“ExHindu” (in response to an explanation regarding the Black Stone) wrote[dead link]:
- Give any explanation you want. I dont buy it. Arabs have been kissing that rock long before Mo[sic]. I call that IDOL Worshipping. You can label me as Islamophobe and I am proud that you give me that label. In the same manner, I anoint you a Hinduphobe.
I find it rather ironic to see someone who uses the moniker “ExHindu” accusing yours truly of being a “Hinduphobe”. After all, what does the use of the Internet username “ExHindu” really signify ? A case of the pot calling the kettle black, we cannot really say.
Nevertheless, I believe that it is time that a response to this rather annoying polemic about the nature of the Black Stone (al-Hajar al-Aswad) and its significance in Islam by those who have an axe to grind about Islam (or otherwise known tenderly as the “Islamophobics”) is finally needed.
We will look at the common allegations about the Black Stone and then seek to address the matters concerned, insha’Allah.
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Physical Description of the Black Stone (al-Hajar al-Aswad)
First, we shall describe the physical nature of the Stone itself. The Black Stone (Ar : ٱلْحَجَرُ ٱلْأَسْوَد, al-Hajar al-Aswad) is built into the Kaaba wall, at the eastern corner of the Kaaba, about 5 ft. above the ground level, not very far from the door of the Kaaba. The Kaaba itself can itself be described as a black box, which Muslims face in daily prayers.
Muslims believe that the Black Stone was originally given to Abraham, who built the Kaaba used the Black Stone as a corner stone for the structure. Abraham and Ishmael taught the early Makkan Arabs monotheism ; after the passing of Abraham and Ishmael, the Makkan Arabs with time regressed into pagan practices including idol worship. They ended up having a pantheon of gods, despite the original message of Abraham and Ishmael which taught the early Arabs to worship God alone (monotheism).
Going back to the Black Stone, it was originally a single piece of rock but todayconsists of three large pieces and several small fragments (in which it was formerly broken) stuck together and surrounded by a large ring of stone, which in turn is held together by a silver band.
Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhardt visited Mecca in 1814, and provided a detailed description as follows :
It is an irregular oval, about seven inches [18 cm] in diameter, with an undulated surface, composed of about a dozen smaller stones of different sizes and shapes, well joined together with a small quantity of cement, and perfectly well smoothed ; it looks as if the whole had been broken into as many pieces by a violent blow, and then united again. It is very difficult to determine accurately the quality of this stone which has been worn to its present surface by the millions of touches and kisses it has received. It appeared to me like a lava, containing several small extraneous particles of a whitish and of a yellow substance. Its colour is now a deep reddish brown approaching to black. It is surrounded on all sides by a border composed of a substance which I took to be a close cement of pitch and gravel of a similar, but not quite the same, brownish colour. This border serves to support its detached pieces ; it is two or three inches in breadth, and rises a little above the surface of the stone. Both the border and the stone itself are encircled by a silver band, broader below than above, and on the two sides, with a considerable swelling below, as if a part of the stone were hidden under it. The lower part of the border is studded with silver nails.
Burckhardt, Johann Ludwig (1829). Travels in Arabia, Comprehending an Account of Those Territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans Regard as Sacred. Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street. p. 250
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas said : The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said : “The Black Stone came down from Paradise.“
Material of the Black Stone
The material of the Black Stone has not been precisely determined. It is sometimes classified as lava and sometimes as basalt. The reason for this difficulty is that its visible surface is worn smooth by hand-touching, etc.
Some Islamophobes have begun a baseless attack on the appearance of the Black Stone by alleging that it looks like a vagina in order to insult Muslims. The silver frame around the Black Stone were for centuries maintained by the Ottoman Sultans in their role as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. This silver frame is a modern addition and the structure look doughnut shaped as a result. The frames wore out over time due to the constant handling by pilgrims and were periodically replaced.
