The Hajj: performing Islam’s most significant pilgrimage

Despite being a rehearsal, many Muslims have passed away during the Hajj, mostly while performing the deadliest rite of all, the Jamarāt. Three pillars representing the ‘devil’ stand on spots where, according to Islamic tradition, he tried to tempt the prophet, Ibrahim, who shooed him away. Pilgrims reenact this by throwing stones at the pillars in a symbolic rejection of temptation in their own lives. However, the sheer number of pilgrims doing this at three very closely positioned spots has made the rite a dangerous one. In this century alone, almost 3,000 have perished in deadly stampedes and collisions.

It was the last rite I would perform in the desert with my elderly mother and her twin, and the ritual I had been dreading the most. Shuffling at a crawl through a massive concrete tunnel packed with tens of thousands of pilgrims, the low drone of industrial ventilation above, I couldn’t shake the deep sense of unease I had been feeling all morning. My mother walked beside me, murmuring prayers and clutching the hand of her sister, who was in a wheelchair being pushed by her son.

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Every so often, a group leader would call out the talbiyah in a shrill voice and the crowd would thunder back in reply. Saudi soldiers, stationed along the route, glared or barked at anyone who slowed or hesitated as pilgrims linking arms shoved past. After days of performing exhausting rites, our patience was now wearing thin. Mercifully, daylight began to appear up ahead and the Jamarāt, a sprawling, five-storey structure, loomed into view. We headed to the third level, where the pathway finally widened and I felt like I could breathe again.

Looming in front of us were three immense walls, replacing the old stone pillars. The design, with wide concrete funnels, allowed the pebbles to ricochet down to the original sites. Skirting the crowd, I led my mother to a quieter spot at the far end. We faced the towering third wall and threw our stones one by one, saying ‘Allahu akbar’ each time. Then we slipped away into a small clearing to face the Ka’aba and make our final supplications before finding the road back to Makkah. The only remaining rites were to perform the tawaf, confirmation of our sacrifice, and the symbolic shaving of our heads (women trim their hair).