A crowd of believers perform the ritual of stoning Satan, one of the last of the major annual Muslim pilgrimages, on the first day of Eid al-Adha, an important religious festival in Islam, near Mecca on Wednesday.
From dawn, at the site of the stoning in Mina, an arid valley a few kilometers from Mecca in western Saudi Arabia, pilgrims took turns throwing stones at a large stele symbolizing the devil.
“I’m very happy but I’m exhausted,” said Sobhi Said, a 56-year-old Egyptian worker, after praying all day Tuesday at Mount Arafat, another key station, in temperatures as high as 48 degrees Celsius .
The stoning ritual has taken tragic turns several times in the past, most notably in 2015 when a gigantic stampede killed 2,300 people, the worst tragedy in the history of the great pilgrimage, the Hajj.
Since then, the place has been equipped with concrete corridors and bridges to ensure the smooth movement of people. A seven-story building was erected to allow pilgrims to throw the pebbles collected the day before in the plain of Muzdalifah, where they spent the night under the stars.
Following this, believers should proceed to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, for a final tour of the Kaaba, the black cubic structure to which Muslims around the world turn in prayer and which marks the end of the marked great pilgrimage.
Festival of Sacrifice
The stoning ritual coincides with Eid al-Adha, a festival celebrated by Muslims around the world to commemorate the sacrifice Abraham nearly made by about to sacrifice his son before the angel Gabriel offered him in extremis, to kill a sheep in his stead, according to tradition.
On this occasion, practitioners slaughter an animal, usually a sheep, and donate some of the meat to those in need.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, guardian of two of Islam’s three holiest shrines, has paid for the Festival of Sacrifice for 4,951 needy pilgrims from 92 countries, Saudi public broadcaster Al-Ekhbariya said.
The king also addressed his wishes to the believers in Mecca, praying to God to “bring prosperity and prosperity to our country, to Muslims and to the world.”
The great pilgrimage, which consists of a series of codified rites taking place over several days in and around Mecca, is one of the five pillars of Islam. It must be undertaken by every Muslim at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it. Given the estimated cost of around $5,000 per person, some save for years to make it happen.
According to Saudi authorities, the major pilgrimage this year brought together more than 1.8 million Muslims, far fewer than the 2.5 million visitors welcomed in 2019 before the pandemic, despite restrictions on numbers over the past three seasons or of age have been revoked.
This year, as the dates of the great pilgrimage were set according to the lunar calendar, the faithful had to face the peak of summer temperatures in one of the hottest regions in the world.
Lacking the opportunity to wear a hat, which is forbidden for men during the pilgrimage, many believers have procured umbrellas and regularly splash water on their faces.
According to the Saudi Ministry of Health, 287 cases of sunstroke have been recorded.
“I don’t think I’ll be doing Hajj anymore before winter hits,” said Farah, a 26-year-old Tunisian woman, pouring water on her head.
“I’ve achieved my lifelong dream, but my body is melting,” she adds.