Rami al-Jamarat

The Story of Ibrahim and Iblis at Mina

The foundation of rami al-jamarat is the tradition (reported in hadith and Islamic historical narrative) of Ibrahim’s (AS) three encounters with Iblis at Mina:

The First Encounter — at the smaller pillar (Jamarah al-Ula): As Ibrahim was preparing to fulfill the divine command to sacrifice Ismail, Iblis appeared to him and tried to dissuade him. Ibrahim recognized Iblis, rejected his whispering, and drove him away by throwing seven stones.

The Second Encounter — at the middle pillar (Jamarah al-Wusta): Iblis appeared again with further temptation. Ibrahim again rejected him with seven stones.

The Third Encounter — at the large pillar (Jamarah al-‘Aqaba): The final and most intense encounter, at the largest pillar near Makkah. Ibrahim drove Iblis away for the final time.

The three pillars of Mina stand where these three encounters occurred. The pilgrims’ throwing of pebbles is the ritual commemoration of Ibrahim’s decisive rejection of the tempter at the moment of the greatest test.

The Prophetic Authorization

The Prophet (SAW) explicitly stated the purpose of the rami:

“The stoning of the Jamarat and the Sa’y between Safa and Marwa are only performed for the remembrance (dhikr) of Allah.” (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi)

Two important implications:

1. Dhikr, not superstition: The throwing of pebbles is not a magical act — it is not “killing the devil” or “warding off evil” in any material sense. It is dhikr: the remembrance and re-enactment of Ibrahim’s act of choosing Allah over the tempter. The pebbles are the medium of remembrance, not a weapon.

2. The Safa-Marwa connection: The Prophet pairs rami with sa’y — both are acts of remembrance. Hajar’s running was her remembrance of divine provision; Ibrahim’s throwing was his remembrance of divine command. Both are dhikr through bodily action.

The Three Pillars — Al-Jamarat

The three pillars (jamarat, singular jamarah) stand in a line in the valley of Mina:

Jamarah al-‘Aqaba (the Large Pillar / al-Kubra)

The pillar closest to Makkah — historically the closest to where Iblis made his final appearance. This is:

The only pillar stoned on Yawm al-Nahr (the 10th of Dhul Hijja, the Day of Sacrifice)
Stoned with seven pebbles, reciting “Allahu Akbar” with each throw
Called al-Kubra (the largest) or al-‘Aqaba (the obstacle/pass)

Stoning this pillar on the 10th is one of the acts that begins the process of coming out of ihram — it is among the first acts of the day, alongside the sacrifice and the shaving/cutting of hair.

Jamarah al-Wusta (the Middle Pillar)

The middle pillar — where Iblis appeared for the second time. Stoned on the 11th, 12th, and optionally 13th of Dhul Hijja (the Ayyam al-Tashriq, the Days of Drying Meat). Seven pebbles, “Allahu Akbar” with each throw.

Jamarah al-Ula (the Small Pillar / al-Sughra)

The pillar furthest from Makkah — where Iblis first appeared. Stoned on the Ayyam al-Tashriq (11th, 12th, 13th of Dhul Hijja). Seven pebbles, “Allahu Akbar” with each throw.

The order for the Ayyam al-Tashriq: Stoning must proceed in order — Ula → Wusta → ‘Aqaba — each with seven pebbles, reciting Allahu Akbar with each throw. Du’a is recommended after each of the first two pillars (standing and facing the qiblah); du’a is not typically performed after the ‘Aqaba pillar.

The Days of Rami — Timing and Requirements

Yawm al-Nahr (10th Dhul Hijja): Only Jamarah al-‘Aqaba is stoned, after sunrise. This is the first great act of the day after arriving from Muzdalifah, beginning the release from ihram.

Ayyam al-Tashriq (11th, 12th, 13th Dhul Hijja): All three pillars are stoned each day, in order. The time for stoning is from after Zuhr until sunset (the majority opinion; other scholars allow stoning after Fajr). The three days of Mina are called Ayyam al-Tashriq (Days of Drying/Stretching) — referring to the drying of sacrificial meat in the sun.

The Tawdhi’ (early departure): A pilgrim may leave Mina after stoning on the 12th Dhul Hijja before sunset (this is the Tawdhi’ — “quickening to depart”). If they remain in Mina at sunset, they must stay for the 13th and stone all three pillars again.

The Pebbles — Source and Size

Source: The pebbles for the 10th Dhul Hijja are typically collected from Muzdalifah during the night spent there (the 9th-10th). For the Ayyam al-Tashriq, additional pebbles can be collected from Mina itself.

