Biggest Hajj pilgrimage since pandemic draws to a close
Massive crowds of robed pilgrims gathered for the “stoning of the devil” ritual in Saudi Arabia as the biggest hajj pilgrimage since the pandemic draws to a close, AFP reported.
From dawn, hundreds of thousands of worshippers began pelting pebbles at three concrete monoliths representing Satan, the last major ritual of an event held in severe summer heat.
The pilgrims flocked to Mina, near Makkah, a day after enduring temperatures of 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit) as they prayed for hours on Mount Arafat.
“I will not think of doing hajj again until it takes place in winter,” Farah, a 26-year-old Tunisian, said of the annual ritual which follows the lunar calendar and doesn’t always coincide with summer.
“My body is melting,” she said.
More than 1.8 million pilgrims, most of them from abroad, joined the first hajj with unrestricted numbers since pre-Covid in 2019, when 2.5 million took part.
The attendance figure, announced by Saudi officials on Tuesday, falls well short of their predictions of beating the 2019 record.
The devil-stoning marks the start of the three-day Eid Al-Adha holiday, celebrated by Muslims by buying and slaughtering livestock to commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son.
Afterwards, the pilgrims return to Makkah to perform a farewell “tawaf” — walking seven times around the Kaaba, the giant black cube at the Grand Mosque that is the focal point of Islam.
On Wednesday, helicopters buzzed overhead and hundreds of police officers fanned out across Mina’s roads to organise the flow of worshippers.
To protect themselves from the heat, many pilgrims walk with umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun, while others carry their folded prayer blankets above their heads.
More than 32,000 health workers are on hand to treat anyone struck by heatstroke or other ailments, authorities say, while bottles of water are being distributed free of charge.
On his way out of Arafat on Tuesday, Egyptian employee Sobhi Saeed, 56, said he was fulfilled but drained as the hajj winds down.
The hajj started on Sunday at Makkah’s Grand Mosque before an overnight stay in tents and then the prayers on Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his final sermon.