Is touching the Black Stone specific to the pilgrims only, or is it general for everyone?
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The questioner : He asks: Is touching the Black Stone specific to the pilgrims only, or is it general for everyone?
The Shaykh : What I know from the Sunnah is that touching the Black Stone is prescribed during the circumambulation, but it is not prescribed as an independent act. So, if one intends to perform the circumambulation, it is recommended for him to touch the Black Stone. If one does not intend to perform the circumambulation, then this is not recommended, as far as I know from the Sunnah. Nevertheless, it is not desirable for people to crowd around it to this extent, to the point that we sometimes see people who are praying the obligatory prayer and saying the closing salam before the imam in order to touch or kiss the Black Stone. This is ignorance. There is no doubt that what led these people to this action is the strength of their love and the strength of their emotion. But if the emotion is not in accordance with the Shari'ah, it becomes a destructive storm. So my advice to my brothers is not to crowd around the Black Stone. If it is easy for them, let them kiss it and touch it. If it is not easy, let them not burden themselves or others.
And let it be known that the purpose of kissing and touching the Black Stone is to exalt Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and to follow the example of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and the purpose is not seeking blessing from it. For the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, who was guided to the truth in his saying and his doing, stopped at the Black Stone and said: "By Allah, 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". As for what we see from some ignorant people, who have a child with them and they wipe the child's hand with the Black Stone or the Yemeni Corner, and then wipe the child's face and entire body with it, this has no basis, because...
The Shaykh : What I know from the Sunnah is that touching the Black Stone is prescribed during the circumambulation, but it is not prescribed as an independent act. So, if one intends to perform the circumambulation, it is recommended for him to touch the Black Stone. If one does not intend to perform the circumambulation, then this is not recommended, as far as I know from the Sunnah. Nevertheless, it is not desirable for people to crowd around it to this extent, to the point that we sometimes see people who are praying the obligatory prayer and saying the closing salam before the imam in order to touch or kiss the Black Stone. This is ignorance. There is no doubt that what led these people to this action is the strength of their love and the strength of their emotion. But if the emotion is not in accordance with the Shari'ah, it becomes a destructive storm. So my advice to my brothers is not to crowd around the Black Stone. If it is easy for them, let them kiss it and touch it. If it is not easy, let them not burden themselves or others.
And let it be known that the purpose of kissing and touching the Black Stone is to exalt Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and to follow the example of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and the purpose is not seeking blessing from it. For the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, who was guided to the truth in his saying and his doing, stopped at the Black Stone and said: "By Allah, 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". As for what we see from some ignorant people, who have a child with them and they wipe the child's hand with the Black Stone or the Yemeni Corner, and then wipe the child's face and entire body with it, this has no basis, because...