Hajj: Huge Crowds ‘Stone The Devil’
Vast crowds of robed worshippers hurled pebbles in the “stoning of the devil” ritual on Wednesday as the biggest hajj pilgrimage since the start of the pandemic draws to a close in intense Saudi Arabian heat.
From dawn in Mina, hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims began pelting three concrete monoliths representing Satan, and heading to Mecca for a final “tawaf” – walking in circles around the Kaaba, the giant black cube at the Grand Mosque.
More than 1.8 million people are taking part in the first unrestricted hajj since Covid struck in 2020. About 2.5 million, the most on record, joined the pilgrimage in pre-pandemic 2019.
As well as crowds at every turn, the visitors have had to contend with ferocious temperatures at the hajj, which currently coincides with the Saudi summer.
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Temperatures peaked at 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, when the pilgrims prayed for hours at Mount Arafat, and were expected to hit 47 degrees on Wednesday in Mina.
“I will not think of doing hajj again until it takes place in winter,” said Farah, a 26-year-old Tunisian who did not want to give her full name.
“My body is melting,” she said.
As helicopters buzzed overhead, pilgrims flooded the streets around Mina. In Mecca, the Grand Mosque was packed from the early morning with circling pilgrims, who loudly congratulated each other on completing the rituals.
