Explanation of the words of Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding what he quoted: "

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and all his Companions.
This hadith, which the author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned regarding 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) in the chapter on the command to follow the Sunnah and its etiquettes, describes how he (may Allah be pleased with him) was performing tawaf around the House, the Ka'bah, and he kissed the Black Stone. The Stone, as we know, is a stone from the earth placed in this corner, and Allah the Mighty and Majestic commanded, and indeed prescribed for His servants, to kiss it for the perfection of humility and servitude. Therefore, when 'Umar kissed it, he said: And he (may Allah be pleased with him) spoke the truth, for stones do not harm or benefit; harm and benefit are in the hand of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. However, he (may Allah be pleased with him) clarified that he kissed it solely to follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), saying: Meaning: I kiss you in following the Sunnah, not hoping for benefit or harm, but because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did so. Therefore, it is not prescribed to kiss anything of the Sacred Ka'bah except the Black Stone alone. As for the Yemeni Corner, it is touched, meaning wiped, but not kissed. The Black Stone is the best thing for a person to touch and kiss; touching it means wiping it with the right hand and kissing it. If that is not possible, he touches it and kisses his hand. If that is not possible, he points to it with something he has with him or with his hand, but he does not kiss what he pointed with, because that thing did not touch the Stone to be kissed. As for the Yemeni Corner, it is only touched, and the touching is done with the right hand. We see some ignorant people touching it with the left hand. The left hand, as the scholars said, is not used except for harm, filth, and ritual impurities, and the like. It is not to be used to honor the symbols of Allah. But most people are ignorant; they may not know why they touched this thing. Then, as for the remaining corners, the Sham Corner and the Iraqi Corner, meaning the North-East and North-West, these two corners are not kissed and not wiped. This is because they are not on the foundations of Ibrahim. The foundations of Ibrahim extended beyond the current structure. When Quraysh wanted to build the Ka'bah, they said: We will not build it except with pure money; we will not build it with money from usury or interest. Look, praise be to Allah; Allah magnifies His House even through the hands of disbelievers. They said: We cannot build it with money from usury or interest. So they gathered pure money, but it was not enough to build it on the foundations of Ibrahim. They considered from which side to reduce it, and they said: We will reduce it from the north, because the southern Yemeni side has the Black Stone, and it is not possible to reduce it from the side of the Black Stone. So they reduced it from there, and it was not on the foundations of Ibrahim. Therefore, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not kiss and did not wipe the North-East Corner or the North-West Corner. When Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) performed tawaf one year, and 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) was with him, Mu'awiyah was wiping the four corners: the Black Stone, the Yemeni Corner, the Northern, and the Western. So Ibn 'Abbas said to him: Meaning: The House is not abandoned; it is all respected and honored. So Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), who was more knowledgeable than Mu'awiyah, said: Meaning: The Corner of the Stone and the Yemeni Corner. He said: Because the previous caliphs, although they were like kings in grandeur and majesty, they returned to the truth. Therefore, Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) returned to the truth and said to him: And he stopped wiping the North-East Corner or the North-West Corner. In this hadith, which the author mentioned regarding 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), there is evidence of the ignorance of those people we see who stand at the Yemeni Corner, wipe it with their hand, and have a child with them whom they have carried
and then wipe their hand on the child to seek blessing from it. Likewise, if the Black Stone were available to him, this is undoubtedly a religious innovation and a type of minor shirk. What type of shirk? Because these people made something that is not a cause into a cause. The rule is: whoever makes something a cause for something without permission from the Lawgiver is an innovator. Therefore, it is obligatory for one who sees someone doing this to advise him and say: This is not prescribed; this is a religious innovation. This is so that people do not think that stones benefit or harm, and then their hearts become attached to them in something greater and more serious than this. The important point is that the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), clarified that he does not do this except to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and because he knows that there is no benefit or harm in it. In this is evidence that the perfection of worship of Allah is that a person submits to Allah the Mighty and Majestic, whether he knows the cause and wisdom in the prescribed act or not. Whether he knows the wisdom and cause of the legislation or not, you are a believer; you are told to do something, so you say: We hear and we obey. If you know the wisdom, it is light upon light; and if you do not know, the wisdom is the command of Allah and His Messenger. Therefore, Allah said in His Book: And Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) was asked: As if she (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The duty of the believer is to act according to the Shari'ah, whether he knows the wisdom or not. And this is the truth. We ask Allah to grant me and you the following of the Sunnah of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and to cause us to die upon it, and to gather us in his group. Indeed, He is Generous and Bountiful.