Mecca pilgrims stone devil at start of Muslim feast

MUSLIM pilgrims yesterday poured into the valley of Mina east of the holy city of Mecca to affirm their allegiance to God by stoning symbols of Satan, in the riskiest ritual of the hajj.

As the rays of the morning sun flooded the valley pilgrims descended in two main directions towards a wide overpass known as Jamarat bridge, where three 18-metre pillars inside oval-shaped basins symbolise the powers of evil. In the last major rite of the hajj, or the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in western Saudi Arabia, pilgrims hurled seven pebbles at the Jamarat al-Aqabah, or the big pillar.Thousands of Saudi policemen and security force members were at hand to prevent a repeat of another tragedy like the stampedes in 2003 that killed 251 pilgrims and a previous one in 1990 in which 1,426 perished.In the heat of the moment pilgrims jostle to make sure their pebbles touch the pillar while the weaker ones risk being trampled on by the masses.Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims climbed onto the bridge with security force members in military fatigues at the entrance making sure no one brought in bags or other belongings, as high-tech cameras watched over the site.After stoning the pillar pilgrims were coming off the bridge via two ramps.Helicopters hovered overhead and a dozen or so ambulances with sirens wailing milled through the crowds under the bridge.Although none of the major improvements and extra bridges that Saudi authorities promised after the 2003 stampede have yet been implemented, the flow of pilgrims on the bridge appeared to be organised.Interior ministry spokesman Mansur al-Turki had promised Sunday a “special plan” to channel pilgrims to the bridge.”It was a piece of cake this year,” said Suleiman Fallatah, 26, a Saudi native of Mecca, as a barber shaved his head with a razor.The shaving or shortening of hair by male pilgrims is the first step of ending their state of ihram, or sacred dedication, which they entered into before the hajj started on Sunday.Fallatah who has performed the annual pilgrimage 10 times will head to Mecca to perform another rite which involves circling the Kaaba, the cube-shaped shrine in the centre of the Grand Mosque.He will come back to Mina on Wednesday and Thursday to stone the other lesser pillars.Hundreds of thousands of worshippers swarmed into the Grand Mosque and its vast plazas after sunrise to take part in a special prayer marking the start of Eid al-Adha (the feast of the sacrifice) on Tuesday.”Allahu Akbaru Kabira (God is the greatest of the great),” echoed through mosque loudspeakers in Mecca and Mina, five kilometres to the east.All pilgrims must sacrifice an animal, usually a sheep, which commemorates the story of Prophet Abraham when God as an act of testing his faith commanded him to slaughter his son Ismail.According to belief, Abraham was taunted by the devil not to obey God as he was on his way to the mountains with his son.The prophet tried to silence the devil by throwing pebbles at him.When Abraham arrived to the appointed place, God told him to spare Ismail and sacrifice a ram instead.”We are on God’s way,” said Mohammed Jallu, 43, from Guinea in west Africa as he descended hundreds of stairs carved in one of Mina’s hills leading down to the Jamarat bridge.Fearing overcrowding Saudi police tried in vain to remove the thousands of pilgrims camped out under the bridge and on the stairs.Following a journey made by Prophet Mohammed over 1,400 years ago, almost 2.5 million pilgrims flocked to the plain of Arafat south of Mina on Monday to pray for mercy in the central rite of the hajj.Before coming to Mina Tuesday, many spent the night in the sacred site of Muzdalifah where they collected pebbles for the stoning ritual The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and a once-in-a-life time duty for those able to complete it.- Nampa-AFPIn the last major rite of the hajj, or the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in western Saudi Arabia, pilgrims hurled seven pebbles at the Jamarat al-Aqabah, or the big pillar.Thousands of Saudi policemen and security force members were at hand to prevent a repeat of another tragedy like the stampedes in 2003 that killed 251 pilgrims and a previous one in 1990 in which 1,426 perished.In the heat of the moment pilgrims jostle to make sure their pebbles touch the pillar while the weaker ones risk being trampled on by the masses.Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims climbed onto the bridge with security force members in military fatigues at the entrance making sure no one brought in bags or other belongings, as high-tech cameras watched over the site.After stoning the pillar pilgrims were coming off the bridge via two ramps.Helicopters hovered overhead and a dozen or so ambulances with sirens wailing milled through the crowds under the bridge.Although none of the major improvements and extra bridges that Saudi authorities promised after the 2003 stampede have yet been implemented, the flow of pilgrims on the bridge appeared to be organised.Interior ministry spokesman Mansur al-Turki had promised Sunday a “special plan” to channel pilgrims to the bridge.”It was a piece of cake this year,” said Suleiman Fallatah, 26, a Saudi native of Mecca, as a barber shaved his head with a razor.The shaving or shortening of hair by male pilgrims is the first step of ending their state of ihram, or sacred dedication, which they entered into before the hajj started on Sunday.Fallatah who has performed the annual pilgrimage 10 times will head to Mecca to perform another rite which involves circling the Kaaba, the cube-shaped shrine in the centre of the Grand Mosque.He will come back to Mina on Wednesday and Thursday to stone the other lesser pillars.Hundreds of thousands of worshippers swarmed into the Grand Mosque and its vast plazas after sunrise to take part in a special prayer marking the start of Eid al-Adha (the feast of the sacrifice) on Tuesday.”Allahu Akbaru Kabira (God is the greatest of the great),” echoed through mosque loudspeakers in Mecca and Mina, five kilometres to the east.All pilgrims must sacrifice an animal, usually a sheep, which commemorates the story of Prophet Abraham when God as an act of testing his faith commanded him to slaughter his son Ismail.According to belief, Abraham was taunted by the devil not to obey God as he was on his way to the mountains with his son.The prophet tried to silence the devil by throwing pebbles at him.When Abraham arrived to the appointed place, God told him to spare Ismail and sacrifice a ram instead.”We are on God’s way,” said Mohammed Jallu, 43, from Guinea in west Africa as he descended hundreds of stairs carved in one of Mina’s hills leading down to the Jamarat bridge.Fearing overcrowding Saudi police tried in vain to remove the thousands of pilgrims camped out under the bridge and on the stairs.Following a journey made by Prophet Mohammed over 1,400 years ago, almost 2.5 million pilgrims flocked to the plain of Arafat south of Mina on Monday to pray for mercy in the central rite of the hajj.Before coming to Mina Tuesday, many spent the night in the sacred site of Muzdalifah where they collected pebbles for the stoning ritual The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and a once-in-a-life time duty for those able to complete it.- Nampa-AFP