The Black Stone (Hajr-e-Aswad) placed on the eastern corner of the Holy Kaabah, is one of the most sacred stones on Earth. All Muslims desire to kiss this Black stone while performing Hajj and Umrah to wipe off their sins. Therefore, Hijr-e-Aswad apprehends a very sacred place in the Islamic world

History of Hijr-e-Aswad
It is said that The Black Stone was brought down to earth from heavens. According to the Hadith narrated by Ibn-e-Abbas (R.A), ‘the black stone was brought down from heavens and it was whiter than milk, but the sins of people turned it black’. According to some other discourses the Black Stone was sent to Hazrat Adam (A.S) to guide him about the location on earth to build an altar. At the time of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.W), a dispute arouse between different tribes upon the issue of placing the Black Stone. Every tribe wanted to be the first to do this blessed task. So it was decided that whoever will enter the Masjid Al-Haram first will place the stone. By the will of Allah, the person turned out to be Prophet (S.A.W.W) to position the stone with his blessed hands. Prophet (S.A.W.W) made a very wise decision to allocate everyone in this prestigious task. He ordered to place the Stone on a sheet and one member from each tribe would hold the corner of the sheet and hence the Hijr-e-Aswad was placed where Prophet (S.A.W.W) took it in his hands and kissed it. So it became a Sunnah to kiss this blessed stone and to seek forgiveness from Allah.


Religious significance of The Black Stone
Since, the stone was descended from heavens and Prophet (S.A.W.W) has mentioned it in his Hadiths and its Sunnah to kiss it, therefore Muslims while performing Hajj or Umrah desire to kiss it at least once. Although it is a stone but still it represents the mercy and blessings of Allah that a person’s sins are forgiven by kissing it. For this reason, pilgrims should not be impatient rather they should wait for their turn in case of crowd. If a person is unable to kiss it then he/she should not fight but they just need to kiss it in the air by pointing the hands towards Hijr-e-Aswad and make dua. The significance of Hijr-e-Aswad is mentioned in the Hadith of Prophet (S.A.W.W), the crux of the hadith is ‘Hijr-e-Aswad is Allah’s right hand on this earth. On the day of judgement Hijr-e-Aswad would come with a tongue and would testify for those who kissed it with sincerity. The stone neither sinks in water nor gets hot in fire’.

Desire being a Muslim
Almost every Muslim desires to kiss the Black Stone to seek forgiveness from Allah and to wash away their sins. Hajj and Umrah are two religious journeys’ which provide a person to attain this opportunity. Many Muslims who were unable to perform Hajj or Umrah this year are now given an opportunity to perform Umrah with Umrah Packages 2016. Likewise, those who lack financial means can now perform their Umrah with Economy Umrah Package and Cheap Umrah Package. So grab your opportunity with Umrah Package 2016.