With the beginning of the month of Dhul Hijah, when future Hajjis are packing their backpacks, and some are already at the airport waiting for their flight to the blessed lands of Hijaz, it makes sense to tell pilgrims going on Hajj for the first time that, along with a spiritual charge, they can get a pebble in their head if won't be friends with her.
Jamarat is the most dangerous place where you need to keep your eyes open, not rush headlong into the thick of people to the powerful columns symbolizing the devil, as if you are engaging in battle with the unclean himself, aguzubillah!
But it is dangerous here not on all days of the Hajj, but only on the fifth, and only at noon, when the vast majority of pilgrims leave the tent camp in the Mina Valley and it is necessary to attack the "shaitan" for the last time.
Hundreds of thousands of people simultaneously arrive by noon to the jamarats through tunnels and bridges. People go to the columns from different sides. To meet them, those who have already thrown their pebbles at the "shaitan" are trying to escape from the crowd. The crush begins. New waves of pilgrims cannot break through to the jamarats because of the pandemonium, and then a hail of small stones flies into the “shaitan pillar” no longer from close range, but from a distance. Not all pebbles reach the concrete pillar, many of them fall on the heads of the pilgrims who are close to the jamarats in the first circle. They scream in pain, try to escape, but they can’t ...
- I look like Satan! I was hit in the head three times, - Faik, an Azerbaijani from Voronezh, was indignant when, having performed all the rites in Mina, we were sitting on the bus waiting for the departure to Mecca. “I swear by Allah, I didn’t see a shaitan there, I saw only two-legged shaitans there ...
The guy's shaved head was bleeding in several places.
It was the last day of throwing stones.
For the first time, we went completely freely to the big jamarat (it was necessary to throw only at one pillar, not like in subsequent times at all three pillars).
In total, during the hajj, the pilgrim goes to throw stones at the "shaitan" four times, three of them on the days of tashrik - the last three days of the hajj. According to legend, the prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, fulfilling the will of the Almighty, stoned the shaitan who appeared before him in the valley of Mina three times. Therefore, there are three jamarats. At each you need to throw seven pebbles and it is in the afternoon.
The road from our tents in the Mina valley to the jamarats ran through several tunnels and bridges, and took about two hours. There was a circle. Through some tunnels they entered, through others they returned back to the tents. Under the rumble of the "lyabbyayka", groups of pilgrims of different ages and genders walked towards the jamarats, having previously armed themselves with pebbles the size of a large pea in the Muzdalifa valley. Each group with its own flag or other symbols. I liked how groups of Vainakhs were walking - with a loud-voiced "la illaha il Allah" and clapping their hands in unison. Someone from our group also portrayed something similar, but, having heard “no” from our women, seeing their condemning looks, he stopped clapping.
When we, armed with pebbles, walked with a confident step towards the jamarats for the first time, there was some kind of victorious feeling in our souls, like in our youth in the 90s before the upcoming showdown, when you know in advance that the forces are on your side. The second and third beatings of the “shaitans” also took place freely, without pandemonium, since there was no need to be tied to a specific time. For the fourth time, before leaving Mina, we witnessed a great crush, which we had heard about more than once. Even when they walked along the concrete bridge, it seemed that he staggered under the weight of tens of thousands of legs. With a friend, we moved to the edge of the bridge - just in case.
The closer to the jamarats, the denser. The soldiers, standing in a human chain, did not let new human waves to the columns, at that time the next stream was pushing from behind. Our entire group was lost in the human mass. Noise, hum. There was a heartbreaking female scream. It was a young African woman under the feet of the crowd. The soldiers pushed the crowd aside, laid the screaming girl on a stretcher that had appeared out of nowhere, and began to make their way through the crowd to the medical aid station. Taking advantage of the gap that had formed, my friend and I joined the human sea behind the chain of military men and began to make our way meter to the jamarats. When further progress became impossible, they threw their pebbles with all their might in the direction of the column, not knowing then that they might not fly and might fall on the shaved heads of the brothers in faith, who at that time were trying to escape from the first circle.The stampede can be avoided by staying in Mina for the sixth day, which, according to the conditions of the Hajj, is preferable. Or if you do not hurry, immediately after noon on the fifth day, leave Mina. But many, tired during their stay in Spartan conditions in a tent camp, want to quickly get to the hotel, so they go to the jamarats by noon, at the beginning of the time for the ceremony, and get into a crush. In our case, the group was in a hurry, because in a day our time in blessed Mecca ended, it was necessary to perform the last rites and the next day go to the radiant Medina for ziyarat to the Prophet, peace be upon him!
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