Muslim pilgrims reached Mina on Monday for the ritual stoning of the devil, the last major rite of the annual hajj and the scene of a devastating stampede past year.
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Chanting “here I am at thy service, O Lord”, the faithful climbed the craggy hills outside Mecca where Islam holds that God tested Abraham’s faith by commanding him to sacrifice his son Ismail and the Prophet Mohammed gave his last sermon. If all the world was like that, there wouldn’t be any war.
A teenage Indian pilgrim, who gave her name only as Janifa, said she was “lucky, and very grateful” to have made the pilgrimage with her parents.
Another Indian, Mohamed Arafan, 40, said he felt “chosen by God” for being able to perform the Haj.
“Yes I want to pray for Yemen and the people in Syria and Iraq and all the oppressed Muslim people”, said Mahdi al Ahdal, a Yemeni pilgrim. He says that Iran’s assertions that Saudi Arabia was not able to secure the pilgrimage and then did not properly care for the victims is meant to put pressure on the Kingdom.
During the last three days of hajj, male pilgrims shave their heads and remove the terrycloth white garments worn during the hajj.
Women wear a loose dress, typically also white, but some like Soumaya, 30, of Mali are in traditional attire, in her case an orange robe.
They come from every corner of the globe for the hajj, but Indonesia – the most populous Muslim nation – has the largest contingent.
Trucks loaded with bottled water were stationed throughout, and pilgrims doused themselves.
Eid-ul-Azha is being celebrated in Saudi Arabia, Gulf States, United States of America and Europe including Britain and France today (Monday) with religious zeal and zest, 24 News HD reported.
After sunset they will move to Muzdalifah, halfway between Arafat and Mina, to gather 49 pebbles for a symbolic stoning of the devil which begins Monday, in the last major rite of hajj.
During that ritual in Mina a year ago, on Sept 24, a stampede killed roughly 2,300 people who were on their way to throw their stones at the Jamarat Bridge.
Additional safety measures have been implemented this year including the distribution of bracelets which store pilgrims’ personal data.
Saudi authorities redesigned the Jamarat area after two stampedes, one in 2004 and one in 2006, killed hundreds of pilgrims, and the frequency of such disasters has greatly reduced as the government has spent billions of dollars upgrading and expanding hajj infrastructure and crowd-control technology.
“The Saudis organise everything for us”.
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On the sacred hill itself, police sometimes had to use their bodies to block the flow of hajjis and avoid bottlenecks.
