Muslims perform the ritual stoning of the devil
Posted on 02/11/2003 6:15:06 AM PST by Indy Pendance
More than two million Muslims have begun performing the symbolic stoning of the devil at the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca - the Hajj.
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A sea of white-robed pilgrims made their way to Mina, just outside Mecca, after praying at Mount Arafat on Tuesday and collecting pebbles for the stoning ritual.
This year's Hajj is taking place against the backdrop of a looming war with Iraq and growing anger among Muslims over the US policy towards the Arab world.
The Saudi authorities have deployed thousands of troops to maintain order and have vowed to crack down firmly on any attempt to disrupt the pilgrimage.
Police and armed guards lined the route to Mina, while armoured vehicles patrolled the roads and helicopters hovered overhead.
Measures have also been taken to try to prevent a recurrence of stampedes which have claimed hundreds of lives during the ritual in recent years.
Once in a lifetime
The pilgrimage, which takes Muslims in the footsteps of Mohammed, Islam's 7th-Century prophet, is the biggest annual mass movement of people on the planet.
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Hajj disasters
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2001: 35 people die in stampede during stoning
1998: At least 118 trampled to death
1997: 343 pilgrims die and 1,500 injured in fire
1994: 270 killed in a stampede as worshippers surged forwards during stoning.
1990: 1,426 pilgrims killed in overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites
1987: 400 die in Iranian-Saudi confrontation
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In Mina, the devil is represented by three giant concrete pillars.
On Tuesday, pilgrims throw only seven small stones at the first pillar, known as the "big Satan".
The stoning continues over the next three days and after completing the ritual, pilgrims circle the Kaaba - a cube-shaped stone structure at the centre of Mecca's Grand Mosque - seven times.
Then they say farewell prayers and ask God to accept their pilgrimage, which every able-bodied Muslim must make once in a lifetime.
After the stoning ritual, pilgrims may celebrate the start of the Eid al-Adha, or feast of sacrifice, by slaughtering a camel, a cow or a sheep.
Gives new meaning to "stun and amaze your friends!"
Some of them have "smiley faces" pinned to the backs of their robes.
Those wacky Muslims!
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Sounds like a good start. Can we encourage more of this?
Between crowd-caused deaths and Islamic terrorists, dozens of pilgrims die traveling to / from and around the holy sites every year. In 2001, 24 were killed in Pakistan by terrorists and there was bloody hostage drama in the mosque itself that killed several dozen some years back.
From what I can tell, the three pillars are supposed to mark the spot where Satan tried to dissuad Ibrahim from the sacrifice that he was going to make of his kid. They later came to symbolize the devil.
Which is a further contortion if the event based on but not quite duplicating the earlier religion of Judaism. Interesting that in the muslim case the emphasis is on the devil's alleged attempt to prevent his from making the sacrifice.
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| If he starts crying, I'll be over here getting my shoes shined. |
It is a stupid ritual and not part of Islam. I read about this practice in Saudi. The short version is that several years ago on a Hajj, people just started doing the stoning and the practice got too big to stop. When asked, the holy men tell the pilgrims that the stonings aren't necessary, but they do little to discourage it. They could stop it if they wanted to.
One of the great things about America is you have the right to say that. Although I am not a Muslim, I wouldn't go so far as to call them nuts for partaking in a holy ritual in an effort to confirm their faith. I will agree that terrorism has it's roots in Islam, but most Muslims do not have their roots in Islamic extremism (is that a word?).
Religion-Of-Peace ™ Alert
with Plymouth Rocks?
sorry. couldn't help it.
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