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Haj pilgrims stone the devil in final ritual

Muslim faithful took part in the climactic ritual of the annual Haj pilgrimage on Wednesday, symbolically stoning the devil near Makkah. From dawn, crowds of pilgrims gathered in the valley of Mina, southeast of the holy city of Makkah, to throw pebbles at concrete pillars symbolising the devil. It reenacts the Prophet Ibrahim’s (AS) stoning of the devil at three places where Satan is said to have tried to dissuade him from obeying God’s command to sacrifice his son Hazrat Ismail (AS). More than 1.7 million people are taking part in the Haj this year. The most important festival in Islam has, for the third year in a row, been overshadowed by war — this time the US-Israeli conflict with Iran that has drawn in the Gulf nations. A fragile ceasefire , in place since April 8, has mostly brought a halt to the fighting, but diplomatic efforts to bring the war to a definitive end have proved inconclusive so far. The Haj, which involves a seri...
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In pictures: Muslims across the world celebrate Eidul Azha

Muslims across the world celebrated Eidul Azha, also known as the feast of the sacrifice, on Wednesday. Celebrated on the 10th of Zilhaj, Eidul Azha marks the culmination of Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam. It marks the end of the Haj and commemorates Prophet Ibraham’s (AS) readiness to sacrifice his son to show obedience to Allah. This year, Eid is being celebrated across much of the Muslim world under the shadow of the US-Iran war in the Middle East. Muslims attend an Eid al-Adha prayer at a public park, outside El-Seddik Mosque in Cairo, Egypt, May 27. — Reuters Yemenis visit a graveyard on the first day of Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, in Sanaa on May 27. — Reuters Muslims gather to take part in a special morning prayer at the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo on May 27. — Reuters Families of Hezbollah fighters killed in the conflict visit the graves of their relatives o...
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Israel claims it killed new Hamas armed wing chief in Gaza strike

Israel said on Wednesday it had killed the new head of Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza, Mohammed Odeh, in a strike the day before, after killing his predecessor in a similar attack this month. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed the “commander of the armed wing of the Hamas terrorist organisation in Gaza was eliminated yesterday”. Hamas has not yet commented. “In the Prime Minister’s name and in my own, congratulations to the IDF and the Shin Bet on the brilliant execution,” Katz claimed in a post on X. “We committed ourselves to eliminating everyone who led the October 7 massacre, and that is what we will do: they are all marked for death, wherever they may be.” After announcing the strike on Tuesday, Katz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a joint statement that Odeh had “served as head of Hamas intelligence during the October 7 massacre and was appointed approximately one week ago as successor to Ezzedine al-Haddad”. Haddad was killed by an Israeli strike on Ma...
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SOCIETY: DANCES WITH THE GORILLA

Medical school graduates pose with a performer in a gorilla costume at their farewell dinner in Karachi | FAS Events Comedian Tabish Hashmi once joked that the wedding of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s son should be a humbling experience for all those flaunting their lifestyle on Instagram. That ‘us’ nobodies should sit on the side and simply observe what actual affluence looks like. He wasn’t wrong, given the kind of muscle the Ambanis were able to pull, from Hollywood to Bollywood. The spectacle was less a wedding and more a reminder of how far wealth can stretch the idea of celebration. Just the images of celebrities such as Mark Zuckerberg, David Beckham and the Kardashians casually drifting through the venue like guests at some lavish exotic retreat was nauseating to most — and perhaps deeply inspiring to the local elite circles, who must have spent the endless wedding feeling painfully ordinary by comparison. However, the masses, Indian masses in...
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In pictures: Muslims pray on Mount Arafat as Haj reaches its peak

Huge numbers of Muslims prayed on Mount Arafat on Tuesday at the climax of the Haj pilgrimage, as a punishing desert sun sent temperatures soaring towards 40 degrees Celsius. From daybreak, thousands of white-robed worshippers recited Quranic verses on the 70-metre rocky hill near Makkah, where Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) delivered his last sermon. More than 1.5 million people have joined Haj this year despite the shadow of war across the Middle East created by the US and Israeli war on Iran. More than 30,000 Iranians have made the journey, about a third of the 86,000 originally expected. Iran’s IRNA state news agency said the “wartime situation” explained the drop. Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means to do so. With temperatures hitting 44 degrees in Makkah in recent days, Saudi authorities have urged pilgrims to drink plenty of water and protect themselves from the sun during the mostly outdoor rituals, wh...
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India orders migrant detention centres in West Bengal, sparking arbitrary explusion fears

India’s ruling Hindu-nationalist party has ordered detention centres for undocumented Bangladeshis and Rohingyas in West Bengal state, sparking fear among minorities that it could lead to arbitrary expulsions. The directive comes just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won power in the eastern state for the first time since the country’s independence in 1947. The order calls on local authorities to set up “holding centres” for “apprehended foreigners” awaiting deportation, as part of a broader crackdown on illegal migration. The government has defended its “detect, delete, deport” principle, saying those targeted are migrants staying illegally in the country. “Illegal migration has security and socio-economic ramifications which are often well beyond law enforcement” read the order, issued last week. The decision has fuelled anxiety among West Bengal’s roughly 35 million Muslims, many of whom share linguistic and cultural ties with neighbourin...
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Amid Mideast conflict, Indian finance minister calls for focus on '3Fs' — fuel, fertiliser and forex

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged the country on Monday to focus on fuel, fertiliser and foreign exchange and underlined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plea to conserve foreign exchange as “very important” amid the Gulf crisis. Earlier this month, Modi called on Indians to conserve fuel and foreign exchange and avoid gold purchases, among other austerity measures , to better manage the energy shock and economic headwinds. “The prime minister giving a call to conserve foreign exchange, as far as possible, is very important,” Sitharaman said, adding that the stress on ‘3Fs’ — fuel, fertiliser and foreign exchange — should be viewed in this context. India has been reeling under the effect of rising crude prices and supply disruptions after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the US-Israel war on Iran . High prices of crude, fertilisers and gold are creating some challenges on the external front, Sitharaman added, while speaking at an event in Mumbai. India, th...
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