Ritual of stoning the devil during Hajj

Ritual of stoning the devil during Hajj

According to hadiths, the positions of the three pillars are supposed to be the places from where Shaaitan tried to tempt and misguide Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) three times into disobeying Allah Almighty by dissuading Ibrahim from carrying out Allah’s order.

But each time Prophet Ibrahim s felt the presence of the devil trying to lure him, Angel Jibril told him to respond by throwing a stone (or stones) at Shaitaan ( Iblis). Thus, the devil failed to distract Ibrahim. It is said that the location of the three pillars at Mina where Satan stood, attempting to mislead Ibrahim.


For this reason pilgrims throw stones on the pillars. The pillars represent the places where Shaitaan stood. Therefore, the purpose of throwing stones on the pillars is to express our contempt for the devil where he was once said to have stood.

keep in mind that this story and ritual is not contained in the Quran. It has its origin some other non-Quranic source

All the correct rituals of Hajj are mentioned in the Quran, yet the stoning is not a Quranic ritual of Hajj (read surah Al-Baqara chapter2)


1- The devil is made of fire and thus cannot be touched by physical matter .


2- The devil is not sitting and waiting for to be stoned!


[And assuredly We created you, thereafter We fashioned you, and thereafter We said to the angels: prostrate yourselves before Adam; then they fell prostrate; not so Iblis: he was not of those who fell prostrate. Allah said: what prevented thee, that thou shouldst not prostrate thyself, when I bade thee? He said. I am better than he; me Thou createdest me from fire, and him Thou createdest from clay. Allah said: then get thee down from hence; not for thee is it to be stiff-necked herein. So go thou forth; verily thou art of the abject ones. He said: respite me till the Day they shall be raised up. Allah said: verily thou art of the respited.


He said: because Thou hast seduced me, I will beset for them Thy straight path. Then surely I will come upon them from before them and from behind them and from their right and from their left, and Thou shalt not find the most of them thankful. Allah said: go thou forth from hence, scorned, driven away. Whosoever of them followeth thee, I will of a surety fill Hell with you all. And: O Adam: dwell thou and thy spouse in the Garden and eat ye twain thereof Whence ye will, and approach not yonder tree lest ye twain become of the wrong-doers. Then the Satan whispered unto the twain in order that he might discover unto the twain that which lay hidden from the twain of their shame, and said: your Lord forbade you not vender tree but lest ye twain should become angels or become of the abiders. And he sware unto them both: verily I am unto you of your good counsellors. Thus with guile he caused the twain to fall. Then when the twain had tasted of the tree, their shame was discovered to them, and the twain began to cover themselves with leaves from the Garden; and their Lord called out unto the twain: forbade I not ye twain yonder tree, and said I not unto you, verily the Satan is unto you twain a manifest enemy? The twain said. our Lord! we have wronged our souls, and if Thou forgivest us not and hath not mercy on us, we shall of a surety be of the losers. Allah said: get ye down, one of you an enemy unto anot her; and for you on the earth there shall be a habitation and provision for a season. Allah said: therein ye shall live and therein ye shall die, and therefrom ye shall be brought forth.


O Children of Adam! verily We have sent down unto you a garment covering your shame and as an adornment; and the garment of piety --that is the best. That is of the signss of Allah, that haply they may be admonished. O Children of Adam! let not the Satan tempt you even as he drave forth your parents from the Garden, divesting the twain of their garment that he might discover unto the twain their shame. Verily he beholdeth you, he and his tribe, in such wise that ye behold them not. Verily We have made the Satans patrons of those only who believe not. And when they commit an indecency, they say: we found our fathers thereon, and God hath enjoined it on us. Say thou. verily Allah enjoineth not an indecency; say ye falsely of Allah that which ye know not? (11-28)7 Surah Al-Araf ]