Hajj rite marks start of key Muslim holiday
Last Updated: Friday, November 27, 2009 | 8:44 AM ET
The Associated Press
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Muslim pilgrim throw pebbles at a stone pillar representing the devil, during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on Friday Nov. 27, 2009. (Hassan Ammar/Associated Press)Pilgrims cast stones at walls representing the devil on the third day of the annual hajj as Muslims begin Eid al-Adha, one of the most important holidays of the Islamic calendar.
The approximately three million pilgrims filed past three walls in Saudi Arabia's desert valley of Mina and pelted them with pebbles in a symbolic rejection of Satan's temptation.
Skies were sunny and hot in the morning, after the hajj opened with heavy rains on Wednesday that caused heavy flooding in the nearby Red Sea coastal city of Jiddah, killing 83 people.
The first day of stoning also marks the start of Eid al-Adha, or feast of sacrifice, when Muslims around the world slaughter sheep and cattle in remembrance of Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son Isaac.
© The Canadian Press, 2009
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