The history of 'Umar and the Black Stone

Al Bukhari relates that 'Umar (Radia Allahu anhu) came to the Black Stone (performing Tawaf, ring road), kissed it and then said:

"I know that you are a stone that no cause benefict or harm, and if it was not, because I had seen the Messenger of Allah (Salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam), kissing you, I would never have kissed you."

 Al-Bukhari, Al-Sahih, chapter in what has been said about the Black Stone.

POINTS TO SUGGEST:

• The eminent Companion and Caliph, 'Umar reminded us in this narrative on pure belief that benefict and harm are not caused by objects created and should not be looked from them. Only Allah has the control over these things.
• They remind us that acts of worship are taken from the Messenger of Allah, and that a person is not supposed to do their own form of worship, must follow the form of worship which the Prophet teach and practiced.
• We also learn that once an action is confirmed in the Sunnah, the believer submits and obeys him and practiced because it is confirmed that the Messenger of Allah did, even we do not know the knowledge behind it.
• This history is also an example of how a responsible person try to clarify and remove any misconceptions that people may have about matters of faith. People had recently left their disbelief and polytheism then 'Umar wanted to make clear that kissing the Black Stone is not in any way as an act of devotion to it, as people used to do with their stone idols.

Adapted from Ibn Hajr, Fath Al-Bârî, and other hadîth commentaries