The shrine’s gold-and-silver door is opened annually for the even during hajj season. Ministers and body guards stay near. Muslim dignitaries take this opportunity to perform a tawaf and kiss the Black Stone, encased in silver. Embedded in a corner of the Kaaba, the Black Stone is believed to be the only extant piece of Abraham’s original shrine. The Kaaba itself has remained empty since A.D. 630, when Muhammad cleansed it of idols and reaffirmed Islam as a one-0God faith. National Geographic, November 1978
