Pilgrims end their hajj in Mecca

Pilgrims began returning home after circling the cubic stone Kaaba in the Saudi holy city of Mecca, bringing to a close the annual hajj which was marred by the death of 251 people in a stampede.

Many said yesterday that they felt reborn by the experience, meant to wash away all sins.

“I feel I am born anew,” said Imam Ahmed from Nigeria, after fulfilling the pilgrimage, or hajj, a once in a lifetime requirement for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford the trip.

Buses and cars loaded with pilgrims arrived earlier yesterday from the tent city of Mina, bringing Mecca alive with a cacophony of honking horns. It also closed the three-day ritual of stoning the pillars that symbolise the devil.

It was during that event that the pilgrimage, carried out by around two million people this year, was marred by tragedy on Sunday.

Saudi authorities have promised changes to prevent future hajj deaths. Indonesia, which sent 200,000 people to this year’s hajj, said it would limit the number of participants in upcoming years.

There were 53 worshippers from Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation, among those trampled to death.

Changes made after a 1998 disaster in which 180 people died extended the time limits for carrying out the stoning ritual, but that was insufficient to prevent Sunday’s stampede.

The Saudi kingdom’s top cleric promised on Monday that steps would be taken to avoid a repeat of tragedies at the holy sites of Mecca and Medina.

Sheik Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheik did not specify what measures would be taken, but it is likely that he will issue an Islamic fatwa, or edict, related directly to performing the stoning ritual. The Saudi government said it would form an agency to redevelop Mecca and Medina.

The devil-stoning – often the most emotionally charged ritual at the pilgrimage – is performed for three consecutive days before sunset. Pilgrims also were trampled to death on their way to the stoning ritual in 1994, 1998, 2001 and 2003.

Sunday’s stampede was the deadliest hajj disaster since 1997, when 340 pilgrims died in a fire at the tent city of Mina, near Mecca.