Makkah: More than 1.8 million Haj pilgrims from across the world began performing Jamarat—‘stoning of the devil’ ritual on Sunday, June 16, marking the first day of Eid Al Adha or the festival of sacrifice.
At dawn on Sunday, the 10th of Dhul-Hijjah, pilgrims returned to the Grand Mosque in Makkah from Muzdalifah plains to perform Eid prayers and start the Jamarat.
They began pelting pebbles at three large pillars representing the devil, the last major ritual of an event held in intense summer heat.
Jamarat will continue over the next three days. After the first stoning ritual, pilgrims shave their heads or trim their hair, and perform the sacred sacrifice before heading to Makkah to perform the Tawaf al-Ifadah. They return to Mina to spend the night for the rest of the days of Tashreeq.
More than 1.8 million pilgrims perform Haj in 2024
A total of 1,833,164 Haj pilgrims participated in the Islamic ritual this year, including 1,611,310 who came from outside the Kingdom and 221,854 citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia.
This comes as the Saudi Minister of Haj and Umrah, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, annoumced in a press conference on Saturday, June 15, that “the plans to transport pilgrims from Makkah and Mina to the upper part of Mount Arafat have completely succeeded.”
Al-Rabiah pointed to the success of health plans for pilgrims in Arafat.
The Haj pilgrimage to Makkah is a mandatory religious duty that must be performed by those Muslims who are physically and financially able to perform it, at least once in a lifetime.
