Did the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) touch the Black Stone in every circuit?
Question

                How many times did the Messenger kiss the Black Stone? Did he kiss it in all seven circuits, or was it only once?
Praise be to Allah.
	It is Sunnah for 
	the one who is doing tawaf to kiss the Black Stone in every circuit of his 
	tawaf if he is able to do so without disturbing anyone. If it is too 
	difficult for him to do that, then he may touch it with his hand and kiss 
	his hand. If that is not possible, then he should point to it. 
	

	It is sunnah for 
	him to do that in each circuit of his tawaf because of the report narrated 
	by Abu Dawood in his Sunan (1878):

	The Messenger of 
	Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not omit to touch the 
	Yemeni Corner (ar-rukn al-yamani) and the Black Stone in every 
	circuit. 

	Classed as 
	saheeh by al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him).

	Muslim (1268) 
	narrated that Naafi‘ said: I saw Ibn ‘Umar touching the Stone with his hand, 
	then he kissed his hand and said: I did not stop doing this since I saw the 
	Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) doing it.

	An-Nawawi said:

	This indicates 
	that it is recommended to kiss the hand after touching the Black Stone, if 
	one is unable to kiss the Black Stone. 

	This hadith may 
	be understood as referring to one who is unable to kiss the Black Stone. 
	Otherwise, the one who is able to do so should kiss the Stone and not limit 
	himself to touching it with his hand. End quote from Sharh Muslim 
	(9/15).

	Something 
	similar was said by Shaykh al-Mulla Qaari concerning the phrase “touching 
	the Stone with his hand, then he kissed his hand.” He said: Perhaps this was 
	at a time when it was very crowded. End quote from Mirqaat al-Mafaateeh 
	(5/1795).

	Shaykh Muhammad 
	ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: You said that it is 
	prescribed for the one who is doing tawaf to kiss the Black Stone if 
	possible, otherwise he should touch it or say takbeer. This is in the first 
	circuit; but what is the ruling on the other circuits? What is the ruling if 
	he does not do that?

	He replied:

	The same ruling 
	applies to all the circuits, but if he does not do that, it does not matter, 
	because saying takbeer, kissing the Black Stone and touching it are all 
	Sunnah; what really matters is tawaf (circumambulating the Ka‘bah). End 
	quote from Majmoo‘ Fataawa ash-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (22/331).

	And he (may 
	Allah have mercy on him) said:

	All of these 
	actions were narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon 
	him).

	The best of them 
	are touching the Stone with one’s hand and kissing the Stone; then touching 
	the Stone and kissing one’s hand; then touching it with a stick and the like 
	and kissing it, if doing so will not cause annoyance to anyone – but this 
	Sunnah only applies to one who is riding, as far as we know; then pointing 
	to it. So there are four possible actions, in order of preference, to be 
	done without causing annoyance to others or putting oneself through 
	hardship. End quote from ash-Sharh al-Mumti‘ (7/238).

	Conclusion:

	If the one who 
	is doing tawaf is able to kiss the Black Stone, or to touch it, without 
	causing annoyance to anyone, then he should do that in every circuit, but it 
	is not obligatory.

	And Allah knows 
	best.