Stoning of the Devil

"throwing of the jamarāt [place of pebbles]")[1][2][3] is part of the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

During the ritual, Muslim pilgrims throw pebbles at three walls (formerly pillars), called jamarāt, in the city of Mina just east of Mecca.

It is a symbolic reenactment of Ibrahim's (or Abraham's) hajj, where he stoned three pillars representing the Shaitan (or Satan), and Muslims' temptation to disobey the will of Allah.

On Eid al-Adha (the 10th day of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah), pilgrims must strike the Big Jamarah or Al-Jamrah Al-Aqaba with seven pebbles.

The stoning of the jamarāt also represents the repudiation of man's self (an-nafs al-'amāra, literally the "internal despot") and the act of casting aside one's low desires and wishes.

[7]The Stoning of the Devil ritual is considered the most dangerous part of the pilgrimage, as sudden crowd movements on or near the Jamaraat Bridge can cause people to be crushed.

Adding to the confusion involved in the tragedy is the lack of co-operation on the part of pilgrims who do not leave the jamarāt area by the proper route, and therefore interfere with the movements of others who are arriving.

Another crush occurred on September 24, 2015, in Mina when at least 2,411 pilgrims were killed, a new Associated Press count shows, three times the number of deaths acknowledged by the kingdom three months later.

Authorities have said the Mina crush and stampede occurred when two waves of pilgrims converged on a narrow road, suffocating or trampling to death those caught in the disaster.

He pointed out that the 500,000 people an hour who could cross the Jamarat bridge after it was widened in 2004 is equivalent to the largest-ever football crowd once every 24 minutes or the population of Germany in a week.