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Annual hajj draws to close

Thousands of Muslims circled the Kaaba stone yesterday before bidding farewell to Mecca while others stoned pillars representing Satan in nearby Mina as the hajj pilgrimage drew to a close.

In the last ritual of the annual pilgrimage, tens of thousands of faithful walked seven times around the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque complex in Mecca and then knelt to pray.

The Kaaba, with a black stone set in the eastern corner, is not an object of worship, even though Muslims pray towards it, but a sanctuary and a spiritual center.

Several thousand faithful remained behind in Mina, some 5km east of Mecca, to stone pillars representing Satan for a fourth and final day, a risky ritual which unfolded without incident this year.

Last January 364 pilgrims were killed in a crush during the stoning ritual.

Nearly 2.4 million Muslims flocked to holy sites in Saudi Arabia this year to perform the hajj, including more than 1.6 million from outside the kingdom.

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam which all able-bodied Muslims must undertake once in a lifetime if they have the means.
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