Must a stone taken from Mount Arafat as a souvenir be returned to its place, or is it permissible to keep it?

Arafat is not part of the Haram (definition) (sacred precinct), and the stones of Arafat are not from the Haram. Scholars differed concerning the permissibility of taking stones out of the Haram. The Hanbalis and Shafi'is forbade it, while the Hanafis permitted it. We advise against keeping stones from Arafat, because keeping them as souvenirs might lead to their veneration, the belief in their special merit, and seeking blessings from them. This could eventually lead to polytheism (shirk (definition)).