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| Pilgrims hasten to leave Mina |
The Hajj wound down today with many pilgrims hastening home to avoid a mass exodus.
There was one last stoning of the Jamarat to complete, the ritual
that echoes Abraham stoning the Devil. The hajjis had to stone each
of the three pillars seven times and make it back to Mecca by sunset
for their pilgrimage to be complete.
Arab News reported the streets of Mina were practically empty this
afternoon; many pilgrims had already packed up and were moving out.
Pilgrims walked toward the Jamarat carrying all sorts of huge bags and bundles, either slung over their
shoulders or tied on their backs. This dramatically increased the congestion in the Jamarat area.
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| Hajjis on the road back to Mecca |
After stoning the Jamarat, pilgrims took their bags and gathered on the outskirts of Mina to wait for buses
that never came. Many tired of waiting and simply walked the seven miles back to Mecca.
The last day was marred by a minor stampede in which one pilgrim was killed and 63 others injured due to
surging crowds on the Jamarat Bridge.
Helicopters hovered overhead directing security forces to the area where the stampede took place. Dozens of
ambulances ferried the injured pilgrims to nearby hospitals.
Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred when a large group of Turkish pilgrims returned after the stoning
rituals and ran into other pilgrims headed in the opposite direction just after Dhuhr prayers.
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| Happy pilgrims heading home |
"Thank God, I completed the pilgrimage. I hope I live long enough to do it again," said one pilgrim from the United Arab Emirates.
To the relief of many pilgrims, the temperature was mild a welcome
change for the exhausted hajjis.
Having completed the last official ritual of the Hajj some pilgrims were looking for a sign that Allah had accepted their spiritual journey.
It came just before sunset when the skies opened up and it began to rain heavily as hajjis hastened to leave the tented city.
Many were overjoyed, and they attributed the welcome change in the weather to the blessings of Allah.
"This is proof of the fact that Allah the Almighty has accepted our Hajj," a Saudi pilgrim told Arab News.
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| Traffic jams in Mecca as the hajjis return |
Many fellow Hajjis seemed to agree discarding all signs of exhaustion to celebrate openly in the streets.
As the sun set in the Saudi desert, the town of Mina, which for such a short time had been the home to so many pilgrims, was a
ghost town as once again Mecca filled to bursting.
For most only one last Tawaf of the Ka'aba in Mecca remains before
they fly back to all four corners of the globe, their spiritual journey
complete and never to be forgotton.
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Live at the Hajj