On the first day of Eid-ul-Adha, millions of Muslims go on an annual pilgrimage of cheap umrah packages 2023 december and do a ritual where they stone the devil. They all go to the holy site of Mina dressed in simple white clothes called Ihram and start throwing small stones at three walls over and over again from a three-story bridge. Mina is close to the holy city of Makkah and the three walls called “Jamarat” at which pilgrims throw stones. During the night they spend in Muzdalifah, Muslims collect 70 pebbles to throw at the three pillars that represent Satan on the 10th Zil-Hajj. They repeat the ritual for the next three days until they finish walking around the Holy Kabah. Abd-Allah told the story that,

“He SAWW went to the highest Jamarh, put the House on his left and Mina on his right, and stoned it with seven pebbles. He PBUH said, “This is how the person to whom Surat Al-Baqrah was revealed stoned it.”

Rami, or throwing stones at the devil, is a part of 5 star Hajj packages. If you don’t do this ritual, your Hajj isn’t complete. It is important for pilgrims to know what this ritual means and why it is important. For this, you need to know its history and why pilgrims throw stones at the devil on Eid, which is a happy day.

History of Rami

Pilgrims throw rocks at Satan as part of a ritual, which is a reenactment of what happened between the Prophet Ibrahim A.S. and the devil. When Allah told the Messenger of Allah, Ibrahim AS, to kill his beloved son Ismail as a sacrifice, Satan kept trying to stop him from doing what Allah told him to do. Angel Jibrael told the Prophet Ibrahim A.S. to throw pebbles at the devil, and Muslims have done this ever since to remember the great sacrifice Ibrahim A.S. was going to make. Al-Azraqi, a well-known Muslim historian, says the following about this well-known event:

“When Ibrahim A.S. left Mina and was brought down to Al-Aqaba, the Devil appeared to him at the stone heap of the defile. Jibraeel A.S said to Ibrahim; ‘Pelt him! So He A.S. threw seven stones at the devil, making him go away. He (the devil) showed up again at the Middle Stone-heap. Jibraeel said to Ibrahim; ‘Pelt him! So, He hit him with seven pebbles until he (the devil) left him. Then, at the Little Stone-heap, the devil showed up. Jibraeel again said to Ibrahim; Pelt him! So He A.S. hit him with seven small stones like the ones used in a sling. So, the Devil left Ibrahim A.S”.

Muslims remember this event in history, which happened between Satan and the Prophet Ibrahim, by doing a ritual every year during the pilgrimage. Muslims do a ritual called “stoning the devil” every year to remember this event.

Symbology behind Stoning

The ritual of stoning Jamarat shows that a Muslim will do whatever Allah tells him or her to do, no matter what. Allah told Prophet Ibrahim A.S. to kill his son Ismail as a sacrifice, but the Devil tried to stop him from doing what Allah told him to do. But by God’s grace, Prophet Ibrahim A.S. showed that he had full faith in his Creator and did what God told him to do, even when Satan tried to get him to question God or change his mind. The devil worked hard to confuse his mind and get him to stop doing what God wanted. Ibrahim A.S. is a great example of bravery, and the fact that he didn’t have children until he was 70 is something to be proud of. And when Allah SWT gave him a son at such an old age and asked him to give him up for Allah’s sake, Satan tried to stop him. Satan tried to get him to follow him by making him think things like, “Who will take care of you when you’re that old?” But Allah’s Messenger stayed strong in his faith, and Jibraeel Ameen told him to throw pebbles at the devil in three different places to scare him away. To do something like this, he had to have strong faith because he had to give up his own wants and needs in order to do what Allah told him to do. And this is what Allah SWT wants all pilgrims to learn during the Hajj and in their everyday lives as well.

The pillars or Jamarat are just symbols of Satan. He is not really there. The ritual is actually a test of faith and a sign that people who believe in the true religion and the Supreme Creator of the World are strong enough to resist the thoughts and desires that the devil puts in our heads. When a pilgrim of umrah packages all-inclusive throws a pebble at one of the Jamarat pillars, he or she is throwing it at Satan. Nothing makes Satan more angry than when a believer does what Allah says. Ibrahim threw stones at the devil because Allah told him to, and Muslims still do the same thing until the Day of Judgment. They throw pebbles at the devil in the same way to show that they don’t respect him.