Discover the High-Resolution Photo of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad: The Precious Stone of Hajj Worship

Jakarta –

Hajar Aswad is a historical stone which is the target of Muslims to touch and even kiss it when visiting the inner Kaaba Hajj worship or Umrah. Being able to see this precious stone in such vivid detail is a rarity.

In 2021, for the first time, the government of Saudi Arabia released a high-resolution photo of this stone, which is also called Al-Hajar Al-Aswad. The photos released that year are the clearest images showing this ancient stone of religious value.

Quoted from CNN, there are three photos that show in detail the Black Stone Aswad. The image was captured using a new technique that uses panoramic focus.

“This Hajar Aswad photo measures up to 49,000 megapixels. It took seven hours to capture it, and more than 50 hours to process it,” said a spokesman for the General Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques, the authority that released this photo.

During the shooting process, 1,050 photos were taken, each measuring 160 gigabytes. Next, a technique called focus stacking is used which combines several photos with different focus points to keep the final result sharp.

“This is important because something like this has never happened before. This is the first time that there is a digital photo of a rock that is enlarged and people can see the stone up close and in person,” said Afifi Al-Akiti, a researcher in Islamic studies at Oxford University who was not involved. in the project.

The first photo shows the shape of the Black Stone which is protected by a silver halo, as we have often seen so far. Then the second photo is more detailed by showing the shape of the stone as a whole. Then the third photo shows a black stone in the Black Stone.

Apparently, after being photographed with high-resolution photos, the magic of the Black Stone appeared. This stone is not black as many people think. It brings out its true color which is more like red with some black parts.

“One can see that this stone is not black. Even though this stone has never been photographed like this before, I think Muslims are humble and science can play an important role in religion,” he said.

Muslims believe that the famous black stone came down from heaven and was given to Prophet Ibrahim by the angel Gabriel. The Black Stone is placed in a silver frame and placed in the corner of the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque, Makkah City, Saudi Arabia, about 1.5 meters above the ground.

Mecca is the spiritual center of Islam because it was there that the Prophet Muhammad received his first revelations in the early 7th century. During the Hajj or Umrah pilgrimage, Muslims walk counterclockwise around the Kaaba in a procession of tawaf. That’s when pilgrims usually touch, kiss, or face their right palm towards the Black Stone when walking past it.

“The stone was originally white, not black. It is thought that humans touched the stone and asked for forgiveness from God, which is the reason why the stone is black, reflecting the sins of mankind, according to Muslim sources,” said Al Akiti.

He continued, Muslim tradition states that the stone came from the Prophet Adam, the first human. Another source quoted from Oxford Islamic Studies Online, it is believed that the angel Gabriel gave the stone to Ibrahim when he was building the Kaaba.

Meanwhile, scientists show that the Black Stone is likely a meteorite. There is also a theory that this stone fell from the sky. The pilgrims who come to the Kaaba try to kiss the stone because Umar, the second caliph of Islam, told his followers that he had personally seen the Prophet Muhammad do it so that kissing the Black Stone became a sunnah worship.

When time pandemic COVID-1, access to the Hajar Aswad was closed for about two years. Restricting access to get closer to the Hajar Aswad is actually an effort to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic since early 2020. These restrictions are still in effect until the 2022 Hajj season.

Now, Hajar Aswad has re-opened. Like before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hajar Aswad side was never empty of visitors. Pilgrims walk along the side of the Ka’bah and then little by little push their way into the front of the Black Stone. Some of the other congregations came from the front, lined up, crowded together, until they reached the mouth Hajar Aswad.

Watch Video “IDI Expert Explanation Regarding Rumors of Kissing the Hajar Aswad Can Be Infected with HIV“

(rns/fay)