Blackstone part of ritual of Islamic worship?

Muslims, obviously, do not think the black stone is a mere stone. Just as idol worshippers do not think their idols are mere stones.

Originally Posted by 'Abd-al Latif
You can't compare the black stone to idol worship. The worship of idols is directed towards the false dieties whereas the black stone is part of a ritual towards Allah and not towards the stone.Note the difference, the black stone is not worshipped like an idol wheres the idols are worsipped as gods.

You say, "the black stone is part of a ritual towards Allah." Is the ritual centering on the balck stone part of worship of Allah, at least during Hajj in Mecca?