they excluded al-Hajar from the Ka'bah, and the Ka'bah became two parts: a built cubic part, and a part outside the Ka'bah, which is al-Hajar surrounded by this arch of the wall. Meaning, I would have included al-Hajar in the Ka'bah and made it two doors, and placed them at ground level. This entire height would be removed by him (peace and blessings be upon him) and abolished. This was an arrangement the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to make it easy for people to enter the Ka'bah and pray in it, and then exit from the other door. This is one of the arrangements that people follow today in building their houses, let alone large palaces. But the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not demolish the Ka'bah and did not do what he wanted for the people of making it easy by making the Ka'bah have two doors at ground level, a door to enter from and a door to exit from. Why? Out of fear that some of the weak in faith would be affected by the demolition and say, "What did he leave for us but to demolish it for us and spoil it for us? Even the Ka'bah, he did not leave it as we found our fathers and grandfathers had it; he demolished it for us." So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had, of course, a feeling and a keen awareness, and it was sufficient for him that he was inspired from the sky. So he observed the emotions of people and observed the whispers of people, and he concealed things from them to a very great extent. Among that, he left the building of the Ka'bah as he found it, with a large part of it outside the Ka'bah. Why? So that the faith of some people would not waver if the Ka'bah were demolished and its building renewed and it were given two doors, a door to enter from and a door to exit from.
Once we understand this, and it is established in the two Sahihs, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not touch these two corners because these two corners are not part of the structure built by Ibrahim (peace be upon him). The corners must be at the wall, at the arch of the stone. So the legislative wisdom required leaving the touching of the two Sham corners, because they are not from what Ibrahim (peace be upon him) built. Unlike, yes, this is the reason, unlike the two Yemeni corners, which are in the state Ibrahim (peace be upon him) left them, especially since the first one contains the Black Stone. When 'Umar ibn al-Khattab stood to kiss the Black Stone, he said: "I know that you are a stone that neither harms nor benefits, and were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you". This hadith provides a great example for us in two aspects. The positive aspect confirms that the believer is submissive and follows the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) without subjecting his intellect to judgment. The negative aspect is also following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in the things he left and did not do. So he is a follower who follows the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in both action and omission. 'Umar saw his Prophet kissing the stone, and the stone neither harms nor benefits, so he kissed it while knowing that it is a stone that neither harms nor benefits. Why did he kiss it? Because he knew that the Messenger is protected from error, and that if he does an action, it is by revelation from the sky. "He does not speak from desire. It is only a revelation that is revealed." And why does he not kiss these two northern corners? Because he saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) not kissing them. Why does he not touch them? Because he saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) not touching them.
This is the example of the believer who follows completely in action and omission. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) kissed the stone, so he kisses it. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) left kissing the second Yemeni corner, so he does not kiss it. It is not prescribed to kiss it, contrary to what many pilgrims do today due to their ignorance of the Sunnah. When they come to the Yemeni corner, they kiss it as well, even though the Sunnah is only to touch it with the hand. As for the two Sham corners, they are not touched with the hand nor kissed with the mouth. Why? Because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do so. So, "Were it not that I saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you". This is the path of every Muslim Salafi who wants to act as the righteous Salaf did: to do what they did and to leave what they left.
The mushaf: the righteous Salaf did not kiss it, so it is not prescribed for us to kiss it. If a person says, "What is the harm in kissing it?" then all this talk is wasted with him. What is the harm if 'Umar had kissed something from the other corners of the Ka'bah that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not kiss? The harm is that he would have contradicted the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
Contradicting the Messenger is not only through zina and theft, but also through worshipping and drawing near to Allah with something that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not prescribe.
This is a contradiction of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and this hadith of 'Umar is before us as the greatest example of that. So memorize this word of 'Umar and do not think that it only prescribes for us kissing the Black Stone. No, it establishes a rule and a methodology for proceeding in these actions that people do or leave.
We either do or leave, and the principle of action and omission is the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). What he did, we do, and what he left, we leave.
