Get the latest news and updates from Dawn
Muslim faithful took part in the climactic ritual of the annual Haj pilgrimage on Wednesday, symbolically stoning the devil near Makkah.
From dawn, crowds of pilgrims gathered in the valley of Mina, southeast of the holy city of Makkah, to throw pebbles at concrete pillars symbolising the devil.
It reenacts the Prophet Ibrahim’s (AS) stoning of the devil at three places where Satan is said to have tried to dissuade him from obeying God’s command to sacrifice his son Hazrat Ismail (AS).
More than 1.7 million people are taking part in the Haj this year. The most important festival in Islam has, for the third year in a row, been overshadowed by war — this time the US-Israeli conflict with Iran that has drawn in the Gulf nations.
