Hajar Aswad, Stone from Heaven

Hajar Aswad literally means black stone. For Muslims and Muslims, the Black Stone has historical and spiritual value because it is part of the Hajj rituals that must be carried out as exemplified by the Prophet Muhammad. The popularity and importance of the Black Stone for Muslims, there will never be a single stone in this world that can match it.

Black Stone as narrated in several hadiths is a stone that comes from heaven. Later, several researchers began to examine exactly what type of rock the Black Stone was. Some suspect the Black Stone is a kind of meteorite. In the Islamic text itself, it is not explained what type of rock actually the Black Stone is except that it is said that the type of rock comes from heaven.

Black Stone remains the center of attention of Muslims around the world, especially those who are carrying out the pilgrimage or performing Umrah.

The Black Stone was first placed on the Kaaba by Prophet Ibrahim (as). Compared to other rocks in this world, the Black Stone does have different characteristics, including when it was discovered this stone could illuminate the entire Arabian peninsula. However, based on some information, the longer the light from the Black Stone is getting dimmer and even turning black like the current situation.

In addition, Hajar Aswad also emits a distinctive fragrance and there is no other scent that can match it in this world. Based on a hadith narrated by Tirmidhi, it is explained about the color change of this Black Stone. The hadith reads that when the Black Stone came down, it was still whiter than milk, then it turned black due to the sins of the children of Adam. 

The Black Stone is now located in the southeastern part of the Kaaba or the first point of the start of Tawaf and every Muslim who performs the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, always tries to kiss at least waving towards this stone, to follow the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad.

Hajar Aswad now consists of eight pieces which are then tied with a circle of silver. Because it is constantly kissed and rubbed by billions of people continuously, Black Stone looks more and more shiny. 

History of the Black Stone

In an authentic hadith it is explained about the Black Stone and the stone found in the tomb of Prophet Ibrahim as came from the stone of heaven, if it were not for the touch of human sin, the stone would be able to illuminate the east and west. 

According to one source from Siti Aisyah ra who said that the Messenger of Allah once said, hold the Black Stone before it is lifted from the earth. He comes from heaven and everything that is family from heaven will return to heaven before the apocalypse.

In a long time the Black Stone was buried by sand, but one day when Prophet Ismail was looking for rocks to cover the walls of the Kaaba, Black Stone was miraculously found again. Of course, with the rediscovery of the Black Stone, Prophet Ibrahim who was looking for it was really very happy. To express his joy, he kept kissing the Black Stone. 

Regarding the Black Stone, there is an important event that occurred in the year 16 before the hijrah, related to the restoration of the Ka'bah by the Quraysh tribe consisting of four tribes. After the restoration was completed, for five days and five nights they insisted on being the party with the most rights to move the Black Stone.

At the time of the emergency, Abu Umayyah bin Mughirah al-Makhzumi appeared and provided a way out to deal with tensions. According to Abu Umayyah, to decide which tribe has the right to lift the Black Stone to its place, it is better to ask the opinion of the person who first entered the place that day. 

And the person who first entered the place that day was none other than Muhammad bin Abdullah who was famous as an honest and clean man. The people of Mecca at that time called him al-amin. 

When the tension was conveyed to Muhammad bin Abdullah, he then came to the storage area of ​​the Black Stone and spread his turban, then placed the Black Stone in the middle of it. After that to each tribe, Muhammad bin Abdullah ordered to hold each corner of the turban and then lift it. The four tribes together carried the Black Stone to the place where the precious stone would be placed.

After arriving at its place, the four tribes retreated and ordered Muhammad bin Abdullah to put the Black Stone back in its place. Justice and satisfaction were achieved from the four tribes and each felt that they had an equal share in the matter of moving the Black Stone, so that bloodshed could be avoided. 

The content of the Black Stone

According to a geologist, Prior Hey in his book Catalog of Meteorites, stated that the Black Stone was most likely a meteorite so it was included in the book that was just completed in 1953. Actually Prior Hey's opinion was nothing but a reaffirmation of Kahn's opinion, who in 1936 believed that the Black Stone was an aerolite type meteorite, which is a rock composed of the main compounds in the form of iron and nickel.

This opinion is corroborated by an event during the Hajj season when lightning struck the Kaaba. Lightning struck the Kaaba because the iron content in the Black Stone is a conductor.

However, this opinion contradicts what was done by the Governor of Mecca Abdullah ibn Akim who in 950 had tested similar stones with the Black Stone. The stones that were supposedly stolen by one of the thriving sects at the time, were then tested. The stone turned out to be incombustible and floated in water.

From this fact, it can be concluded that the Black Stone can float in water indicating the specific gravity of Black Stone is smaller than water, and when it cannot be broken and burned, it shows the low thermal conductivity of Black Stone. Meanwhile, according to another geologist, Farouk el-Baz, the hardness of the Black Stone shows the number 7 on the Mohs scale or comparable to gemstones. 

It is undeniable when referring to the results of photo observations, there is a type of meteorite that has a density close to the density of the Black Stone, namely a meteor originating from a comet. But on the other hand, meteorites that come from comet meteors are known to be fragile because they are actually only made up of lumps of fine dust.

By looking at these properties, of course, it is inversely proportional to the Black Stone, which according to the geologist Farouk el-Baz, is actually equivalent to a gemstone's hardness. Thus the opinion that says that the Black Stone is a kind of meteorite is automatically refuted. 

About what type of stone is the Black Stone, in 1980 a geologist and paleontologist from Sweden, Elsebeth Thomsen put forward a hypothesis about this Black Stone. Indeed, Elsebeth Thomsen's observations are not direct. He researched Black Stone himself.

Based on several scientific references related to the Black Stone, Elsebeth Thomsen suspects that the Black Stone is a type of rock formed due to a collision of celestial bodies with very high speed.

At the time of the collision, the colliding celestial bodies emitted enormous and powerful energy, which is equivalent to the energy that occurs during a nuclear explosion. However, because it was not based on direct observations from Hajar Aswad, Elsebeth Thomsen's hypothesis fell by itself.

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