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Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters
Muslim pilgrims have their heads shaved during the annual haj pilgrimage on the first day of Eid al-Adha in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 26, 2012.
Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters
A Muslim pilgrim prays during the annual haj pilgrimage in Mina, Oct. 26.
Associated Press reports — At sunset of Oct. 25, pilgrims headed to Muzdalifa, where Muslims believe prophets before Muhammad once prayed. There, they collected pebbles walking or driving to nearby Mina for Friday's symbolic stoning of the devil that marks the start of Eid al-Adha, or feast of the sacrifice, when Muslims slaughter lambs to feed the hungry.
They made the 8 kilometer journey from Mount Arafat by foot and bus caravan, where they will spend the night, as the Prophet Muhammad did during his own pilgrimage. Millions of people will sleep there in tents.
Hajj rules - based on centuries of interpretation of the Sunna, the traditions of Muhammad - are extremely elaborate. Pilgrims must all gather at certain sites at specific times. Some rites are repeated, others are partially repeated and some performed only once.
Many pilgrims being their journey in the Saudi Arabian city of Medina with a visit to Muhammad's mosque, where he is buried. They then head to Mecca and perform a set of pre-hajj rituals, including circling the Kaaba counterclockwise with their hearts tilted toward it - the same rituals that conclude the hajj for many. Full story…
Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters
A Muslim pilgrim sleeps next to hair from those who shaved their heads during the annual haj pilgrimage in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 26.
Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters
Muslim pilgrims cast seven stones at a pillar that symbolizes Satan during the annual haj pilgrimage in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 26.
Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters
Muslim pilgrims cast seven stones at a pillar that symbolizes Satan during the annual haj pilgrimage in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 26.
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Amazing, all of this pagan nonsense because of an impostor called Muhammad Ibn Abdallah, the only apostle of the Arabian moon god Allah, and the only messenger who frothed at the mouth when receiving his supposed revelations, many of which were revealed while he was under the bed sheets with his child bride Ayesha.
Ponder this, Islam is the world's only religion that originated in the dark depths of a cave, Hera, when Muhammad was supposedly strangled by an unknown spirit. And thus originated this psychosis called Islam.
If you don't believe Allah was the moon god of the pagan Arabs, then compare the name of Muhammad's father, a pagan called Abdallah (meaning servant of Allah). Why does the term "allah" appear in his name. Muhammad's father Abdallah (who died when Muhammad was a toddler), was a devout keeper and worshipper at the pagan shrine called Al-kaba (cube). Now ask yourselves, if Abdallah and his pagan tribe prayed to Allah what does this tell about their al-illah Allah.
The annual haj and other Islamic rituals, including Ramadan, were all practised by the pre-Islamic pagans before Islam was invented by the false prophet Muhammad
here is the historical background of hajj....
I am Somali born into a Muslim family and I have to say ...my heart sinks at how our people's mind ever came to be dominated/contaminated by these religions...but then they were people who were meagerly living off the land with little potential to develop sophisticated culture....that offers little comfort to why my people were ever fed this culture...as Christianity spread through the Ceasers into Europe and then beyond ....hopefully the thought of science frees the mind and the re-birth of culture defined by the true character of my people has a chance to shine..