That a man asked Ibn Umar about touching the (Black) Stone, so he said: "I saw the Prophet touching it and kissing it." So the man said: "What is your view if there is a throng (around the Ka'bah) and what is your view if the people overpowered me?" Ibn Umar said: "Leave 'What is your view' in Yemen. I saw the Prophet touching it and kissing it."
Hadith Commentary: The Virtue of Touching the Black Stone
This narration from The Book on Hajj in Jami' at-Tirmidhi (Hadith 861) demonstrates the established Sunnah of touching and kissing the Black Stone (Al-Hajar al-Aswad) during tawaf.
Scholarly Analysis of Ibn Umar's Response
Ibn Umar's emphatic repetition "I saw the Prophet touching it and kissing it" emphasizes that the Prophet's action constitutes definitive Islamic practice that requires no further justification or hypothetical scenarios.
His dismissal of "What is your view" questions reflects the classical scholarly principle that established Sunnah takes precedence over speculative reasoning, especially regarding rituals whose wisdom may be beyond complete human comprehension.
Legal Ruling on Crowded Conditions
Scholars derive from this hadith that Muslims should strive to touch and kiss the Black Stone when possible, following the Prophet's example. In crowded conditions, one may touch it with hand or staff and then kiss what touched it.
If reaching the Stone becomes impossible due to overcrowding, simply pointing toward it while reciting takbir suffices to complete the ritual requirement, as the difficulty exempts from the ideal practice.
Spiritual Significance
The Black Stone serves as Allah's covenant with humanity on Earth. Touching it symbolizes renewing one's pledge of obedience to Allah, while kissing it demonstrates love and reverence for the symbols Allah has established.
This ritual connects Muslims to the Abrahamic tradition, as the Stone dates back to the construction of the Ka'bah by Prophet Ibrahim and Ismail (peace be upon them both).