Date: Traditionally, it is believed that the Black Stone appeared before the creation of man on Earth.
Brief description: The black stone is an object of Muslim worship, located in the corner wall of the Kaaba, a sacred temple in Mecca; Muslims believe that the Kaaba is the most sacred place on earth.
What it looks like: A semicircular stone made up of several pieces or pieces tied together with silver thread. It measures about 10 inches horizontally; vertical - 12 inches.
Kaaba (sacred temple); in its southeast corner, in a silver case, rests a few feet above the ground, the famous Black Stone. The temple is surrounded by believers on all sides.
The black stone of the Kaaba is a mysterious ancient object (perhaps it appeared even before the creation of man on Earth), which is revered by Muslims around the world as sacred; it is believed that its origin is connected with the name of the supreme god Allah and that over the millennia this stone was touched by many saints, from Abraham to Muhammad. The black stone is immured into the wall of a sacred temple built on land that is strictly forbidden to visit by non-Muslims.
According to the Islamic religion, this stone appeared on Earth many centuries ago from heaven; the history of its appearance is associated with the worship of Allah by numerous angels who sang psalms and performed prayer rituals while driving round dances around El-Beytul Mamur, which was considered the place of worship of Allah's angels. This sacred place was located directly under the throne of Allah. Allah wished that the people living on Earth would have the same shrine to worship him, and he handed Adam a shiny white stone to bring to Earth from paradise and install it in the Kaaba; it was the Kaaba that Allah decided to make a place of universal worship for Muslims. The stone was named Aladzhar Alsad, which meant "the happiest", since it was he who was chosen from many other stones of paradise to be installed in the Kaaba.
Taking Aladjar Alsad in his hands, Adam descended from paradise to the land of one of the Indian islands (now called Sri Lanka), and Allah took him to Mecca - a place located directly under his throne in paradise. Adam placed a stone in the ground, and the sacred temple of the Kaaba was erected on this site.
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Some time later, when the Flood occurred on Earth, the Kaaba temple was badly damaged, and the holy stone was moved by the will of God to a safer place. He remained hidden from the eyes of people until Allah ordered Abraham - the father of all the prophets after him - to restore the Kaaba. Archangel Gabriel brought Abraham to Mecca, where the Kaaba was to be re-erected, and Abraham erected the House of Allah there, and the Archangel Gabriel handed him the "holy stone" for his return to its former place.
The people who inhabited the Earth combined the worship of Abraham with the manifestation of the deepest respect for the "holy stone"; they expressed their reverence by kissing and touching the stone. In addition, they sacrificed sheep, cows and other animals near the walls of the sacred temple, and their blood was applied to a stone. After a while, the stone began to darken.
Over the centuries, the Kaaba was often damaged by natural disasters, but each time the Arabs restored it, as they considered it their property at that time. Ultimately, the Kaaba became a place of worship for all Arab tribes, regardless of where they lived.
At the beginning of the 7th century, a strong fire occurred in the Kaaba, as a result of which the shrine was practically destroyed; nevertheless, the people rebuilt the Kaaba, making its walls taller and erecting a door several feet high so that it was easier for the guards to keep track of who entered the temple. However, among the Arab tribes, who were jointly involved in the restoration of the temple, disputes soon began over which of them should be given the right to install the sacred Black Stone. Representatives of various Arab tribes decided that the first person who entered the courtyard of the temple would judge them in this dispute.
It so happened that the first person to enter the temple was Muhammad. At that time, Muhammad was not yet a prophet, but had a reputation for being an honest and reliable youth. When the essence of the problem was presented to him, Muhammad made a wise decision and proposed a plan that could satisfy the interests of all parties involved in the dispute. He placed a piece of cloth on the ground and placed the sacred Black Stone in its center. Then he asked to select one representative from each tribe, who were to stand around a piece of cloth laid on the ground. Together they lifted the sacred Black Stone set on the cloth and carried it to the Kaaba, where Muhammad himself installed the stone in the place allotted for him.
Around 610 A. D. the Islamic religion was formally restored; This happened when Muhammad, who openly opposed the veneration of idols by his compatriots, received the revelation of Allah through the archangel Gabriel - the one who conveyed this revelation to all the prophets and who convinced Abraham and his son Ismail to start restoring the Kaaba.
Muhammad's sincere protest against idolatry led to an upsurge of secret animosity among the unbelievers in Mecca. This enmity gradually intensified so that the life of the prophet was in serious danger, and in 622, immediately after receiving the appropriate instructions from Allah, Muhammad moved to Yathrib (later this city was called Medina - approx. Transl.). This journey of Muhammad is called hijra, and it was after him (in 622) that Muslims got their own Muslim calendar.
As Islam spread, there was also a sharp increase in enmity, but ultimately the people of Mecca adopted this religion, believing that Muhammad is indeed a prophet, and the Koran, the holy book of Muslims, is the final revelation that Allah sent to Earth. The Kaaba became a sacred place for Muslims, and the stone idols inside the temple were thrown away as unnecessary. The black stone, however, was left intact.
