More than 1.7 million Muslim pilgrims gathered in the valley of Mina near Mecca on Wednesday to perform the Stoning of the Devil, the final major ritual of the Hajj, on the first day of Eid al-Adha, as fears of a renewed Middle East conflict cast a shadow over the world's largest annual gathering.
Mina, Saudi Arabia © Mena Today
More than 1.7 million Muslim pilgrims gathered in the valley of Mina near Mecca on Wednesday to perform the Stoning of the Devil, the final major ritual of the Hajj, on the first day of Eid al-Adha, as fears of a renewed Middle East conflict cast a shadow over the world's largest annual gathering.
From dawn, waves of pilgrims took turns hurling pebbles at three concrete pillars symbolising Satan, re-enacting the moment Abraham drove away the devil at the three spots where he had tried to dissuade the prophet from obeying God's command to sacrifice his son Ishmael.
The ritual marks the culmination of days of physically gruelling worship, performed this year under punishing heat, temperatures on Mount Arafat, where pilgrims prayed on Tuesday in one of the Hajj's most sacred moments, reached 45 degrees Celsius.
After the stoning, pilgrims return to Mecca for a final circumambulation of the Kaaba — the black cubic structure at the heart of the Grand Mosque toward which Muslims worldwide turn to pray, completing the pilgrimage.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog has resolved its outstanding questions from an investigation into secret nuclear activities in Syria under the Assad family's rule but made no progress in Iran, it said on Tuesday in confidential reports seen by Reuters.
Israeli special forces captured a Hamas militant leader in a raid in Gaza City on Tuesday while Israeli air strikes meant to protect those troops killed four Palestinians, authorities said.
Israel's political scene keeps splintering ahead of the October 27 vote, with retired Brigadier General Ofer Winter becoming the latest figure to enter the race, launching a new party, Amcha Israel.
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