So if we leave kissing the mushaf and come to kissing the garment of the learned man, or rubbing against the body of the shaykh who delivered the khutbah and descended from the pulpit on Friday, and the people are before him seeking blessing from him and rubbing against him, did the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) do this with him, even though he (peace and blessings be upon him) was the purest person who ever existed on earth? The answer is no. So, of these people whom people rub against and seek blessing from, this is a bid'ah (religious innovation) among the innovations that the words of 'Umar explicitly address: "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah kissing you, I would not have kissed you." We apply this: "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah doing this, I would not have done it." "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reading such and such, I would not have read it." And so on. You can then say that these additions before the adhan, after the adhan, before the iqamah, after the iqamah, and the prayer before the iqamah, which they call the "tarqiyah" on Friday, and the like, none of these things were done by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So do we do them? No, because 'Umar taught us, saying: "Were it not that I saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you". So if we know that the Messenger did not do something, we do not do it, because 'Umar, had he not known that the Messenger kissed it, would not have kissed it. Therefore, we found him kissing what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) kissed and leaving what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) left kissing.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : From 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), it is too well-known to need mention. But with great regret, very few people benefit from the benefit that 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) intended with this statement when he said it before the Black Stone. They do not benefit from the benefit 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) intended, even though it is explicit in this statement. When 'Umar ibn al-Khattab stood before the Black Stone during one of his pilgrimages in his caliphate to kiss it, he said "Indeed, I know that you are a stone that neither harms nor benefits, and were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you". 'Umar's statement represents the principle of the Salafi call that we call ourselves.
- And upon you be peace -.
'Umar's statement is, in fact, the methodology of our call to which we invite people, which is following the Messenger (peace be upon him) in both action and omission. We do what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did in terms of acts of obedience and worship, and we leave what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) left, even if we think it is an act of obedience or worship. We do what he did and leave what he left, because 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) explicitly says to the stone: "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah kissing you, I would not have kissed you." Why? Because what is the meaning of kissing? It is that the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not legislate for us anything except that we resemble the Legislator, who is Allah, who legislates for people what He wills. So we legislate from ourselves what we will, and this is not permissible.
Or have they other deities who have ordained for them a religion to which Allah has not consented?
أم لهم شركاء شرعوا لهم من الدين ما لم يأذن به اللهThis has not happened, but if it did, it would be the same as this kissing they do today... Why? Because this is what the Messenger of Allah legislated, and that is what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) legislated.
Today we kiss many things that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do. So why do we not say, as 'Umar said, "Since the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not kiss you, I do not kiss you," and when he did kiss it, we say, "Since the Messenger kissed you, we kiss you"? Why do we not follow 'Umar's method in this? Because we have deviated from Islam and deviated from the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, while we claim that we follow the Rightly Guided Caliphs. If we tell people to pray tarawih for eleven rak'ahs, they rise up against us and say, "'Umar ibn al-Khattab prayed it for twenty." They are wrong in that, and 'Umar did not pray it except as the Messenger (peace be upon him) prayed it, for eleven rak'ahs. In the thing that 'Umar did not do and is not established from him, they cling to it and act upon it, though it is not established from 'Umar and is contrary to the Sunnah. And in the thing that 'Umar would not do, they cling to it and say, "Brother, what is the problem?" We give a tangible example of this. Now, this book and the hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him): when I open the lesson with it, I take it and do this with it. Many people do this, especially with the Noble Qur'an. If I rebuke people for kissing the Noble Qur'an, they rise up against you all at once and say to you, "This is honoring the Qur'an." We say, as 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you." Did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kiss the mushaf? Did he kiss the Noble Qur'an? Did he kiss a written hadith in his time (peace be upon him)? No. Did he kiss the walls and thresholds of the righteous among his Companions, the martyrs who died before him in the path of Allah? He did not do any of that.
