Hajj 2023: Transforming Jamarat’s Story from Stampede to Sanity

The 2023 Hajj season has come to a successful and interesting end, and it is time to take stock. A time to do a postmortem to understand what the authorities and pilgrims did well and where they need to do better in the coming years.

I will be doing a series of postmortem of different aspects of the exercise to put on record the milestones, breakthroughs and challenges that are associated with this year’s edition of the annual ritual.

One area that seems everyone got right this year is that of the symbolic stoning of the devil which takes place at Jamarat. Jamarat is 4.9 kilometres to the Haram Mosque in Makkah, 7 kilometres to Muzdalifah and 8 kilometres to the Nigerian tent in Mina.

During the ritual, pilgrims throw pebbles at three walls (formerly pillars), called Jamarat, in the city of Mina just east of Makkah. It is one of a series of refined pre-islamic ritual acts that must be performed during Hajj. It is a symbolic reenactment of Prophet Ibrahim’s Hajj, where he stoned three pillars representing the Shaitan and fought Muslims’ temptation to disobey the will of Allah (SWT).

On Eid-el-Adha (the 10th day of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah), pilgrims must strike the big Jamarah or Al-Jamrah Al-Aqaba with seven pebbles. After the stoning is completed on the day of Eid, every pilgrim must cut or shave their hair. On each of the following two days, they must hit all three walls with seven pebbles each, going in order from east to west. Thus at least 49 pebbles are needed for the ritual.

The pebbles used in the stoning are traditionally gathered at Muzdalifah, a plain southeast of Mina, on the night before the first throwing, but can also be collected at Mina.

According to scholars, when Prophet Ibrahim left Mina and was brought down to (the defile called) al-Aqaba, the Devil appeared to him at Stone-Heap of the Defile. Angel Jubril said to him: “Pelt him!” so Abraham threw seven stones at him so that he disappeared from him. Then he appeared to him at the Middle Stone-Heap, Angel Jubril said to him again: “Pelt him!” so he pelted him with seven stones so that he disappeared from him. Then he appeared to him at the Little Stone-Heap. Angel Jubril said to him: “Pelt him!” so he pelted him with seven stones again. So the Devil withdrew from him.

All three Jamarat represent the devil: the first and largest represents his temptation of Prophet Ibrahim against sacrificing his son, Ismail. The second represents the temptation of Hajar to induce her to stop him; the third represents his temptation of Ismail to avoid being sacrificed. He was rebuked each time, and the throwing of the stones symbolises those rebukes.

The stoning of the Jamarat also represents the repudiation of man’s internal despot and the act of casting aside one’s low desires and wishes, as part of measures to discard worldly pleasures and be close to Allah.

This significance of the Jamarat exercise therefore makes the practice potentially dangerous in view of the fact that millions of people will want to do it at the same time. There have therefore been stories of chaos, stampedes and deaths over the years.

Recent History and Incidents

Until 2004, three Jamarat were tall pillars. After the 2004 Hajj, Saudi authorities replaced the pillars with 26-metre-long (85 ft) walls for safety; many people were accidentally throwing pebbles at people on the other side. To allow easier access to the Jamarat, a single-tier pedestrian bridge called the Jamarat Bridge was built around them, allowing pilgrims to throw stones from either ground level or from the bridge.

Before 2004, the distance between the small and middle Jamarat was 135 m (443 ft); between the middle and large Jamarat it was 225m (738 ft).

An important step in managing crowds is the recent replacement of the Jamarat pillars by walls to ease and speed up the stoning. The bridge has also been widened in recent years to accommodate the ever-growing number of pilgrims who perform the Hajj each year.

Crowd conditions are especially difficult during the final day of Hajj, which is the day pilgrims leave the valley of Mina and return to Makkah for the farewell Tawaf (the final circumambulation of the Kaaba). According to some scholars who quoted the Hadith, Prophet Muhammad’s last stoning was performed just after the noon prayer. Many scholars feel that the ritual can be done any time between noon and sunset on this day; however, many Muslims are taught that it should be done immediately after the noon prayer. This leads to people camping out by noon and rushing out then to do the stoning.

These two factors have been said to be most responsible for a stampede during the Hajj of 2006 which killed at least 346 pilgrims and injured at least 289 more. This was despite several attempts by the authorities to inform pilgrims about the permissibility of staggering their visits to the Jamarat as well as instructing them to leave their luggage at their tents. Adding to the confusion involved in the tragedy is the lack of co-operation on the part of pilgrims who do not leave the Jamarat area by the proper route, and therefore interfere with the movements of others who are arriving.

Another crush occurred on September 24, 2015, in Mina on the way to Jamarat when at least 2,411 pilgrims were killed out of which 317 were Nigerians.

Also on the 23rd of May 1994, a stampede occured at Jamarat that killed 270 pilgrims.

On the 9th of April 1998, another stampede at Jamarat Bridge killed 118 and injured 180 pilgrims.