It is reported that when the Prophet Muhammad(P) entered the city of Makkah as a victorious leader, there were 360 idols around the Kaaba
Thus saying that “Muslims worship the Black Stone as an idol” is clearly the most absurd thing ever pronounced in the history of mankind.
Significance of the Black Stone
From a physical perspective, therefore, the Black Stone does not have any special significance or importance.
Umar(R), later to become the second Caliph of Islam, is reported to have said that he fully realized that the Black Stone was merely a stone and thus had no power of its own to harm or benefit anyone
As for the reasons as to why we have the Black Stone in the wall of the Kaaba, we read about the following reasons, that :
- (a) it symbolizes the starting-point during the circumambulation of the Ka’abah, thus facilitating the remembrance of the number of circumambulations.
(b) at this point, the Muslims, who are close to the Kaaba (during their circumambulation) touch the stone, while those who are away from it, raise their hands towards it, symbolizing the renewal of their pledge of allegiance with the Lord of the Kaaba. In this symbolic expression, the Black Stone is taken as a symbol of an oath on the hand of God.
And with this, it is clear that this baseless assertion of Islamophobes is refuted. And only God knows best ! 
God sent moses wit a book, we muslim believe in it,he sent david,abraham,and jesus and muhammad (s.a.w) wit der books, we muslims all believe in them. Y do u xtian only believe in dat of jesus. D rest ar they not profet of god
First of all i would like to say that i’m not what you would called a religious man.but i do have something that can help straightening the right and wrong.so i will try to answer the questions that i know and perhaps someone else would reply the rest or correcting any of my mistakes.
1. Muslims do not compare Mariam and Aminah, our prophet’s mother.Muhammad (SAW) IS WITHOUT A DOUBT the most important human in the hearts of muslims.and because of that we also treasure his family and friends even in our prayers.I don’t really know much about the story of Mariam, the only thing that i know is that she was the mother of the prophet Isa(AS) and yet she remains a virgin.The story of Mariam was told in the holy Quran, in my opinion, is as to show to us, God’s humble slaves, that the ultimate supremacy of the ALMIGHTY can make anything happen and changing anything that is to our norms even to the point that we couldn’t understand as God pleases.
2. GOD IS THE ALMIGHTY.try to think, if God does have a mother and child, then what difference does it makes between the existence of God and all the living creatures roaming this universe?The existence of God such as how does God exist is not something that humans can understand and because of that the prophet Muhammad (SAW) once reminded us not to think so much about the origin of God because fearing that we might end up in the wrong, confused path.All that we know is that God exist and will never die.If you said that God has a mother, than who was the one created her?if she was born from another, who created the one before?and the one before?and the one before?we couldn’t think of this logic because we are stuck in the realm of ‘time’.But God does not, because ‘time’ itself is a creature of God.The reason is not because God cannot have a family, but it is because God doesn’t need one.We the creatures, need a family because we cannot live in this world alone.because we are weak, we need someone to support and to lay our back against.God doesn’t need any help from us or anyone.we need help from God.everyone needs help from God.
