((انّ عمر بن الخطّاب رضی اللہ عنہ قال للرّکن؛ أما واللّٰہ انّی لأعلم أنک حجر، لا تضرّ ولا تنفع ، ولولا أنی رأیت رسول اللّٰہ صلّی اللہ علیہ وسلم استلمک ما استلمک، فاستلمہ، ثمّ قال؛ ما لنا و للرّمل ؟انّما کنّا راءینا المشرکین ، وقد أھلکھم اللّٰہ، ثمّ قال ؛ شییٔ صنعہ النّبیّ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم، فلا نحبّ أن نّترکہ.)) “Sayyidna Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) addressed the Rukn (the Black Stone) and said: Indeed I know that you are a stone; you neither harm nor benefit. Had I not seen the Prophet ﷺ kiss you, I would never have kissed you. Then he kissed it, and said: What have we to do with ramal? We only performed it to show the polytheists, and Allah has destroyed them. Then he said: This is a practice that the Prophet ﷺ did, so we do not like to abandon it.”
1٭ Only in the first three circuits of the Tawaf al-Qudum (arrival tawaf) in Hajj and Umrah, walking with shoulders swaggering and taking quick, short steps, “رمل“, is a Sunnah of the Prophet.
Benefit: The statement of Sayyidna Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), “Ramal is not a Sunnah”
, means that it is not a required and obligatory Sunnah without which Hajj would not be valid.
2٭ Only in the first three circuits of the Tawaf al-Qudum, idtiba’ (drawing the ihram cloth out from under the right shoulder and placing it over the left shoulder) is permissible, as narrated
: فیم الرّملان الیوم و الکشف عن المناکب.
3٭ There is evidence for the virtue of the Black Stone; the Prophet ﷺ said:
((الحجر الأسود من الجنّۃ، وکان أشد بیاضا من الثّلج، حتی سوّدتہ خطایا أھل الشّرک.))
“The Black Stone came from Paradise. It was whiter than snow, and the sins of the people of polytheism made it black.”
He also said:
((لولا ما مسّہ من أنجاس الجاھلیّۃ ما مسّہ ذو عاھۃ الا شفیٰ وما علی الارض شییٔ من الجنّۃ غیرھا))
“Had it not been touched by the impurities of the Jahiliyyah, whoever with an affliction touched it would be cured, and nothing on earth from Paradise exists besides it.”
And he said:
((لیبعثنّ اللّٰہ الحجر یوم القیامۃ، لہ عینان یبصر بھما ولسان ینطق بہ و یشھد علی من استلمہ بحقّ))
“On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will raise the Black Stone with two eyes by which it will see, and a tongue by which it will speak, and it will bear witness for whoever touched it with truth.”
4٭ Saying “Allahu Akbar”
and kissing the Black Stone during the tawaf is a Sunnah and recommended.
Sayyidna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) kissed the Black Stone, clung to it, and said: I saw that the Prophet ﷺ loved you greatly.
Benefit: In one narration:
وھو یمین اللّٰہ الّتی یصافح بھا خلقہ
“It is the hand of Allah on earth, with which Allah shakes hands with His creation.”
This chain is “da’if” (weak); in it, the narrator Abdullah ibn al-Mu’ammal is “da’if al-hadith” (weak in narration).
Its second chain
is “mawdu'” (fabricated); in it, Ishaq ibn Bishr is a “kadhdhab” (liar).
Sayyidna Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:
الحجر الأسود یمین اللّٰہ فی الأرض.
“The Black Stone is the hand of Allah on earth.”
This statement is “da’if” through all its chains.
5٭ Kissing is legislated only for the Black Stone.
6٭ A stone cannot benefit or harm.
Benefit: Sayyidna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyidna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him):
یا أمیر المؤمنین انّہ یضرّ و ینفع.
“O Amir al-Mu’minin! It both harms and benefits.”
This is a mawdu’ (fabricated) narration; in it, the narrator Abu Harun al-Abdi is a “kadhdhab” (liar).
7٭ The Black Stone is kissed not out of veneration for it, but out of following the Sunnah.
Benefit: The statement of Sayyidna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) is:
لولم یکن الحجر من البیت ما طفت.
“Had the Black Stone not been part of the House of Allah, I would not have performed tawaf around it.”
8٭ Calling the Black Stone “رکن” is also correct, because it is set in the corner of the Ka’bah.
9٭ It is permissible to address an inanimate object and make the listeners hear it.
10٭ It is permissible to take an oath in ordinary speech.
11٭ Sayyidna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was filled with the blessed zeal of obedience to the Messenger ﷺ.
12٭ Sometimes non-performance is evidence of non-legislation.
13٭ Whether the wisdom of religious matters is understood or not, they must be acted upon.
14٭ Explaining the wisdom of Shari’ah matters before new Muslims or those with weak faith is beneficial and useful.
15٭ One should keep far away even from the suspicion of shirk.
16٭ Kissing anything that is not legislated to be kissed is disliked.
17٭ Displaying strength and power in following the Sunnah, for the dominance of Islam, is commendable.
18٭ An act that the Prophet ﷺ performed for a particular reason will remain at the level of Sunnah always, even after that reason has ceased.
19٭ Showing off in worship is blameworthy only when it is done in the presence of people for the sake of display, and when it is not done in their absence.
20٭ In the blessed era of the Prophet ﷺ, Islam attained dominance and shirk and kufr were completely annihilated.
21٭ This hadith is a powerful proof of the virtue and excellence of Sayyidna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him).