So, is it prescribed for us to kiss the mushaf? There is no book better than the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), which is the Noble Qur'an. Is it prescribed to kiss it? All people kiss the Qur'an, and when people bring the Qur'an into a gathering, they... stand up. This is what souls incline toward without doubt; souls are enslaved to it because it is a very sensitive emotional issue. Therefore, you hardly find anyone who rebukes this act, which is standing up for the Qur'an when it is brought into a gathering, or kissing it when a person receives it to read from it. We follow 'Umar's rule: "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah kissing you, I would not have kissed it." So 'Umar did not kiss the stone if the Messenger had not kissed it, but he saw the Messenger kissing it, so he kissed it. Did the Messenger (peace be upon him) kiss the mushaf? The answer is no... and we leave off innovations; we do not kiss it. As for the people who take their religion with their minds and emotions, they say, "We are the ones who call people to follow the Book and the Sunnah, so we do not do anything that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do." Our evidence for this is very abundant, and we are not now in the position of citing it, but we are in the position of reading what came in this chapter in this famous book, al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib by al-Mundhiri. This is 'Umar's statement addressing the Black Stone: "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you". This is the principle of every Muslim, or it should be the principle of every Muslim: not to do anything that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do. And what is appropriate for this place is that 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas performed Hajj in the time of Mu'awiyah with Mu'awiyah. When Mu'awiyah came to the tawaf (circumambulation) and started, as is the custom and Sunnah, with the Black Stone, he kissed the Black Stone. Then when he passed the first and second Sham corners, he wiped his hand with them, and likewise for the Yemeni corner, he wiped his hand. 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas rebuked him for that and said to him, "Wipe only the Yemeni corners." Mu'awiyah's answer, which we state explicitly, is the answer of the innovators today, and Mu'awiyah... was a Companion, but some of the Sunnah was hidden from him, as you will see, and we should take a lesson from this. Mu'awiyah's answer to Ibn 'Abbas when he rebuked him for wiping the four corners of the Ka'bah was: he said to him "There is no part of the House that is neglected". All the blessing of the House, why should I not wipe all its corners? He said to him "The Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is the best of what you say. He (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wipe the Yemeni corner and kiss the Black Stone, and he did not wipe the two Sham corners". So Ibn 'Abbas argued with Mu'awiyah using the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him). He said to him, "Seek blessing, wipe what he wiped, and leave what he left. The Sunnah is better than your statement." And we must now illustrate for you, for those who have not performed Hajj, what is meant by this statement, as it may be hidden from them.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : This, my sir, is mostly in Sahih Muslim.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, the Ka'bah is a large cubic building, meaning it has four corners. This is a corner and this is a corner, and it is square, so here is a corner and here is a corner.
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
These two corners, the Ka'bah is approximately fifteen meters high. It is roughly cubic, meaning the height is about the same as the length, roughly a hand's span like this. So these corners: one, two, three, four. Two of them are toward the south, meaning toward Yemen, and two of them are toward the Levant, toward us. The two corners toward the Levant are called and known as the Levantine corners, and these two corners toward Yemen are called the Yemeni corners. This is one, and this is the second. This corner is the southeast direction, and this is the southwest corner. These two corners... this corner here is the southeast corner, which contains the Black Stone; it is this angle. So when the pilgrim begins and leans in, his tawaf starts from here, from the Black Stone.
The questioner : A northeast corner, or a southeast corner?
The Shaykh : Southeast, this is as...
The questioner : The four directions.
The Shaykh : As it is...
...
The Shaykh : As we represent reality, I have performed Hajj, praise be to Allah, four times, so I will describe to you as I saw it.
The questioner : ... the mercy ... the mercy between the Levantine corners.
The Shaykh : The spout of mercy; I did not know it, and I did not know it until I was... because this has no basis.
The questioner : It does not mean in...
The Shaykh : It is not sufficient with these Yemeni and Levantine corners.
The questioner : The Levantine ones.
The Shaykh : And these Yemeni corners.
Another questioner: Yes, exactly.