3. As for the third question, i’m sorry but i never recall anything from my learning that such stories were told in the Quran.As a muslim, we are not and never have been allowed to worship anything other than Allah S.W.T.If we did, than we risk to be sinned as syirik and may lead to being among the kafir.The ‘kallammullah’ or the words of Allah, were send to Muhammad (SAW) through various means.Some were sent through Jibril (A.S), some were sent in the form of a painful ringing, dreams and some were sent directly from God.If it was satan disguising himself to trick Muhammad (SAW), do you think satan himself would dare to imitate the voice of God?and during the Israk Mikraj, (the journey of Muhammad (SAW) to retrieve the order for solah) Muhammad (SAW) saw the heaven and hell, met with the previous prophets, and went straight up to meet the one and only Allah S.W.T..do you really think that satan is powerful enough as to create those situations.do you really think that satan would be able to get away by imposing himself as God?and have you ever wonder why satan is always trying his best to disturbed the development of Islam and not the development of the other religion?(note that i used the phrased ‘development’)
4. If you read the Quran, and any other Islamic books regarding the early age of Islam, you would know that the prophet Muhammad (SAW) spreads Islam in two stages.one is through stealth (towards family members and close friends) because considering it was a time when the Arabs were drowned in the faith of their ancestors and the joy of the world, bringing a new religion would bring quite an upstir.Even then the musyrikin manage to get the info about the spreading and thus the tortures and painful resentment were directed towards the muslims.but did the muslim gave up or sharpen their swords?no, they did not.instead, when the time is right, Muhammad (SAW) went for the second stage and begin spreading Islam openly.This of course took the tortures and hatred from the Arab musyrikin to a whole bunch of levels.But all through those time, our prophet Muhammad (SAW) have shown the true meaning of patience and determination.even when there was a time when Muhammad (SAW) was seriously injured doing his dakwah, and came an angel who look at him, angered he offered to throw a whole mountain upside down on the entire village if Muhammad (SAW) was willing to say so.but he did not.and you know why?because he said that among those people in the village, they might be some who will in the future be given hidayah by Allah and willingly accept Islam or perhaps they may gave birth to a might be muslim even when they are not.In Islam, there exist several reasons that allowed muslim to start or join a war.To protect and uphold the religion, to protect family and country, to uphold what is right and to prevent what is wrong, to give aid to those who are desperately in need, and a few others.but none of the reasons signifies that it is allowed to forced the non-muslim into accepting Islam through the eye of the sword.If they are anyone who wants to know or misunderstand Islam, it is the duty of muslim to teach them by ways such has been done by the prophet ; patience, istiqamah, forgiving and so on.Please do not compare the current situation that happens throughout the world nowadays with the true idealistic of Islam.Human beings are fragile creatures.most of the time, we let our heart decide what should have been decide by the brain.and because of that we tend to make decision and assumption based on what we feel is right but unfortunately, it might not be so right if we took the time to think long about it.Even in ‘dakwah’ or spreading the religion, we are teach to spread the benefit of what we would get when we died and that is the unimaginable pleasure of heaven, not scaring them by constantly talking about the unthinkable tortures that lies in hell.
God did not gave Muhammad(SAW) the power to convert people as simple as 123 because God wanted to set an example for us all, that even the one closest to God have to give something in return for another.and by that he gave his life of a world of pain, humiliations and sadness in exchange for us, his followers to live a life of endless pleasure in the afterlife.but Muhammad(SAW) as like the other messengers of Allah, were indeed given a ‘power’ or what we called a ‘mukjizat’.Sulaiman(AS) were able to talk and ordered animals, genies and elementals ; Ismail(AS) were able to sent water (zam-zam water) flowing out from beneath the hot dessert sands when he was a baby ; Musa(AS) was able to turn his stick into a mighty snake, and split the ocean into two ; Isa(AS) were born without a father and was able to speak when he was a baby ; and Muhammad(SAW) were able to let out waters from between his fingers and even give the moon a permanent scar when he was asked by the Arab musyrikin to prove he is the messenger of God.All of these examples are only a few of the mukjizat given by Allah SWT to the prophet and rasuls.
The nine year old girl was he’s legal wife, Saidatina Aishah.and never has anyone mention anywhere that he and Aishah had any sexual encounters when she was at that age.Muhammad(SAW) had many wives, that is indeed true.but except from Saidatina Aishah, all of the others are widows.except from Saidatina Khatijah, his first wife, most of the others had lost their husbands in wars, killed by the kafirs, and so on.because it was a time of turmoil and because the muslim were in a hard time, they were a lot of muslim women that lost their place to hang on, their husbands, and because fearing that they might not be able to live through such pressure, and perhaps endangering their lives, the muslim men back then married several women.
Nowadays, muslim men are allowed to married at max 4 women.but in order to do these, they must be really fair, in terms of wealth, relationships, needs and many more.unfortunately, muslim nowadays misunderstand that the reason for which men are allowed to married more than one is not because of lust.
