A Muslim should have firm belief that nothing can cause benefit or harm except Allah. Indeed, it is a real act of shirk (disbelief) to think of gems or precious stones as having any ability to bring benefit or harm.

Allah is the ultimate source of all things; He is the One Who causes us to live, and He is the One Who causes us to die; He alone possesses power over all things. So every Muslim is urged to have unswerving belief in Almighty Allah as the absolute power that controls everything.

Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states the following: To attribute mysterious powers to any entity other than Allah is considered shirk; shirk in Islam is an unforgivable sin. So, guard against shirk and run away from it more than you run away from anything else.

Islam is based on tawheed; Allah says, (Know firmly that there is no god but God, and ask forgiveness of Allah for your sins and for the sins of the believers, men and women) (Muhammad 47:19). He also says, (Allah does not forgive the sin of shirk (associating partners in worship with Him), though He does forgive whoever He will for lesser sins) (An-Nisaa’ 4:116).

Tawheed implies that Allah is the ultimate source of all things; He is the One Who causes us to live, and He is the One Who causes us to die; He alone possesses power over all things. Any power that created things have is only in so far as Allah has granted it to them; that is why we must never depend on anything absolutely other than Allah. Our attitude should be putting our sole trust in Allah and Allah alone; the believer’s slogan should be as the Qur’an states: (I entrust all my affairs unto Allah; He is Well-Aware of His servants) (Ghafir 40:44).

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us to meditate on a daily basis “In the name of Allah; with His name nothing whatsoever either in earth or heaven can do any harm; He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.”

The true understanding of tawheed in relation to all things, including the sacred relics such as the Ka`bah and the Black Stone—which are otherwise revered in Islam—was expressed by `Umar, the second caliph; while kissing the Black Stone, he said, “I know that you have no power to harm or benefit anyone. If I hadn’t seen Allah’s Messenger kissing you, I wouldn’t have even bothered to kiss you!”

So strive hard to guard your tawheed intact and thus strive to appear before Allah with a heart and faith that are free of all taints of shirk, for Allah says,  (On that Day (Day of Final Reckoning) neither one’s wealth nor one’s children will avail; it is only the one who shall appear before Allah with a pure heart (untainted by shirk) that can be saved) (Ash-Shu`ar’ 26:89).