kissing of black stone,
* Narrated Salim that his father said:
I saw Allah's Apostle arriving at Mecca; he kissed the Black Stone
Corner first while doing Tawaf and did ramal in the first three rounds
of the seven rounds (of Tawaf).
(Sahih Bukhari 2.673)
* Narrated 'Abis bin Rabia:
'Umar came near the Black Stone and kissed it and said "No doubt, I
know that you are a stone and can neither benefit anyone nor harm
anyone. Had I not seen Allah's Apostle kissing you I would not have
kissed you."
(Sahih Bukhari 2.667,
Sahih Bukhari 2.675,
Sahih Bukhari 2.676,
Sahih Bukhari 2.679,
Sahih Bukhari 2.680)
* The reason behind this is that the pagan Arabs had the same ritual.
Muhamamd kept the same practice, and Umar did feel repugnant
about the practice. However, he followed the practice of Muhammad.