Mena, Saudi Arabia - More than two million Muslim pilgrims carried out their ritual stoning of the devil on Tuesday, the climax of the annual haj pilgrimage and an occasion that has led to deadly stampedes in the past.
Some pilgrims rushed to the site early in the morning to cast their first set of stones before the crowds arrived. "We're in a hurry to get there, I want to get there quickly," said one man, pulling his wife along.
Some 250 pilgrims were crushed to death in 2004 at Mena's Jamarat Bridge, on which the millions of pilgrims must stand while they hurl stones at three thick walls in a symbolic casting out of the devil and rejection of temptation.
Egyptian Ayman Kishk said that when he performed the stoning he would be thinking of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in hospital in critical condition after suffering a stroke.
"Like many pilgrims, I'm sure, I prayed on Mount Arafat that God relieves Muslims of him. I will remember his picture when I do my stoning right now," said the 32-year-old barber.
He added: "If there is a stampede or flu, I hope I am one of the lucky ones who die because God would take me as a martyr."
A once-in-a-lifetime duty for every able-bodied Muslim, this year's haj has been overshadowed by the collapse of a Mecca hostel that killed 76 people on Thursday and warnings of a possible spread of deadly bird flu due to the huge crowds.
Saudi Arabia has spent 25 million riyals ($6.7 million) on Tamiflu, a drug that can reduce the severity of the current bird flu strain if taken within days of symptoms appearing.
Three children in Turkey, which has a large haj contingent, have died of the highly potent H5N1 strain. Many pilgrims come from Asian countries, where 74 people have died since 2003.
King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan, in a message marking Tuesday's Eid al-Adha holiday, said: "We ask God to make this an Eid of peace and stability for Muslims and the whole world and unite Muslims in goodness and inspire them to do what is right."
Saudi Arabia has deployed a record 60,000 security men to control the huge crowd and avert attacks by Islamist militants fighting the U.S.-allied Saudi royal family.
Pilgrims must perform the stoning ritual three times. Many will stay in Jamarat until Thursday, the end of the five-day haj whose rules were laid out by Prophet Mohammad 1,400 years ago.
Traffic was slow moving on the two main roads to the site. At midday, people poured towards the area on mini-buses or on foot, milling between the bumper-to-bumper cars.
The government has reorganised access to the area and promised to remove pilgrim squatters who camp there.
"I am confident the new arrangements made this year will prevent any casualties," said Pakistani teacher Imran Khan, 29.
His wife Misba said she was praying for relatives who died in last year's earthquake in Pakistan.
Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Sudeis, state-appointed preacher at the Grand Mosque, urged Muslims in his Eid sermon to remember their co-religionists in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in Iraq, wracked by civil strife since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
He also said the West was using the phenomenon of terrorism to scare people away from Islam. "Muslims are being described in insulting terms to distort the image of Islam...," he said.
Mansour al-Ghamdi from Saudi Arabia said it was the love of God that made pilgrims endure the hardships of haj. "All this talk about Islam being a terrorist religion is a great mistake."
Pilgrims, male and female, complete the first stoning session and then go to Mecca to circle the Kaaba, which symbolises the house of God, dressed in white robes meant to eradicate class and make all Muslims equal.
During Eid, Muslims slay livestock as a reminder of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail at God's command. Pilgrims buy special coupons from haj organisers that represent the slain animal.