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The Black Stone, the corner stone of the Ka`bah,
was put by Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him) as a sign or
symbol of being the corner stone in the Kingdom
of Allah. This is referred to in the Psalms. In the Psalm 118, we read:
"The stone refused by builder hath become the corner stone."
The sons of Isma`il were seen as being outcast by
Allah and that the Covenant was made with the sons of Isaac only.
This is the view of Jews. Though being refused by the builders, as
clarified by Prophet David, this stone would be the corner stone.
Jesus later clarified to his followers that the
orchard of grapes (the Kingdom
of God) will be given to other farmers. In the Gospel of Matthew,
chapter 21, we read: "Jesus said unto them: 'Have not thou
read in books: The stone all builders refused hath been made the
corner stone by God. This occurred though we think of as
surprising. Thus I say unto you, the Kingdom
of God is taken from you and given to a nation who will grow it."
This rejected stone refers to the nation refused,
the sons of Isma`il and this Black Stone is the sole and only
stone cut without human hands. This Black Stone will preserve the
House of Abraham and the nation is that of the true religion,
Islam, the heirs of Abraham. Allah the Almighty says in His
Glorious Qur'an: [Abraham was not a Jew, nor yet a Christian;
but he was an upright man who had surrendered (to Allah), and he
was not of the idolaters] (Al `Imran 3:67).
Description of the Black Stone
The Black Stone is fixed in the eastern-south
corner of the Ka`bah. It is one and half a meter above the ground
level. It has a diameter of about thirty centimeters. The Stone is
a hard rock of irregular oval shape, black with reddish tint; it
has red dots and yellow wavy lines which appeared when some broken
pieces were soldered and joined.
The Stone was removed from its original place many
times by the tribes of Gurhum, Iyad, the `Amaliqah (i.e. the
Giants), and Khuza`ah. Finally, it was taken by Al-Qaramitah who
kept it from 317 A.H to 339 A.H when the Abbasid Caliph, Al-Muti`
Lillah send it back to Makkah and covered it with a belt of silver
and fixed it in its original place.
In 363 A.H a man entered the Mosque and tried to
smash the stone but a man from Yemen stabbed him with a dagger and killed him. Also, in 414 A.H some
Batini Shiite men tried to break the Stone but were killed on the
spot. In Muharram 1351 A.H an Afghani man stole a piece of the
Stone and another piece of the drape of the Ka`bah and two pieces
of the silver belt and consequently he was sentenced to death.
Later in Rabi` Ath-Thani, late King `Abdul-`Aziz Al Sa`ud put the
stolen pieces back in their original places.
During the reign of the Sultan `Abdul Majid II, he
sent a golden belt to be used for fixing the Black Stone. This
occurred in 1268 A.H and was the first time the Black Stone is
placed in a golden belt. In 1281 A.H Sultan `Abdul `Aziz the
Ottoman sent another silver belt. In 1331 A.H the silver cover was
replaced with another and in 1290 A.H a silver cover with a hole
in the middle was made so as to enable people to see the Stone and
kiss it.
The First One Who Fixed It With Silver
It was Ibn Az-Zubair who used silver in fixing the
Black Stone when it caught fire. Later, as the silver became
unstable, Caliph Harun Ar-Rashid ordered for fixing the corner of
the Ka`bah and the Black Stone by diamonds and covering it with
silver.
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