On to Arafat

They begin moving out of Mecca onto a vast barren plain where they spend a minimum of three nights — usually four or more — at sacred sites.

One is Arafat, 15 kilometers (9 miles) away. Here in AD 632, the Prophet delivered his historic Haj sermon, outlining an Islamic charter of rights. By noon on the appointed day, the pilgrims converge, filling up every patch of the rocky valley as far as the eye can see, including every inch of a solitary granite hill called the Mount of Mercy, where the Prophet spoke. They are here for an afternoon of communal yet solitary prayer, during which they are usually oblivious to the burning heat, made only marginally more bearable by giant water sprinklers spraying a thin mist.

The valley resounds to the sounds of pilgrims in supplication, declaring repentance, seeking pardon, recommitting themselves to their faith and renewing their spirituality.

At sunset the multitudes begin their return journey and stop after 5 kilometers (3 miles) for an overnight sojourn at a place called Muzdalifah. The next morning they start moving to nearby Mina, armed with the pebbles they have collected along the way for their next mission.

Haj Facts2

Meals sold in the week of the Haj: 10 million

Meals served free: 2 million

Loaves of bread distributed: 40 million

Crowd control officers: 26,500

People treated as outpatients: 220,000

People treated in emergency: 48,000

Average natural deaths: 525

• Great Mosque at Mecca

Area: 366,000 square meters (90 acres)

People who can pray in the mosque and the piazza: 820,000

Indoors: 486,000

On the roof: 137,000

Outside: 197,000

• Mosque of the Prophet at Medina

Area: 108,000 square meters (27 acres)

Height of its six new minarets: 104 meters (340 feet)

Cooled water piped 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) to air-condition the mosque: 64,350 liters (17,000 US gallons) a minute

Ceiling and wall fans: 1,292

Stoning the Satan

They pelt pebbles at three pillars that mark the three spots where Ismail stoned Satan, for tempting him to rebel when his father Ibrahim was leading him to the place of sacrifice. (Christians and Jews share this story, with a difference. In the Bible, Abraham was prepared to sacrifice not Ismail but the younger son Isaac, born of wife Sarah, and the locale was Jerusalem, not Mecca.)

The Haj pilgrims sacrifice a sheep, goat or a camel. Keeping a

People who can pray in and around it: 670,000

Indoors: 150,000

On the roof: 90,000

Outside: 430,000

• Arafat

Water-misting poles to cool down the pilgrims: 3,100

Water used per day: 8.8 million liters (2.33 million US gallons)

• The Well of Zamzam

Water bottled for Haj: 24 million liters (6.3 million US gallons)

Number of bottles distributed free: 10 million

• Mina

Area into which 2 million pilgrims are squeezed: 3.8 square kilometers (940 acres)

Fire-proof Teflon tents for sleeping: 43,200

Estimated number of pebbles pelted: 100 million

Animals sacrificed: 1.1 million

Estimated value of the meat donated for worldwide distribution: $100 million