[crystalk]

Actually that ka'aba or "cube" is just a building shrouded in black velvet. The black stone, only about 2-300 lbs, which is set into one wall and kissable from outside, is a meteorite (the "stone which fell down from Venus") and is actually a reddish-rust color due to iron, but is black from all the millions of kisses.

I will settle for the Blarney myself.

[CaptRon]

From Robert Payne's History of Islam

"To this day the Arabs worship stones, and so do all the followers of Muhammad...

"Of all the places which Muslims are enjoined to visit in their pilgrimage, or Hajj, only one is intimately connected with the Prophet; all the other places, and all the sacrifices performed at them, derive from the age when Arabs worshiped stones."

Payne has some interesting things to say about jihad as well, and it is far removed from the apologia we've been getting from the Muslim spokespeople.