Pilgrims begin 'satan stoning' ritual (The Hajj)

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.

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.

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.

"These people are nuts!"

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?).

If TLBSHOW made his comment about Islam in an muslim nation, there's a very good chance he would be dead. Chances are he would be on the receiving end of those rocks and not "satan".

Freedom of religious expression is a very rare national institution around the world.

Stampede kills 14 Hajj pilgrims
From the International Desk
Published 2/11/2003 12:50 PM
View printer-friendly version

MECCA, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- At least 14 pilgrims died Tuesday and several others were injured in a stampede during the annual Muslim pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia, an official said.

The stampede occurred at Al-Arab Market street, some 1.5 miles from where pilgrims cast pebbles at a column representing Satan.

A crowd of pilgrims, returning from the ritual, collided with another crowd heading for the column, according to Brig. Abdul Aziz bin Muhammad Said of the Control Center for Hajj Affairs.

The pilgrimage to Mecca and other holy sites is one of the five pillars of Islam and incumbent on all Muslims who are able to make it.

Those killed were three Indian women, three men and a woman from Pakistan, two men and a woman from Egypt, an Iranian woman, a Yemeni man and two unidentified pilgrims.

The incident occurred despite extra precautions by the Saudi authorities to prevent the recurrence of mishaps. Last year 35 people died in a stampede and more than 2,500 have been killed since 1987. In 1990, 1,426 died in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel.

Officials put the number of the pilgrims this year at 1,924,242 of whom 1,431,012 came from outside Saudi Arabia.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.