Muslim pilgrims launch into final hajj rituals

The stoning rituals continue tomorrow before the hajj,the world’s largest annual pilgrimage,winds up the following day.

“Thank God. I have fulfilled one of the duties of hajj,” said Ibrahim al-Asaad,27,from Syria,as he walked out of the Jamarat complex.

“I felt I was really stoning Iblees (an Arabic name for the devil). I felt I was insulting him and declaring that I shall not follow him,” he said.

Iblees in Islamic tradition is a wicked angel who refused Allah’s order to prostrate to his creature,Adam,claiming that being created from fire made him superior to Adam,who was made from the soil.

The angel who fell from grace told God he would work endlessly to divert Adam and his offspring from obeying God. He was kicked out of heaven,along with Adam and Eve,after he convinced them to eat the forbidden fruit,according to Islamic tradition.

“I am keeping him away from me,” said Khalaf Bayoush,30,from Syria,after he cast pebbles at the three walls representing Iblees.

The ritual is an emulation of Abraham’s stoning of the devil at the three spots where he is said to have appeared trying to dissuade the biblical patriarch from obeying God’s order to sacrifice his son,Ishmael.

Pilgrims had returned overnight to Mina,a tent town that comes to life only during hajj,from Mecca where they had yesterday performed the Tawaf circumambulation around the Kaaba,a cube-shaped stone structure towards which Muslims worldwide face for prayer.

They had also yesterday performed Sa’i,going back and forth between the two stone spots of Safa and Marwah in seven lengths.

The ritual is meant to copy the desperate walks of Hagar,wife of Abraham,who was seeking water for her infant Ishmael after he left them in the barren spot.

Some two million pilgrims,including 175,000 Indians are taking part in this year’s hajj,the world’s largest annual pilgrimage.

Saudi statistics revealed yesterday that a total of 1,799,601 pilgrims from outside Saudi Arabia and 989,798 from inside made the hajj this year,for a total of 2,789,399.