He ﷺ began his rites by touching the Black Stone before starting ṭawāf, as Jābir related: “When we reached the House with him, he touched the Corner, then trotted three circuits and walked four.”

Al-Bukhārī said: “Muḥammad ibn Kathīr narrated to us, Sufyān narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Ibrāhīm, from ʿĀbis ibn Rabīʿah, from ʿUmar: He came to the Stone, kissed it, and said, ‘I know that you are only a stone; you can neither harm nor benefit. Had I not seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ kiss you, I would not have kissed you.’”

Muslim likewise transmitted it through Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā, Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah, Zuhayr ibn Ḥarb, and Ibn Numayr, all from Abū Muʿāwiyah, from al-Aʿmash, from Ibrāhīm, from ʿĀbis ibn Rabīʿah, who said: “I saw ʿUmar kissing the Stone and saying, ‘I know that you are but a stone; you neither harm nor benefit. Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ kiss you, I would never have kissed you.’”

Imām Aḥmad said: “Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd and Abū Muʿāwiyah narrated to us—both from al-Aʿmash, from Ibrāhīm, from ʿĀbis ibn Rabīʿah—who said: ‘I saw ʿUmar come to the Stone and declare, “By Allah, I know that you are only a stone; you neither harm nor benefit. Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah kiss you, I would never have kissed you.” He then approached and kissed it.’ This wording shows that he made his statement first and kissed it afterward, which differs from the order related in the two Ṣaḥīḥs. Allah knows best.”

Aḥmad also reported—“Wakīʿ and Yaḥyā narrated to us (the wording is Wakīʿ’s), from Hishām, from his father—that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb came to the Stone and said, ‘I know you are only a stone; you neither harm nor benefit. Had I not seen the Messenger of Allah kiss you, I would not have kissed you,’ and then he kissed it.” The link between ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr and ʿUmar is broken in this chain.

Al-Bukhārī further narrated: “Saʿīd ibn Abī Maryam told us, Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abī Kathīr informed us, Zayd ibn Aslam related to me from his father, that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said to the Corner, ‘By Allah, I know you are only a stone; you neither harm nor benefit. Had I not seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ touch you, I would not have touched you,’ whereupon he touched it. He then added, ‘And what concern have we with the trotting? We only performed it to show ourselves before the idolaters…’”