that can be touched in any direction. Several interpretations of this have been offered. The first is that it is an analogy, based on the practice whereby, when a king shook hands with a man, the man would kiss his hand. Thus, the Stone is to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as the right hand is to a king: it is touched and kissed.

It is related in a report that when Allah, Mighty and Majestic, took the covenant from the children of Adam and made them testify concerning themselves, “Am I not your Lord?” They replied, “Yes,” He placed that covenant in the Black Stone. Likewise, one says, “In faith in You and in fulfilment of Your covenant.”

He said: Another interpretation has been offered: the statement, “The Stone is Allah’s right hand on His earth,” may mean that the attribution of the hand is merely a way of honouring the Stone. It is one of the works of Allah Most High; He called it a right hand