Now I don't CAIR who you are, oh grand mufti and great Sheik Ali Babba, that is funnnnny!
"Symbols of PAGANASIM?"
And what exactly would you call that "BLACK METEORITE Y'ALL 'WORSHIP' WHILE MAKING YOUR 'PILGRAMAGE' (HAJJ) TO MECCA?"
The Black Stone is a Muslim relic, which according to Islamic tradition dates back to the time of Adam and Eve. Historical research claims that the Black Stone marked the Kaaba as a place of worship during pre-Islamic pagan times. It is the eastern cornerstone of the Kaaba, the ancient stone building towards which Muslims pray, in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The Stone is a dark rock, polished smooth by the hands of millions of pilgrims, that has been broken into a number of fragments cemented into a silver frame in the side of the Kaaba.
Although it has often been described as a meteorite, this hypothesis is still under consideration.
Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba as part of the Tawaf ritual of the Hajj.
Many of them try, if possible, to stop and kiss the Black Stone, emulating the kiss that Islamic tradition records that it received from the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. If they cannot reach it, they point to it on each of their seven circuits around the Kaaba.
Historians point to the history of stone worship, and especially meteorite worship, in pre-Islamic Arabia, by many PAGAN TRIBES and say that it is likely that the Stone is a meteorite. There is no way to test this hypothesis without removing and examining the Stone, which would not be permitted by its guardians.
There is no indication as to where this stone originated, but since it pre-dates the revelation of the Holy Qur’an and Muhammad’s prophethood, and even kissed, it must stem from the time of Abraham since the Hajj traditions are traceable to the patriarch of monotheism.
Some Muslims are more willing to believe that the Stone itself has some supernatural powers. They believe that this stone fell from the sky during the time of Adam and Eve, and that it has the power to cleanse worshippers of their sins by absorbing them into itself. They say that the Black Stone was once a pure and dazzling white and it has turned black because of the sins it has absorbed over the years.