From the Saudi Arabian online newspaper, Arab News: .Strict Steps Ensure Smooth Stoning
Happily, they’re not talking about stoning people, but rather a specific part of the Hajj ritual.
The pilgrims performed with relative ease the most potentially dangerous Haj ritual: the symbolic stoning of the devil. “Everything went according to plan and we have had no untoward incident at the Jamrat,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki.
“The arrangements were excellent and great care was taken to avoid the massing of pilgrims on the Jamrat Bridge which has been a scene of tragedy on numerous occasions in the past,” he told a press conference.
Helicopters hovered constantly overhead to monitor the huge crowds; they were assisted by hundreds of high-tech cameras, all connected to a control room run by security authorities.
The stoning ritual takes place at the site where Satan appeared to Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him), his wife Hager and son Ismail. Ibrahim and his family each threw seven stones at Satan. The gesture has been perpetuated, and Muslims must perform it in order to complete the Haj.
