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Eid al-Adha: Nearly million Muslims 'stone the devil' as hajj comes to an end | In photos
Muslim pilgrims around the world gather to throw small pebbles in the "stoning of the devil" ritual, marking the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday on Saturday, as this year's expanded hajj pilgrimage winds down. In pictures taken at the holy site of Mecca, small groups of worshippers, from first light, were seen making their way across the valley of Mina, near Mecca, in western Saudi Arabia, to throw stones at three concrete walls representing Satan.
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Thousands of Muslim pilgrims make their way across the valley of Mina, near Mecca in western Saudi Arabia, to perform the "stoning of the devil" ritual which marks the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday on July 9, 2022.(AFP)
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Muslim pilgrims perform the "stoning of the devil" ritual. The ritual is an emulation of Abraham's stoning of the devil at the three spots where it is said Satan tried to dissuade him from obeying God's order to sacrifice his son, Ishmael. The stoning ritual has in past years led to deadly stampedes, as millions of participants converge on a tight space. (AFP)
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Hajj, one of the world's largest annual religious gatherings of the Muslim community, is among the five pillars of Islam, to be undertaken with the means at least once in their lives. In 2019, some 2.5 million Muslims from around the world took part in the festival. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic the following years, only a few thousand took part in the festival in 2020 and about 60,000 in 2021, all of them Saudi citizens or residents.(AFP)
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This year marked a revival of worshippers even as participation was capped at one million with full vaccination. Authorities said Friday that almost 900,000 were in attendance, nearly 780,000 of them from abroad. Hosting the pilgrimage is a matter of prestige and a powerful source of political legitimacy for Saudi rulers, the custodians of Islam's holiest sites. (AFP)
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After the stoning ritual, pilgrims return to the Grand Mosque in Mecca to perform a final "tawaf", or circling of the Kaaba, the cubic structure that is the focal point of Islam. Eid al-Adha, the feast of the sacrifice, will then begin, marking the end of hajj. Muslims across the world buy livestock for slaughter to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son to show obedience to Allah. (AFP)
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On Friday, huge crowds of robed Muslim pilgrims prayed on Mount Arafat, the climax of the annual pilgrimage. Groups of worshippers, many holding umbrellas against the fierce sun, recited verses from the Koran on the rocky rise where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon. After sunset, they travelled the short distance to Muzdalifah, where they slept under the stars before performing the stoning ritual.(AFP)
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