Stones That Speak

The Kaaba, a focal point in Islam, received pilgrims long before the prophet Mohammad was born. It was built on a spring in a parched landscape. In keeping with Semitic tradition, an unusual stone marks the location in the form of the Black Stone embedded into one of the Kaaba’s walls. Tradition connects the Black Stone to both Adam in the Garden of Eden and Noah’s flood, motifs that Islam shares with Christianity and Judaism. The mineral of the rock is unusual for that area, leading geologists to suspect it is a meteorite. Others question its animacy.

Stones greeted the Prophet Mohammad, who reassured a mountain trembling under him as he climbed it. A hadith asserts that the Black Rock will testify on behalf of the sincere pilgrim. The Quran states that everything in the universe that can cast a shadow, and its shadow, prostrates to Allah. Despite its steadfast monotheism, Islam lends itself to animistic interpretations perhaps on account of this universal attribution of spiritual agency. Judaism and Christianity echo that sentiment in the Book of Psalms and with convergence we can infer authenticity.