On the 5th of March 2001, another stampede at Jamarat killed 35 pilgrims.

On the 1st of February, 2004, another stampede at Jamarat killed 251 pilgrims and 244 injured.

2023: A Year of Sanity

For this year’s Hajj, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) played a key role in interpreting the latest regulations of the Saudi authorities to Nigerian pilgrims. NAHCON officials kept on drumming the safety measures in the ears of the pilgrims through online and offline channels. This is the major reason why in this year’s Hajj, Nigeria did not lose any pilgrim to an avoidable incident like stampede or chaos. All the thirteen Nigerian pilgrims that have so far been declared dead passed on through natural and medical conditions.

On the eve of first Jamarat exercise, NAHCON’S Principal Information Officer for Makkah Operations, Muhammad Ahmad Musa, issued a press statement in which he explained the details of the pre-Jamarat safety sessions held with Saudi authorities as part of measures to enforce orderliness and avoid stampede.

“This call was done during the organised Practical Demonstration and Rehearsal for grouping and movement during the days of Mina to pelt the Jamarat organised by the Company of Mutawwifs for Pilgrims from African non-Arab Countries on Thursday 4th Dhul Hijjah at the Mina Tent City. The primary objective of the demonstration by the Mutawwif Company in collaboration with the Hajj Ministry and Saudi Security and Civil Defense Departments, is to prevent any repeat of the previous stampede incidents.The exercise which was led by the head of the Jamaraat exercise, Dr. Muhammad Zamzamy, underscored the need for Nigeria and all other countries to abide by the plans of the Saudi Authorities to ensure the safe conduct of the exercise which is expected to be performed by over 2 million pilgrims at the same time.

“The Saudi Authorities have designed and perfected a system of systematic movement of pilgrims led by appointed guides in strict compliance with approved movement timetables and route schedules. The first of the guidelines was that after pilgrims arrive Muzdalifah after Arafat, everyone must wait to be conveyed in buses back to Minna. No one is allowed to move directly to the Jamarat on the 10th of Dhul Hajj.

“According to Dr. Zamzamy, Nigeria was divided amongst 18 field offices that contained between 5,000 and 7,000 pilgrims. Each field office will liaise with the States or Tour Operator companies under it to divide its pilgrims into groups of 188 pilgrims only. Each of these groups will have a guide from the Field Office and an Assistant from the officials or pilgrims who understand Arabic and the pilgrims local language that will lead the group at their appointed time from their tents in Mina, through their approved route to the Jamarat and back to their tents.

“Each group guide will hold a signpost containing three (3) fundamental pieces of information that every official and pilgrim should understand. The first (1st) and topmost is the logo of the Mutawwif Company; The Second (2nd) is the Field Office Number boldly written in red and the third (3rd) is the group number. For the safety of Nigerians and all pilgrims from various parts of the world, this system needs to be abided by completely. It is imperative that all pilgrims strictly adhere to The stipulated time assigned for each group, follow the leader and stick only to the designated approved Routes. No pilgrim or group of pilgrims should go to the Jamarat alone or in groups other than the approved Field office groups.

“Maintain the composition of 188 pilgrims per group, with an assistant who understands the language of the group. Under no circumstances should a group stop during the journey, even if any individual faces an issue. Only the affected pilgrim and one supporter should be left behind. To monitor and ensure compliances, the Saudi Authorities have deployed a dedicated team of 3,000 supervisors to monitor and evaluate the level of compliance of each Hajj contingent with the Pilgrims grouping and movement instructions for Jamarat. These supervisors have been carefully selected from various arms and departments for the sole purpose of ensuring the safety and security of the pilgrims during their journey to and from the Jamarat sites,” the press statement read in part.

One noticeable fundamental change made to the movement pattern of different countries was that the roads and bridges leading to Jamarat were reconstructed to ensure pilgrims who are leaving Jamarat are not made to come face to face with the ones who are coming to Jamarat. This is because such head-on collisions once caused a major stampede with tragic consequences.

Again, all the over two million pilgrims were not allowed to move to Jamarat at the same time. Different countries were encouraged to move at different times with a specified number of pilgrims and guardians who understand Arabic and also the local languages of the pilgrims.

During movements to Jamarat, the Saudi security operatives didn’t allow any form of loitering or waiting by any individual or group. They didn’t allow the performance of Salat, supplications or taking of selfies on the way or across each of the three Jamarat walls. This was obviously meant to check overcrowding in a particular location and avoid stampede.

The sanity witnessed during the three-day Jamarat exercise has to be counted as one of the success stories of this year’s Hajj. Going forward, the safety measures taken this year must be updated since Nigeria and some other countries have indicated interest in seeking more Hajj slots starting from next year.

Abdulrahman Abdulraheem is the Managing Editor of PRNIGERIA and ECONOMIC CONFIDENTIAL.