Muslim pilgrims have begun their last rites, including the final circling of the Kaaba in Makkah, known as the Farwell Tawaf, as their Hajj pilgrimage comes to a close.
After performing the stoning ritual on Sunday, the pilgrims sacrificed animals to mark Eid Al Adha, the Muslim festival of the feast that takes place at the end of Hajj.
Pilgrims also exited from their state of ihram, which requires them to follow the modest Hajj dress code, with men shaving or cutting their hair, while women trim the length of a fingertip from one strand of hair.
They then changed back into their normal clothing and proceeded to Makkah to perform the Tawaf Al Ifadah (Farewell Tawaf) and sai’ (ritual of running between Safa and Marwah).
Those pilgrims who performed sai’, along with an arrival Tawaf before the Day of Arafah, were not required to do the final rites on Sunday.
The official number of pilgrims this year was more than 1.83 million, Saudi Arabian authorities announced.
About 22.3 per cent of the pilgrims came from Arab countries, according to the official statistics.
The Saudi General Authority for Statistics put the total number of pilgrims at 1,833,164.
Last year, more than 1.8 million pilgrims performed Hajj, which was lower than pre-pandemic levels.
In 2019, more than 2.4 million Muslims made the pilgrimage. Saudi authorities control the flow of pilgrims through quotas, allowing each country one pilgrim for every thousand Muslim citizens.
These included 221,854 domestic pilgrims, including both citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia, and 1,611,310 Muslims who came from outside the kingdom.
Muslim pilgrims left Mount Arafat on Saturday evening to spend their night in a nearby site known as Muzdalifah, where they collected pebbles to use in the symbolic stoning of pillars representing the devil.
The pillars are in another sacred place in Makkah, called Mina, where Muslims believe Ibrahim’s faith was tested when God commanded him to sacrifice his only son Ismail. Ibrahim was prepared to submit to the command, but then God spared his son.
On Sunday morning, crowds headed on foot to the stoning areas. Some were seen pushing disabled pilgrims on wheelchairs on a multi-lane road leading to the complex housing the large pillars.
“I am so happy that I can’t describe my feelings,” Amal Mahrouss, a 55-year-old woman from Egypt, told the AFP news agency. “This place shows us that we are all equal, that there are no differences between Muslims around the world.”
Before leaving Makkah, pilgrims, now referred to as Hajjis, shed their white or black robes and don their finest clothes. Makkah becomes a kaleidoscope of colour as pilgrims performed the farwell Tawaf, where they circumambulated the Kaaba one last time. This step is mandatory but pilgrims have up until the end of the Islamic month of Dhu Al Hijja to perform it.
Dr Mohammed Al Abdulali, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, said that more than 112,000 pilgrims received health care from different providers during this year’s Hajj season, including clinics, emergency departments, hospitals and intensive care units.
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