MECCA, Aug 24 — Almost all Malaysian pilgrims have arrived safely to their hotel accommodation here after performing the Stoning of the Devil, one of the mandatory rituals of the pilgrimage which takes place over three days, ending today.

Upon arriving in Mecca, the pilgrims will perform the tawaf, a ritual of performing seven circumambulations of the Kaabaa, and Saée, the back and forth movement between the hills of Safa and Marwah.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa said this year, more than half of the pilgrims took the option of ‘nafar awwal’ which is to perform the stoning ritual for only two of the three days and return to Makkah on Thursday.

"A total of 16,200 people from our pilgrims performed the nafar awwal, and the rest performed ‘nafar thani’ (carrying out the stoning ritual for all three days),” he told a press conference here, today.

He said pilgrims who had performed the nafar awwal comprised those who were returning home earlier. — Bernama