Muslim pilgrims have wrapped up the Hajj, or pilgrimage, within the lethal summer season warmth on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the satan, and the final circumambulation across the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest web site, within the metropolis of Mecca. The three-day stoning ritual in Mina, a desert web site outdoors Mecca, is among the many remaining rites of the Hajj, and symbolizes the casting away of evil and sin.
It began a day after pilgrims congregated Saturday at a sacred hill, known as Mount Arafat. The ultimate days of the annual Hajj coincide with Muslims around the globe celebrating the Eid al-Adha vacation when Muslims with monetary means commemorate Prophet Ibrahim’s check of religion, when God ordered him to sacrifice his solely son, by slaughtering livestock and animals and distributing the meat to the poor.
The Hajj is likely one of the 5 Pillars of Islam. Its rituals largely commemorate the accounts of Prophet Ibrahim and his son Prophet Ismail, Ismail’s mom Hajar and Prophet Muhammad, based on the Quran, Islam’s holy guide. Within the Islamic model, God stayed his hand and Ismail was spared. “I’m reassured. I really feel comfy,” Mejahed al-Mehrabi, a Yemeni pilgrim, informed The Related Press after he was accomplished with the third day of the stoning ritual.
“Anybody who can go to the Grand Mosque (in Mecca) ought to achieve this.” Nigerian pilgrim Amir Omar was overjoyed as soon as he completed his symbolic stoning. “I’m feeling very nice that I carry out one pillar of my faith,” he mentioned. “I’m feeling very grateful.”
The burning sun and suffocating hot weather remained Tuesday, with temperatures, anticipated to succeed in 47 levels Celsius (116.6 levels Fahrenheit) in Mecca and the sacred websites in and across the metropolis, based on the Saudi Nationwide Middle for Metrology.
Pilgrims have been wrapping up the Hajj within the lethal summer season warmth, with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the satan. (AP picture)
Many pilgrims, notably aged ones, have been seen collapsed and in want of medical help due to the warmth. Dozens, together with 14 from Jordan, have been additionally reported useless. After the third symbolic stoning Tuesday, pilgrims headed to Mecca to carry out “tawaf,” circling the Kaaba within the Grand Mosque counterclockwise seven instances.
That circumambulation, generally known as the Farewell Tawaf, marks the tip of Hajj as pilgrims put together to depart the holy metropolis. As soon as the Hajj is over, males are anticipated to shave their heads, and girls to snip a lock of hair in an indication of renewal. Many of the pilgrims then depart Mecca for the town of Medina, about 340 kilometers (210 miles) away, to wish in Prophet Muhammad’s tomb, the Sacred Chamber.
The Sacred Chamber tomb is a part of the prophet’s mosque, one of many three holiest websites in Islam, together with the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Pilgrims solid stones at pillars within the symbolic stoning of the satan. (AP picture)
All Muslims are required to make the Hajj as soon as of their lives if they’re bodily and financially ready to take action. Many rich Muslims make the pilgrimage greater than as soon as. Greater than 1.83 million Muslims carried out Hajj in 2024, together with greater than 1.6 million pilgrims from 22 nations, and round 222,000 Saudi residents and residents, based on Saudi Hajj authorities.
The 2024 pilgrimage got here in opposition to the backdrop of the devastating Israel-Hamas battle, which has pushed the Center East to the brink of a regional battle. “I prayed first for Gaza then Yemen,” mentioned al-Mehrabi, the Yemeni pilgrim, referring to the battle between Israel and Hamas within the Palestinian enclave and the decade-old battle in his residence nation.