Description
Added on the 16/06/2024 19:31:45 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
Pilgrims perform the last major ritual of the hajj, the "stoning of the devil", in western Saudi Arabia, as Muslims the world over celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday.Beginning at dawn, the 1.8 million Muslims undertaking the pilgrimage this year will throw seven stones at each of three concrete walls symbolising the devil in the Mina valley, located outside Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. IMAGES
The first group of pilgrims arrive at the Grande Mosque of Mecca to perform the welcoming Tawaf (circling of the Kaaba) during the second downsized hajj staged amid the coronavirus pandemic, with only fully vaccinated residents permitted to participate. IMAGES
Muslim pilgrims arrive in Mina where they will spend the night before heading to pray on Mount Arafat, also known as Jabal al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy, for the climax of the Hajj pilgrimage. More than a million Muslim pilgrims were in Mecca Friday for the start of a hajj pilgrimage held against the grim backdrop of the Gaza war and in exhausting summer heat. IMAGES
White-robed Muslim pilgrims pray and perform the "tawaf", the circumambulation of the Kaaba, at Mecca's Grand Mosque, ahead of Hajj. The hajj, which begins on June 14, is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken at least once by all Muslims who have the means to do so. IMAGES
War-torn Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visits casualties receiving treatment at a hospital in the southeastern Gedaref state, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. IMAGES