can you be wiping the two northern corners when the Prophet ﷺ touched only the Yemeni Corner and the Black Stone?”

Muʿāwiya replied, “Nothing of the House should be left unattended.” In other words, the entire Kaʿbah is to be honored and revered. Ibn ʿAbbās—who was more learned than Muʿāwiya—responded by reciting, “Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example” (Al-Aḥzāb 33:21). He then added, “I never saw the Prophet ﷺ touch anything except the two Yemeni corners,” namely the corner that houses the Black Stone and the Yemeni Corner itself. Muʿāwiya said, “You are right,” and adopted Ibn ʿAbbās’s view.

Although the early caliphs enjoyed the pomp and ceremony of kings, they would still yield to the truth. Hence Muʿāwiya, may Allah be pleased with him, acknowledged the correctness of Ibn ʿAbbās’s statement and ceased wiping the north-eastern and north-western corners.

The report the author cites from ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, also exposes the ignorance of certain people we witness today: a man will stand at the Yemeni Corner, wipe it with his hand, then, if he is carrying a child, rub the child’s hand over the Corner so the child may “receive blessing.” Should he manage to reach the Black Stone, he will do the same there, seeking blessing for the child. Without doubt this practice is an innovation and a form of minor shirk, for such people have treated what is no cause as though it were a cause. The principle is clear: whoever designates something as a means to an end without authorization from the Lawgiver is an innovator. Therefore, anyone who sees a person