The General Authority for Statistics in Saudi Arabia said that this year’s Hajj has seen a total of 1,862,909 pilgrims, of whom 1,325,372 pilgrims came from outside Saudi Arabia, while the total pilgrims inside totaled 537,537 pilgrims.
The total non-Saudi pilgrims numbered 1,692,417 pilgrims, while the total Saudi pilgrims reached 170,492 pilgrims.
Male pilgrims made up of 1,082,228 persons while the total female pilgrims reached 780,681 persons, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Pilgrims ‘stone devil’ in last major Hajj ritual

Pilgrims began heading back to Mina and the Grand Mosque to perform further rites and rituals on the third day of their Hajj pilgrimage and first day of Eid al-Adha on Monday.

Having spent the previous night camped out in the open in Muzdalifah, pilgrims will proceed back to the Mina and Makkah to perform several duties, one of which is the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual.

On Monday, Muslims around the world are also marking one of two Islamic holidays, known in Arabic as Eid al-Adha, commemorating what Muslims believe was Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael as a test of his faith from God.

For the stoning ritual, pilgrims will be filing in to crowds through a multi-level structure housing three pillars symbolizing the devil.

Muslim pilgrims cast stones at a pillar, symbolizing the stoning of Satan, in a ritual called “Jamarat,” a rite of the annual hajj, the Islamic faith’s most holy pilgrimage, in Mina near the Saudi holy city of Makkah. (File photo: AP)

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

Muslims from around the world pour to Makkah every year to perform Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.

Every able-bodied adult Muslim who can financially afford the trip must perform Hajj at least once in a lifetime.

Source: Al Arabiya English, 12 September 2016