The Shaykh : The southeast corner is the one that contains the Black Stone. So, when a person begins tawaf, he stands here facing the Black Stone and walks off toward the north, passing by this corner, this first Levantine corner, and this second Levantine corner. This is the second Yemeni corner, because the first one is the one with the Black Stone, and this second one is to the southwest. What did Mu'awiyah do? When he stood to begin tawaf at the Black Stone, he kissed the Stone, and this is a recommended practice (sunnah). When he came to the first Levantine corner, he touched it with his hand and sought blessing from it. Then when he came here, he also touched it and sought blessing from it. And when he came here, he also touched it. Ibn 'Abbas observed him and disapproved of that, saying, "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not touch anything but the two Yemeni corners." He kissed this one, wiped this one with his hand, and it is not prescribed to kiss this one; only touching it is prescribed. What was Mu'awiyah's answer? He said, "The entire House is a blessing, so there is nothing neglected." He said to him, "The Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is better than what you say." Does the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) not know what we know about the etiquettes of tawaf, the Ka'bah, its recommended practices, its obligations, and its pillars? Does he not know that the entire House is a blessing? Without a doubt, he knows. So why did he kiss this one, wipe this one with his hand, and leave this one and this one? Because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is the One who prescribed that for him and informed him that this kissing is prescribed, and this touching is prescribed, but for this one and this one, kissing is not prescribed. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do it. If kissing the Levantine corners had been prescribed and part of the Sunnah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would have prescribed it for the community. Since he left it, it is Sunnah for us to leave it. The scholars have mentioned the reason for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) leaving the touching of the Levantine corners. What is the reason? They said the reason is that these Levantine corners are not in the position of Ibrahim (peace be upon him). The description I gave you of these corners: there is a wall, about a meter high, forming a semicircle.
The questioner : Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And peace be upon you.
An arch around the corners, but the ends of the arch are not connected to the corners; there is a gap here of about a meter. A gap from the corner to the first end of this arch, and then another gap at the second end, such that a person can... in the middle is what is called al-Hajar or al-Hatim. So when people perform tawaf, they do not enter this gap, but they pass behind the arch, behind this wall which is about a meter high. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified to us the reality of this place surrounded by the arch of the wall. When he entered during the Farewell Pilgrimage, when he entered the Ka'bah and prayed in it, 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) wanted to enter the Ka'bah and pray in it, following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). This is also a hadith that came incidentally on the occasion of our chapter here on the Companions following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) enter the interior of the Ka'bah, so she wanted to do as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did. But entering the House of Allah, the Ka'bah, the interior of the Ka'bah, has been and remains, unfortunately, one of the most difficult things, because one cannot enter it except by a step, by a ladder, because its door is high, above a person's height. So today, it is their custom after the Hajj season that the prince or the king himself comes. These are matters, of course, that have nothing to do with Islam; they are displays for which Allah has not sent down any authority. They place this ladder at the door, and the prince or king comes up, enters, and prays in the interior of the Ka'bah. They allow some of the prominent people to enter, but for the general public, they allow them to enter only with fighting and struggling for the Sacred House of Allah. This is the current state of the Ka'bah: one cannot enter it except by a ladder, and entry is not allowed except for the prominent people. As for the shepherds and the general public, they cannot enter the interior of the Ka'bah and follow the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
This is the current state, and this was the case in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And this is an innovation in the matter, namely that the ground of the Ka'bah is high and the door of the Ka'bah is high, so one cannot ascend to it except by a ladder. This is contrary to what the Ka'bah was when our father Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him) built it. This is how the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) found the Ka'bah when he prayed in it. 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) wanted to ascend and enter to pray in the interior of the Ka'bah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her, "Pray in al-Hajar." What is al-Hajar? The place that is between the Levantine corners and the arch of the wall; this is called al-Hajar. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to 'A'ishah:
Enter the Hijr for it is part of the House.
صلي في الحجر فإنه من البيتWhen their provisions ran short, they took this stone out of the Ka'bah. And were it not that your people are recent in their adoption of shirk (associating partners with Allah), I would have demolished the Ka'bah and rebuilt it on the foundation of Ibrahim (peace be upon him).
لمّا قصرت بهم النفقة أخرجوا هذا الحجر من الكعبة ولولا أن قومك حديثو عهد لهدمت الكعبة ولبنيتها على أساس إبراهيم عليه السلامAnd were it not that your people are recent in their adoption of shirk (associating partners with Allah), I would have demolished the Ka'bah and rebuilt it on the foundation of Ibrahim (peace be upon him).
