All
the religions of the world that have a significant number of followers
have one thing in common. The followers of these religions have their
own sacred places and relics whom there revere to the utmost level and
are submissive to their sanctity.
In
Islam also, there are Holy places, relics, and remains that are sacred
to Muslims and are respected because of their religious importance. One
of such relics that enjoys equal respect and reverence among all the
Muslims is the Hajre Aswad or commonly known as ‘The Black Stone’. This
post by QuranReading.com Academy today
tries to cover the history of Hajre Aswad, the significance it has in
Islam, and the expression of obedience of Muslims towards it.
History of Hajre Aswad:Hajre
Aswad is a black stone that is engraved in the southeast wall of the
Kabaah. There are different narrations that give a different account of
the background of the stone and its placement in the wall of Kaabah.
Regardless of the different narratives, the importance and respect of
the stone remains the same and it enjoys the same level of sanctity and
sacredness in all the narratives.
Out
of the different narratives, the most significant and the most
authentic one is the narrative of Hajre Aswad being a stone from Jannah
that was installed in Kabaah by Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and His son Hazrat
Ismail (AS). According to the narration, when Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and
His son started construction of Kabah on the order of Allah Almighty as a
place of worship and sanctity, they were a stone short in the building
of the walls.
Thus,
upon this Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) ordered His son to go and look for a
stone that could fit in the gap in order to complete the construction of
the holy place. Hazrat Ismail (AS) went in search of the stone, but
after a while when He could not find any suitable rock. and came back to
His father and saw that a rock was already placed in the empty space,
upon which He asked His father about the stone, regarding which Hazrat
Ibrahim replied that it was delivered to Him by Garbriel. Thus this
narrative proves that Hajre Aswad is a heavenly stone.
Pertaining to its heavenly origin and its true color, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in one of His hadiths:
“The
Black stone descended from paradise, and it was more white than milk,
then it was blacked by this sins of the children of Adam.” (Tirmidhi)
This
hadith proves that Hajre Aswad is a stone that came from paradise, and
it was originally in pure white state, which then started, turning black
with the progression in the increasing sins of humankind.
Significance for Muslims:
Besides
the very fact that Hajre Aswad is a stone from Paradise, there are
numerous hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that prove the sanctity and
reverence of the stone and the kind of significance it has in Islam and
for the Muslims. The lines below give a few of the hadiths of Prophet
(PBUH) that point towards the importance and stature of Hajre Aswad in
Islam and the way a Muslim should perceive it.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in one of His hadiths:
“By
Allah! On the Day of Qiyaamah, Allah will present the Hajare Aswad in
such a manner that it will have two eyes and a tongue to testify to the
Imaan (faith) of all those who kissed it.” (Tirmidhi)
This
hadith points towards the kissing of Hajre Aswad (the details of which
will be covered in the latter part of the post) and how it will testify
for the faith of people who have kissed it on the Judgment Day.
Therefore, Hajre Aswad is not some ordinary stone and neither is the
kissing of it as kissing some ordinary stone, rather it holds importance
which will be exposed to the person on the Judgment Day.
In another hadith, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
“The
Hajre Aswad and al-Maqam (Ibrahim) are the two jewels from the jewels
of Paradise. Had Allah not concealed their radiance, they would
illuminate everything between the East and the West.” (Tirmidhi)
This
hadith again testifies to the importance and significance of Hajre
Aswad and as per this hadith, the stone and the place of Ibrahim (AS)
are of the jewels of Heavens and they both are radiant in their nature,
however, Allah Almighty has ceased their radiance so that the world
could stay normal and the natural order should not be disturbed.
Why Do Muslims Kiss Hajre Aswad:
One
of the major acts done in reverence of Hajre Aswad is its kissing.
Muslims in the form of kissing it exhibit the love and reverence for the
stone. Moreover, besides the expression of love, this reverence is also
a Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) kissed Hajre Aswad during the Tawaf He did during
Pilgrimage. Therefore, since then it has become a necessary element of
Tawaf and Muslims kiss the stone after every single circumambulation of
the Kaaba. Hence, in no way the kissing of Hajre Aswad is paying respect
to the stone, rather it is done just in the remembrance of Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH).
Although
the Muslims kissing the stone understand and know about the reason
behind their kissing of it, however, people who are non-believers or
those who have lack of knowledge about Islam have some misconceptions
pertaining to the kissing of black stone. A few of the major
misconceptions and their baseness is discussed below.
The
first misconception is that although Muslims believe in oneness of God
and forbid idolatry, yet the kissing of Hajre Aswad is a form of
idolatry and thus Muslims covertly commit idolatry by kissing the stone.
The simple answer to this misconception is that Muslims do not commit
idolatry by kissing the stone as they have no intention of gaining any
benefit from the stone and neither can it harm them, the kissing is
merely out of respect of the tradition of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who
kissed the stone out of love. Regarding this misconception, the following saying of Hazrat Umar (RA) stands as the best refuting argument, when after kissing Hajre Aswad Umar (RA) said:
“I
know well that you are just a stone that can do neither good nor harm.
Had I not seen the Prophet (PBUH) kiss you, I would not have done so.”This
declaration of Hazrat Umar (RA) shows the basic ideology of Muslims
pertaining to the kissing of stone, therefore, the notion that kissing
the stone is idolatry is a misconception with no bases in Islam.
The second misconception among non-knowledgeable masses is that they think that the stone is licked by the Muslims when they complete one circumambulation. This is wrong and Muslims only kiss the stone, moreover, the kiss can by either kissing the stone physically or symbolically by pointing towards it. Therefore, there is no licking involved in kissing of Hajre Aswad.
If you ever plan to visit the Holy Place, you would surely want to Kiss the sacred stone. For that, you are suggested to know the process involved to successfully reach and kiss Hajr e Aswad.
Bottom Line:
Concisely,
Hajre Aswad is a thing of Paradise and the only reason why Muslims kiss
it and give reverence to it is that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) kissed it
and held it reverend. Therefore, for a Muslim it is imperative to give
respect to the stone but keep the thing in mind that it is Allah
Almighty who needs to be worshiped and no stone can give either benefit
or harm to any person.
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