Under scorching sun, tight security, Muslim pilgrims stone the devil in hajj ritual

February 22, 2002

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP)--Their faith reinforced by a day of prayers and meditation, Muslim pilgrims on Friday began the ritual of stoning the devil, rejecting his temptations with cries of ``Allahu Akbar,'' or ``God is Great.''

In perhaps the most animated part of the annual Muslim pilgrimage, the pilgrims marched - some with the resolve of soldiers going into battle - to a 50-foot pillar of stones armed with tiny bags filled with small pebbles.

Once there, the estimated 2 million pilgrims took one at a time seven of the pebbles they had collected hours earlier and pelted the stone structure, which they approached in waves of thousands.

The ritual of stoning the devil, which symbolizes the rejection of Satan's temptations, would be repeated over the next two days, with two other similar structures also pelted with the same number of pebbles.

On a second consecutive day with temperatures above 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), Friday's ritual was held under tight security with hundreds of policemen and many more believed to be operating undercover patrolling the proceedings on foot, while police helicopters hovered above.

Scores of rescue and medical teams were deployed at the site. Helmeted medical workers standing in the midst of the crowds near the pillar occasionally emerged carrying on stretchers pilgrims who fainted from the heat or fatigue and rushed them to one of the scores of ambulances parked nearby.

Some pilgrims, in defiance of religious edicts and warnings by Saudi authorities, got so carried away with Friday's ritual that they shouted obscenities at the pillar, blaming the devil's influence for their personal woes.

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