MINA, JUN 28: Vast crowds of robed Muslims hurled pebbles in the “stoning of the devil” ritual on Wednesday as the biggest Hajj pilgrimage since the start of the pandemic draws to a close in intense Saudi Arabian heat.

From dawn in Mina, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims began pelting three concrete monoliths representing Satan, and heading to Mecca for a final “tawaf”.

More than 1.8 million people are taking part in the first unrestricted Hajj since Covid struck in 2020. About 2.5 million, the most on record, joined the pilgrimage in pre-pandemic 2019.

As well as crowds at every turn, the visitors have had to contend with ferocious temperatures at the Hajj, which currently coincides with the Saudi summer.

Temperatures peaked at 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, when the pilgrims prayed for hours at Mount Arafat, and were expected to hit 47 degrees on Wednesday in Mina.

“I will not think of doing Hajj again until it takes place in winter,” Farah, a 26-year-old Tunisian, said of the annual ritual which follows the lunar calendar and doesn’t always coincide with summer.

“My body is melting,” she said.

More than 1.8 million pilgrims, most of them from abroad, joined the first Hajj with unrestricted numbers since pre-Covid in 2019, when 2.5 million took part.

The attendance figure, announced by Saudi officials on Tuesday, falls well short of their predictions of beating the 2019 record.

The Hajj is a source of prestige and a major revenue-earner for Saudi Arabia, which is trying to pivot its oil-reliant economy in new directions including tourism.

The devil-stoning marks the start of the three-day Eidul Azha holiday, celebrated by Muslims by buying and slaughtering livestock to commemorate Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son.

Afterwards, the pilgrims return to Makkah to perform a farewell tawaf — walking seven times around the Kaaba.

Safety focus
Mina’s walkways have proven deadly in the past: in 2015, a stampede killed up to 2,300 worshippers in the worst Hajj disaster ever. A similar incident killed 364 in 2006.

Other stampedes were reported in 2004, 1998 and 1994. In 1990, the failure of a tunnel ventilation system triggered a huge rush that killed 1,426 pilgrims, mainly from Asia.

There have been no major incidents since 2015, and the site has been extensively remodelled with a multi-storey bridge to allow the pilgrims to access the monoliths safely.

On Wednesday, helicopters buzzed overhead and hundreds of police officers fanned out across Mina’s roads to organise the flow of worshippers.

As well as the crowds, scorching conditions have been a major challenge for the worshippers from 160 countries, including many elderly after a maximum age limit was scrapped.

In recent years the Hajj has coincided with the Saudi summer, compounded by global warming that has made the desert climate even hotter.

Tuesday’s peak of 48 degrees Celsius made it the hottest day at this year’s Hajj. Experts have warned that temperatures of 50 degrees could become an annual occurrence in Saudi Arabia by the end of the century.

To protect themselves from the heat, many pilgrims walk with umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun, while others carry their folded prayer blankets above their heads.

More than 32,000 health workers are on hand to treat anyone struck by heatstroke or other ailments, authorities say, while bottles of water are being distributed free of charge.

On his way out of Arafat on Tuesday, Egyptian employee Sobhi Saeed, 56, said he was fulfilled but drained as the Hajj winds down. “I am very exhausted. I feel very dehydrated.”

The Hajj started on Sunday at Makkah’s Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site, before an overnight stay in tents and then the prayers on Mount Arafat, where Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) delivered his final sermon.