Millions of Muslims stone the devil, sacrifice animals
 

Thousands of security forces, civil defence staff and volunteers as well as drones and e-bracelets ensure a safe pilgrimage; IDB devises e-coupon system for slaughter of animals

MINA: Thanks to computer tech**logy and SMS messaging, millions of Muslims at the annual Haj pilgrimage to Makkah were able Monday to make their Eidul Azha sacrifice without getting blood on their hands.

The more than 1.8 million pilgrims from around the world participating in the Haj had the option of computerised coupons to order a sacrifice marking the end of the Haj.

Many among the world’s more than 1.5 billion Muslims themselves pick up a knife and kill sheep or other animals to mark the Eid.

"If each pilgrim himself sacrificed a sheep, there would **t be e**ugh space," said Rabie Saleh, a Sudanese in line at a Saudi post ****** at Mina’s Jamarat Bridge, where pilgrims symbolically stoned the devil in the last major rite.

The meat is shared out, especially among the needy.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB), based in the nearby Red Sea city of Jeddah, devised the electronic coupon system.

For 460 riyals ($123) this year, agencies located around the holy sites visited by the pilgrims take charge of the sacrifice.

"As soon as someone buys from us, a request is sent to the Islamic Bank through our system and a sheep is slaughtered in an abattoir," explained Mansour al-Malki, 45, a postal worker.

The meat is then cut up and handed out to the less fortunate in the Makkah area or sent overseas, Malki said.

"Before, there were paper coupons but **w it’s computerised," Malki said. — AFP

Reuters adds: The Saudi government had deployed thousands of security forces, civil defence staff and volunteers as well as modern tech**logy including drones and electronic bracelets to ensure a safe pilgrimage.

Under close supervision from Saudi authorities, pilgrims in seamless white clothes, converged on Jamarat carrying the pebbles to perform the ritual from a three-storey bridge erected to ease congestion. Nearly two million Muslim pilgrims performed the symbolic stoning of the devil.

In previous years, jostling to perform the stoning before returning to pray at the Grand Mosque accounted for many of the frequent stampedes and crushes that had afflicted the Haj.

"This year, they have organized the situation better," said Abdel-Rahman Badr, an Egyptian pilgrim.

"I feel happy to be conducting the Haj rituals," he added.

But a**ther 60-year-old pilgrim, who identified himself as Mohammed, said "more work was needed, especially to ensure comfort for older pilgrims".

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