Isa(AS) never told his followers to not get married.if you do not get married, how can you produced children?if the priest and priestess did not get married, or the faithfull did not get married, don’t you think that this world would be less inhabitants?God will not order and never told the messengers to spread words that are not relevant.Please understand, that marriage IS NOT SIMPLY A FREE PASS TO FULFILL YOUR LUST !
5. As for the fifth question, i’m sorry but i don’t think i have the sufficient knowledge to answer the question.perhaps you could search for a more religious person (Islamic of course) if you really need to know the reason why.
But if before anything, i would like to advice that you get the real story of what really happened.don’t listen to only half the opinion.perhaps even try going to Egypt to listen about the stories from there.
The thing about histories that are passed down through human writings and lips, are that they are often being over-exagerated and sometimes detours from the original line.That also implies to human made laws and overwritten human religious guides.
Even in Islam, there are several misunderstandings about the bidaah and hadith because of the ignorance of men.Only the Holy Quran and the true hadith are never changed.This is becaused both are guidances that are suitable to anyone, anyplace, anywhere and anytime ever since the passing of our beloved Muhammad(SAW).If you do not believe me, try look for the earlier copies of the holy Quran even back to about 1400 years ago and it still remains the same.Wallahualam.
I want to understand a few things first.
1. Why do Muslims believe that Jesus’ mother, Mary, is more important than Mohamed’s mother whom you view as a profit. What exactly did Christ do in your beliefs that made his mother more important than that of Mohamed’s since he was your messenger of a god ?
2. You say god cannot have a son or a mother ? Why not ? Are you implying that God isn’t almighty ? That he can’t do whatever he wills ? If he can create something as complicated as a the universe and the planets why can’t he have a mother, a son, or have three personalities like the trinity ?
3. In the Koran your prophet allowed the worship of the goddess Allat to gain the pagans as allies because your god said you can worship anything as long as you acknowledge Allah as supreme god. Later it was said that the angel Gabriel told him that it was not Allah who told him this but the devil. So then how do you know that it wasn’t Satan who told him what to do regarding other verses of your Koran, and how can he be sure that Gabriel wasn’t Satan as Satan has the power to make himself look like however he pleases ?
4. If you say your God is merciful and forgiving then why do you kill those who oppose Islam and have cleric’s issue fatwa’s against them if God is forgiving ? Is it perhaps that your prophet preferred the way of the sword over words, because he could not convince people and was illiterate ? Christ and his Apostle’s converted millions by words, not by swords and blood. If Mohamed was a prophet of a God why did he not simply ask this god to give him the power of converting people by the masses with words. Why could he not perform any miracles ? Why did he have sex with a 9 year old girl and had many wives whereas Christ had no wife and told his apostle’s to leave them if you are to truly follow him ? Why did Mohamed have wives, if he was a prophet then he would’ve understood the meaning of controlling carnal desires like lust like Christ did.
5. When St. Francis of Assisi went to Egypt during the crusade and nearly converted the sultan to Catholicism because of his knowledge of Christ, true god and true man, not prophet, why did the imams prevent the sultan’s conversion and issued that St. Francis needs to be killed because of what he is doing. It would seem to appear that after an infidel proves that there is something wrong in the Koran and that Christ is god, you want to kill them ? Why is that ? Is it because you cannot find anything in your holy book to contradict that person ? It seems that Muslims can only spread the faith by fear, war, killing, and raping. Perhaps you are still pagans, may you realize that Christ is god and may you be saved from God’s wrath. May Christ have mercy on your poor souls.
Sir
I read the pagan of today and the smiles of modern youths that have deviated from the religion. The Black Stone in Kabba was brought before the time of Prophet Mohammed (SAW) or in English Peace be Upon Him. This stone was brought from heaven exactly like the Holy book Quran, Bible, that too may I correct in Arabic as the English language was not then in the Arabic lands.
