Stoning of the Devil

The Stoning of the Devil (رمي الجمرات , () "throwing of the [place of pebbles]") 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 one of a series of refined preislamic ritual acts that must be performed in the Hajj. It is a symbolic reenactment of Ibrahim's (or Abraham's) hajj, where he stoned three pillars representing the Shaitan, 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. After the stoning is completed on the day of Eid, every pilgrim must cut or shave their hair. On each of the following two days, they must hit all three walls with seven pebbles each, going in order from east to west. Thus at least 49 pebbles are needed for the ritual, more if any stones miss. It is permissible for the stones to fall into the designated areas of the pillars, and there is no need to rethrow them if they land in the appropriate vicinity. Some pilgrims stay at Mina for an additional day, in which case they must again stone each wall seven times. The pebbles used in the stoning are traditionally gathered at Muzdalifah, a plain southeast of Mina, on the night before the first throwing, but can also be collected at Mina. Until 2004, the three jamarāt (singular: jamrah) were tall pillars. After the 2004 Hajj, Saudi authorities replaced the pillars with walls for safety; many people were accidentally throwing pebbles at people on the other side. To allow easier access to the jamarāt, a single-tiered pedestrian bridge called the Jamaraat Bridge was built around them, allowing pilgrims to throw stones from either ground level or from the bridge. The are named (starting from the east): the first (), or the smallest (الجمرة الصغرى ), the middle (الجمرة الوسطى ), the largest (الجمرة الكبرى ), or Jamrah of Aqaba (جمرة العقبة ).