ولولا أن قومك حديثو عهد بالشرك لهدمت الكعبة ولبنيتها على أساس إبراهيم عليه السلامAnd I would have made them two doors from the ground, one through which they enter and one through which they exit.
ولجعلتهما من الأرض بابا يدخلون منه وبابا يخرجون منهOnce we understand this, and it is established in the two Sahihs, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not touch these two corners because these two corners are not part of the structure built by Ibrahim (peace be upon him). The corners must be at the wall, at the arch of the stone. So the legislative wisdom required leaving the touching of the two Sham corners, because they are not from what Ibrahim (peace be upon him) built. Unlike, yes, this is the reason, unlike the two Yemeni corners, which are in the state Ibrahim (peace be upon him) left them, especially since the first one contains the Black Stone. When 'Umar ibn al-Khattab stood to kiss the Black Stone, he said: "I know that you are a stone that neither harms nor benefits, and were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you". This hadith provides a great example for us in two aspects. The positive aspect confirms that the believer is submissive and follows the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) without subjecting his intellect to judgment. The negative aspect is also following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in the things he left and did not do. So he is a follower who follows the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in both action and omission. 'Umar saw his Prophet kissing the stone, and the stone neither harms nor benefits, so he kissed it while knowing that it is a stone that neither harms nor benefits. Why did he kiss it? Because he knew that the Messenger is protected from error, and that if he does an action, it is by revelation from the sky. "He does not speak from desire. It is only a revelation that is revealed." And why does he not kiss these two northern corners? Because he saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) not kissing them. Why does he not touch them? Because he saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) not touching them.
This is the example of the believer who follows completely in action and omission. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) kissed the stone, so he kisses it. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) left kissing the second Yemeni corner, so he does not kiss it. It is not prescribed to kiss it, contrary to what many pilgrims do today due to their ignorance of the Sunnah. When they come to the Yemeni corner, they kiss it as well, even though the Sunnah is only to touch it with the hand. As for the two Sham corners, they are not touched with the hand nor kissed with the mouth. Why? Because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do so. So, "Were it not that I saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you". This is the path of every Muslim Salafi who wants to act as the righteous Salaf did: to do what they did and to leave what they left.
The mushaf: the righteous Salaf did not kiss it, so it is not prescribed for us to kiss it. If a person says, "What is the harm in kissing it?" then all this talk is wasted with him. What is the harm if 'Umar had kissed something from the other corners of the Ka'bah that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not kiss? The harm is that he would have contradicted the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
Contradicting the Messenger is not only through zina and theft, but also through worshipping and drawing near to Allah with something that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not prescribe.
This is a contradiction of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and this hadith of 'Umar is before us as the greatest example of that. So memorize this word of 'Umar and do not think that it only prescribes for us kissing the Black Stone. No, it establishes a rule and a methodology for proceeding in these actions that people do or leave.
We either do or leave, and the principle of action and omission is the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). What he did, we do, and what he left, we leave.
So if we leave kissing the mushaf and come to kissing the garment of the learned man, or rubbing against the body of the shaykh who delivered the khutbah and descended from the pulpit on Friday, and the people are before him seeking blessing from him and rubbing against him, did the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) do this with him, even though he (peace and blessings be upon him) was the purest person who ever existed on earth? The answer is no. So, of these people whom people rub against and seek blessing from, this is a bid'ah (religious innovation) among the innovations that the words of 'Umar explicitly address: "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah kissing you, I would not have kissed you." We apply this: "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah doing this, I would not have done it." "Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reading such and such, I would not have read it." And so on. You can then say that these additions before the adhan, after the adhan, before the iqamah, after the iqamah, and the prayer before the iqamah, which they call the "tarqiyah" on Friday, and the like, none of these things were done by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So do we do them? No, because 'Umar taught us, saying: "Were it not that I saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you". So if we know that the Messenger did not do something, we do not do it, because 'Umar, had he not known that the Messenger kissed it, would not have kissed it. Therefore, we found him kissing what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) kissed and leaving what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) left kissing.