Nearly one million Muslim pilgrims are preparing to leave the holy city of Makkah, after concluding peacefully the last of the solemn rituals of the soul-searching journey of Hajj.

Pilgrims returned today (Monday) to the holy city of Makkah to perform the last ritual of a very special and different hajj.

In the last ritual of the annual pilgrimage, the white-clad pilgrims performed the final Tawaf (circumambulation) as they walked seven times around the Ka`bah in the Grand Mosque complex in Makkah.

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The Ka`bah, with a black stone set in the eastern corner, is not an object of worship, though Muslims pray towards it, but a sanctuary and a spiritual center.

Pilgrims should perform farewell Tawaf at the last hour before leaving Makkah. If the pilgrim spends another night in Makkah after the tawaf, he or she must repeat the ritual.

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This year’s gathering is much bigger than the past two years when COVID-19 pandemic forced a sharp cut down of the number of Muslims performing hajj.

Saudi authorities, which did not accept pilgrims from abroad in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed nearly 1 million Muslims under the age of 65 to perform this year’s Hajj.

The farewell circumambulation comes after the pilgrims completed on Monday the three-day ritual of stoning the Devil at Jamrat Al-Aqaba, hurling pebbles at all three wide walls representing Satan.