Jamarat

Jamarat refers to the three stone pillars or walls located in Mina, near Mecca, that are used in the Stoning of the Devil ritual during the Hajj pilgrimage. The term jamarah (singular) means a stone or pebble, and jamaraat (plural) can denote the pebbles thrown as well as the pillars themselves.

The three pillars are called Jamrat al-Sughra (the smallest), Jamrat al-Wusta (the middle), and Jamrat al-Aqaba (the largest). They are positioned along the Jamarat Bridge area, where pilgrims perform the ritual by throwing pebbles at the walls to symbolize rejection of evil. The practice is part of the broader Hajj rite known as Ramy al-Jamarat.

During the Hajj, pilgrims typically throw seven pebbles at each pillar on designated days, in a specified order, as a communal reenactment of Abraham’s refusal to heed Satan. The ritual is performed over the days of the small Muslim pilgrimage period, with variations in sequence and timing by day and by individual pilgrimage plans. The stones used are small pebbles collected by participants.

Safety and crowd-management have been major concerns at the Jamaraat site. The area has undergone significant expansion and modernization, including structural redevelopments of the Jamarat Bridge and improved crowd-control measures to reduce the risk of stampedes and overcrowding. Despite such measures, the stoning ritual remains one of the most observable and heavily attended rites of Hajj.

Jamarat is a central component of Hajj for many Muslim pilgrims and is observed as part of the broader rites that accompany the pilgrimage to Mecca.