After the death of Muhammad, his adherents and followers introduced among the Muslims the laws formulated by Allah and appeared as a revelation to the Prophet Muhammad. Caliph Omar, who initially opposed Muhammad, led people to believe that the Black Stone was not an idol; he told them, “I know you are incapable of doing good or evil to other people. If I didn’t see how the Messenger of Allah kisses you, I would never say these words.”
The followers of Muhammad became the founders of fundamental changes, which ultimately led to the development of a sectarian conflict, which ended in an attack on Mecca. During this attack in 682, the House of Allah was again badly damaged, and the Black Stone was smashed to pieces. After the retreat of the invaders, the majority of the population of Mecca fled for fear that Allah would punish them for allowing the enemy to destroy the shrine. However, the Caliph decided to begin the reconstruction of the temple, and the townspeople joined him in this undertaking when they saw that Allah's punishment did not follow. As a building material for the restoration of the shrine, stones were used, which could be found in large quantities on the outskirts of the city. The ruler of Mecca joined together all the pieces of the Black Stone, tied them with a silver hoop,and then placed them in the corner wall of the temple.
Since the time of Muhammad, the Kaaba has been damaged several times, but has never been completely destroyed. Muslims believe that it is simply impossible to destroy the sacred temple, since it, like the Koran, is under the protection of Allah, which provides it with eternal life. In the same year that Muhammad was born, the Ethiopian king, at the head of his army, decided to attack the shrine, but his army was completely destroyed by armies of dove-like yellow birds, which, on the orders of Allah, threw stones directly at the heads of the unfortunate soldiers.
Day and night for a whole year, Muslims perform a ritual called taaf in the Kaaba. This ritual consists in invoking the angels from heaven to El-Beytul Mamur; Muslims briskly walk around the sacred temple of the Kaaba seven times, while performing a religious ceremony confirming their loyalty to Allah. They kiss the Black Stone or touch its surface (if believers cannot come close to the walls of the Kaaba due to the large crowd of people around the shrine, then they, performing religious rituals, simply point to the temple).
Once a year, Muslims from all over the world make a pilgrimage to Masjid El-Haraam - the largest holy mosque in the world, in the open middle of which is the Kaaba.
The black stone is set about three feet above the ground in the outer southeastern corner of the Kaaba, a huge cube-shaped stone structure. Kissing and touching the sacred stone is an ancient Muslim tradition that survived after Muhammad did it. Muslims - faithful disciples of the Prophet - are convinced that if any of the believers kisses a stone sincerely, confessing their sins from the bottom of their hearts, and walks around the Kaaba, calling on Allah for help, then the stone will surely witness this prayer on the day of the Last Judgment. when he gains the ability to see and speak.
The black stone is installed in a special niche, so that any person who wants to touch it or kiss it must lower his hand or face into this niche. The stone, whose surface is smooth and soothing, emits a pleasant aroma. It is believed that it comes from him since the time of Abraham.
Muslims participating in the ritual, in accordance with the commandments of Islam, perform prayer rites in certain places of the walls of the temple. Opposite the Black Stone is Makam Ibrahim (the peak of Abraham). When pilgrims move in a circle from this section of the temple wall to the Black Stone, Allah, as is commonly believed in Islam, forgives some of their sins.
In front of the Black Stone, at a distance of several feet from it, there is a wall in which you can find an amazing source of "holy water" - Zemzem. According to the biblical legend, Abraham's concubine Hagar, together with her newborn son Ishmael, fled from home when Abraham went to visit his wife Sarah in Mecca. Hagar found herself in the desert, where she began to be tormented by a strong thirst; and then the archangel Gabriel descended to the ground and brought her clean water, the source of which was right at the feet of Ismail. It seemed that in this place there could be no artificial source, since even a small hole was not visible in the ground. However, even today in this place you can find a rather powerful source, which, according to Muslims, will not dry up until the day of the Last Judgment.
Muslims are allowed to enter the Kaaba only at certain times - two or three times during the year. During these periods of time, the king (or his representative) and the heads of diplomatic missions from other Muslim countries enter the Kaaba, where they turn to Allah with a request for forgiveness of sins. It is considered a great honor to receive an invitation to visit the Kaaba at this time.
Only Muslims are allowed to pray in the Kaaba. Only a few non-Muslims - natives of the West - have visited the Kaaba; one of them was the English orientalist Richard Francis Barton. He donned Muslim clothes to hide that he is not a Muslim and went to the holy mosque of Mecca. Subsequently, describing the emotional state of Muslims during their prayer rituals in the Kaaba and at the Black Stone, Barton noted: “It looked exactly as described in Arab poetic legends: angels flapping their wings and the fresh breeze of the early morning had an exciting effect on people, even more overwhelming the feelings of believers … and embracing people with a high sense of religious enthusiasm."
Current location: Mecca, Saudi Arabia.