Hajj pilgrims gather at Mecca

A Muslim pilgrim looks down on Mecca from the top of Noor mountain Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images A pilgrim walks with his son along the road in the Mina valley Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images A Muslim pilgrim reads the Koran on the Mount of Mercy on the plains of Arafat Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters An ambulance sits amid the thousands of pilgrims praying near the Namira Mosque. Pilgrims flooded on to the Arafat plain from Mecca and Mina before dawn for a key ritual around the site where Muslims believe that Muhammad gave his farewell sermon 1,378 years ago Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images Pilgrims pray near the Namira Mosque. Pilgrims spend the day at Arafat in reflection and reading the Qur'an Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images Female pilgrims arrive at the Mina valley Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images Pilgrims look at a map as they arrive at the Mina valley Photograph: Amer Hilabi/AFP/Getty Images A Saudi police officer monitors the crowd on the Arafat plain, outside the holy city of Mecca Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters Muslim pilgrims pray on a rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Arafat plain Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AP Muslim pilgrim pray outside Namira mosque in Arafat near Mecca Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AP Muslim pilgrims pray at Namirah Mosque in Arafat Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPA Muslim pilgrims pray at Namirah Mosque in Arafat during the most important ritual of the annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca Photograph: YAHYA ARHAB/EPA Pilgrims rest on the road into Mina, three miles east of Mecca Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images A Muslim pilgrim prays on a rocky hill known as the Mount of Mercy Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AP Muslim pilgrims pray on Mount of Mercy in Arafat, where Muslims believe the Islamic prophet Muhammad stood and delivered the farewell sermon Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPA A Muslim pilgrim has his head shaved after throwing pebbles at a stone pillar representing the devil during the Hajj pilgrim in Mina, near Mecca Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AP Muslim pilgrims arrive to cast stones at pillars symbolising Satan, part of a pilgrimage rite, in Mena Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters Muslim pilgrims arrive to pray at Mount Arafat. Pilgrims flooded into the Arafat plain from Mecca and Mina before dawn for a key ritual around the site, where the prophet Mohammed gave his farewell sermon on this day in the Islamic calendar 1,378 years ago Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images Muslim pilgrims leave their signatures at Mount Arafat, south-east of the Saudi holy city of Mecca Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images Pilgrims cast stones at a pillar, symbolising the stoning of Satan, in Mina. The first day of stoning marks the start of Eid al-Adha, or feast of sacrifice Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AP Pilgrims perform the final walk around the Kaaba (Tawaf al-Wadaa) at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images People crowd around the Kaaba Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images The final walk around the Kaaba in progress Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images