—Ahmad and the rest held that one should neither wipe himself against it nor kiss it; for, in all creation, there is no inanimate object whose kissing is prescribed except the Black Stone.

The two Ṣaḥīḥs relate that ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “By Allah, 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 never have kissed you.”

On that basis—and by consensus of the leading imams—it is not sunnah for anyone to kiss or touch the two corners of the Kaʿbah adjacent to the Stone, nor the walls of the Kaʿbah, nor the Station of Abraham, nor the Rock in Jerusalem, nor the grave of any prophet or righteous person. The jurists even disagreed over merely placing one’s hand on the pulpit of our Master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, while it still existed: Mālik and others deemed it disliked, calling it an innovation, and it is reported that when Mālik saw ʿAṭāʾ do so he refused thereafter to take knowledge from him—though other scholars allowed a concession in that matter.