Pilgrims wrap up Hajj with final symbolic stoning of the devil, final circling of Kaaba

Mina, Saudi Arabia: Muslim pilgrims are wrapping up the Hajj, or pilgrimage, in the summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning...

Mina, Saudi Arabia: Muslim pilgrims are wrapping up the Hajj, or pilgrimage, in the summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the last circumambulation around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site, in the city of Mecca.

The three-day stoning ritual in Mina, a desert site outside Mecca, is among the final rites of the Hajj, and symbolizes the casting away of evil and sin. It started a day after pilgrims congregated Saturday at a sacred hill, known as Mount Arafat.

The final days of the annual Hajj coincide with Muslims around the world celebrating the Eid al-Adha holiday when Muslims with financial means commemorate Prophet Ibrahim’s test of faith, when God ordered him to sacrifice his only son, by slaughtering livestock and animals and distributing the meat to the poor.

The Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Its rituals largely commemorate the accounts of Prophet Ibrahim and his son Prophet Ismail, Ismail’s mother Hajar and Prophet Muhammad, according to the Quran, Islam’s holy book. In the Islamic version, God stayed his hand and Ismail was spared.

"I am reassured. I feel comfortable,” Mejahed al-Mehrabi, a Yemeni pilgrim, told The Associated Press after he was done with the third day of the stoning ritual. "Anyone who can visit the Grand Mosque (in Mecca) should do so.”