When this stone was taken to the Eastern Provinces of Arabia, it was mishandled and bought back after about twenty years and placed back in Kabba. The population wanted to place the stone in the appropriate place and the question was, “Who will place this on the elevated place”. It was agreed that whoever walks in he mosque
The Black stone is not necessarily a pagan’s way of thinking. Let me elaborate. SAW walked. He was asked to place this stone in the place. If remembering o dead is pagan way, I see the flowers being laid on the street of the Royalties who are dead. Is that not enough ground. We are trying to remember the past and learn from the past our love for people and religion and all near and dear to us. I see nothing wrong with this.At hat time the Prophet
When we visit the graves of dead relatives who were once very close to us, we either stand in peace for one or two minutes or also we try to hold the grave or even kiss the stone of the grave to show the affection. Well that is what we are doing here too. We are in holy plaice ; we respect the place in any manner to show the creator that we respect the place by any means. Let it be so. In fact not many people would like to argue with the modern folk as the holy book of Islam, the Quran, states, and “Do not laugh at the other religion, as they would laugh at your religion” This is then Islam.
I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla MBA PhD
P.O.Box 6044
Dar-Es-Salaam
Tanzania
East Africa
Muslims dont worship kaaba they only worship Allah ( God ) the act of circling kabba is called Tawaf it was done in the past even before islam. Abraham did it for the first time and Allah ordered him so. SInce then arab do Tawaf around kaaba as an act of worshiping God not The Kaaba !
Regarding inside the Kaaba issue the Kaaba is empty from inside and Muslims clean is once every year if you wanna see inside-kaaba picture type it in Google you ll find it.
The Kaaba is a place where first Mosque was built ( a place To worship Allah ) by Abraham
it is the symbol of Worshoping God Allah has ordered Muslims To pray 5 times a day to Allah facing the kaaba.
When muslims bow they Dont bow to the Kaaba they bow to Allah but its only toward Kaaba as Allah ordered Muslims.
Kissing the black Stone is Sunna ( our Prophet did it peace be upon him ) but its not mandatory to kiss it for muslims nor that we worship it.
So muslims Follow the prophet in Kissing but its sad to say many muslims take only minor things from the Prophet Peace be upon him leaving many important things in islam like being polite with parents saying the truth helping others taking care of orphans .. etc
Finally ill repeat Muslims DONT WORSHIP KAABA THEY WORSHIP ONLY GOD AND THE KAABA BELONGS TO HIM SINCE ITS THE FIRST MOSQUE BUILT BY ABRAHAM
it is known that muslims do not worship idols.but why then,are they worshipping the kaabah?their act of circling the kaabah is the form of worship.isnt kaabah a black box,made of stone and such?what about that now?and why cant they give a clear picture of what is inscribed on the walls of the kaabah and also what is in the kaabah?it is said that there are sanskrit words on the walls.well,if people would like to deny that,why isnt any studies conducted to decipher the writings on the walls to prove it wrong?some people have found hindu idols nearby.it is possible that hinduism was there before islam touched the land.but most of the worship rituals might be carried foward from the hindu religion.like the circling of the kaabah.and also falling onto the knees and bowing to the kaaba (which is nothing but a STONE room).kissing the black stone also holds no significant history except for the fact that prophet mohammed had kissed it before.so the muslims nowadays do it to follow suit.its not a religious action.so why follow it?if kissing the stones show love,so be it.but its not worship.we kiss our loved ones.that is because we love them,not worship them.so why would bowing down to a block of stone and kissing a stone and circling this inanimate block prove o be love to god and also as reverance?if worshipping idols is wrong,then why is worshipping a block of stone,an inanimate object,is right ?
Catholics do not worship the bread we eat when doing this tradition. In fact we also drink the wine after we eat the bread. It is a remembrance of what Jesus Christ said during the last supper before he was crucified. Jesus said ; “Do this in memory of me.” Jesus didn’t say worship the bread and wine. The most important part of doing this tradition is to remember what Jesus did for mankind, that is ; to sacrifice his own body as a bread of life for those who believe in him and to use his blood to wash away the sins of those who will follow and obey him.