Page 157 - World Religions I - Islam

until it was accidently burned in a fire. Muhammad then draped the Ka'aba with a white
Yemeni cloth.
 During the reign of the Caliphs, the material was changed to silk, each iteration varying
in color (red, white, or green). An-Nasir, the 34th Caliph, disagreed with the frequent
color changes and switched to black, as it remains to this day.
• A disconnected, low semi-circular wall, known as the hatim, stands opposite the north-west facade of
the Ka'aba.
o The hatim is 90 cm (35 in) high and 1.5 m (4.9 ft) wide, and is composed of white marble.
o The space in between the hatim and the Ka'aba once belonged to the Ka'aba itself, and for this
reason it is not entered during the tawaf (circumambulation).
o Some Muslims believe the graves of Ishmael and Hagar are located inside the space between the
hatim and the Ka'aba.
• Located a short distance from the eastern wall of the Ka'aba is the Station of Abraham.
o This glass and metal enclosure protects what is said to be an imprint of Abraham's foot.

The Black Stone
The Black Stone (al-Hajar al-Aswad) is an Islamic relic which is inset into the eastern corner of the Ka'aba.
• The Black Stone was venerated at the Ka'aba in pre-Islamic times.
o Semitic cultures had a tradition of using unusual stones to mark places of worship.
• Muslims believe that the Black Stone originated at the time of Adam.
o Al-Tirmidhi records Muhammad as claiming that , "it descended from Paradise whiter than milk,
but the sins of the sons of Adam made it black".
o Muslims traditionally believe that an angel spoke to Abraham and told him to institute the rite
of the stone in the Hajj at Mecca.
• The Black Stone was set into the Ka'aba's wall by Muhammad in AD 605, five years before his first
revelation.
• The Black Stone was once a single piece, but has over the years been broken into a number of
fragments.
o The seven or eight fragments are held together by a silver frame.
o The Stone's exposed face measures 20 cm (7.9 in) by 16 cm (6.3 in).
 The Stone's recorded dimensions have changed considerably over time, as the Stone
has been remolded over time. The largest recorded size by a 10th century observer was
one cubit (slightly over 1.5 feet or .46 meters long).
• Muslim pilgrims attempt to kiss the Black Stone as part of Tawaf after the example of Muhammad. No
one is sure why Muhammad paid such reverence and respect to the Black Stone by kissing it. Umar, the
second Islamic Caliph, expressed hesitation and confusion upon witnessing Muhammad's actions (see Al-
Bukhari 2:26:675). Nevertheless, in following Muhammad's example, he paid reverence, as well - a ritual
that Muslims unquestioningly follow to this day.
o If pilgrims cannot reach the stone due to crowding, they point to it during each of their seven
circuits around the Ka'aba.
o Muslims believe that the Black Stone's role in Hajj is simply representative and symbolic in
nature, not related to belief in the stone itself as having any special power.
• The scientific nature of the Black Stone has been much debated.
o It has been described variously as basalt stone, an agate, a piece of natural glass or - most
popularly - a stony meteorite.
 The meteoritic hypothesis is now seen as doubtful, and the British Natural History
Museum suggests that it may be a pseudo meteorite (a terrestrial rock mistakenly
attributed to a meteoritic origin).

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