CIRCUMAMBULATION AND KISSING

After a man has put on the pilgrim�s robe, two seamless wrappers, he should not shave or pare his nails.  He should now proceed toward Mecca singing the pilgrim�s song, �Talbiyah, Labbaika!  AllAhumma!� (�I stand up for thy service, O Allah�).  After arriving in Mecca, he performs ablutions in the Masjidu�l HarAm and kisses the Black Stone (al-hajaru�l-aswad), then makes seven circuits round the Ka�ba (tawAf).  Muhammad himself circumambulated �on the back of his riding camel . . . so that people should see him, and he should be conspicuous� (2919).  For the same reason, he touched the Corner (Black Stone) with a stick.  �I saw Allah�s Messenger circumambulating the House, and touching the Corner with a stick that he had with him, and then kissing the stick,� reports AbU Tufail (2921).

The practice of kissing the Stone is idolatrous.  �Umar said: �By Allah, I know that you are a stone and if I were not to see Allah�s Messenger kissing you, I would not have kissed you� (2912).  Following the lead of Christian theologians who distinguish between veneratio and adoratio, Muslim scholars argue that the Ka�ba and the Black Stone are objects of veneration and not of worship.

Another important rite is that the pilgrim runs from the top of Mount as-SafA to the summit of Mount al-Marwah, the two �Signs of Allah,� according to the QurAn (2:158).  Muhammad says that �Allah does not complete the Hajj of a person or his �Umra if he does not observe Sa�i [i.e., run between al-SafA and al-Marwa]� (2923).

Each time the pilgrim is on the top of these mounts, he recites the following: �There is no deity but Allah. . . . He hath performed His promise, and hath aided His servant [Muhammad] and bath put to flight the hosts of infidels by Himself alone.� Muhammad never relaxes.  At every turn, he instills an unrelenting enmity toward the infidels.