Size: The pebbles should be approximately the size of a chickpea (habb al-baqla) — small enough to throw accurately but substantial enough to count. Neither too large (excessive) nor too small (insufficient).

Purity: Pebbles should not have been used before. The notion that pebbles should be washed is from some traditions; it is not obligatory.

Number: Seven pebbles per pillar per day. A pilgrim stoning all three pillars on all three Ayyam al-Tashriq, plus the Jamarah al-‘Aqaba on the 10th, needs a minimum of 49 pebbles (some traditions also have a 13th day, for 70 total).

”Allahu Akbar” — With Each Throw

The Prophet (SAW) said “Allahu Akbar” with each of the seven throws. This is the Sunnah. The significance:

Allahu Akbar (Allah is Greatest) is the declaration of divine supremacy at the moment of physically enacting Ibrahim’s rejection of Iblis. The declaration and the action are unified:

The throw: Ibrahim’s physical rejection of the tempter
The takbir: Ibrahim’s theological declaration of what drives the rejection

Iblis was rejected not through anger or self-will but through tawhid: Allah is Greatest — greater than any temptation, greater than any attachment, greater than the nafs’s desires. The hajji’s rami repeats this: the throw is not rage at a stone pillar but the declaration, in physical form, that Allah is Greatest.

The Jamarat Bridge — Modern Context

In the modern Hajj, the original stone pillars have been replaced by large wall-like structures to accommodate millions of pilgrims. The Jamarat Bridge (al-Jisr) is a multi-level structure that allows pilgrims on different levels to stone the jamarat simultaneously, preventing the fatal crowding of earlier decades.

The three “pillars” are now large rectangular walls (jadran) — each approximately 26 meters long — rather than the original small columns. The ruling of the scholars: the specific location matters more than the shape; throwing at the designated walls is valid because the location of the original pillars is preserved.

What Rami Is NOT

Several misunderstandings circulate about rami that the tradition clarifies:

Not “stoning the devil”: Iblis is not present at the pillars, and the pilgrims are not literally attacking him. The hadith confirms: rami is dhikr of Allah, not combat with Iblis.

Not anger at the pillar: Throwing violently or cursing is not part of the Sunnah. The Prophet threw with calm deliberateness, saying Allahu Akbar with each pebble.

Not a magical purification: The pebbles do not cleanse sin by themselves. They are a ritual re-enactment of Ibrahim’s choice, which, combined with the hajji’s sincere intention and the divine acceptance, is part of the Hajj’s complete spiritual transformation.

Not the same as physically harming oneself: Some pilgrims in historical periods became overly zealous. The moderate and deliberate Sunnah is the authoritative model.

Ta’wil of Rami al-Jamarat

The zahir of rami: Throwing seven pebbles at each of the three pillars in Mina, at the specified times, in the specified order, saying Allahu Akbar with each throw — commemorating Ibrahim’s (AS) three rejections of Iblis.

The batin of rami: The Ismaili-Tayyibi ta’wil sees in rami the soul’s decisive, active, repeated rejection of the nafs’s temptations.

The three pillars as the three temptations:

Jamarah al-Ula: The first, most distant temptation — the preliminary whisper of the nafs, easy to dismiss if one is spiritually attentive
Jamarah al-Wusta: The second, middle temptation — more insistent, the nafs that has been rejected once and returns more cleverly
Jamarah al-‘Aqaba: The largest, most powerful temptation — at the moment of greatest commitment (the ‘aqaba, the “obstacle,” the pass) — the final and most intense resistance of the nafs to the divine call

The seven pebbles: Seven is the number of completion in the Islamic cosmic framework. Seven throws — not one dismissal but seven — is the completeness of the rejection: the nafs is not rejected half-heartedly but fully, repeatedly, definitively.

The Allahu Akbar: What drives each rejection is not the mumin’s own power of will but the declaration of divine supremacy. The nafs is overcome not by the ego’s effort but by the dhikr of Allah’s greatness: He is Greater than anything the nafs is offering.

The mumin who throws with full understanding is re-enacting Ibrahim’s — and the entire human soul’s — fundamental choice: the divine call over the nafs’s temptation, at every moment, with the declaration that Allah is Greatest.

“And remember Allah during [specific] numbered days.” (2:203) — The Ayyam al-Tashriq are the days of remembrance (dhikr) associated with the throwing. The rami is the most physical, most active form of dhikr in the entire Hajj.

Rami al-Jamarat — Stoning the Pillars