MINA, Saudi Arabia - Thousands of pilgrims began one of the final rituals of the hajj early today, each throwing seven pebbles at large stone pillars symbolizing the devil.

The majority of the 2 million pilgrims who have come here from around the world will perform the rite around midday, but those who completed the ceremony early acted under a fatwa, or religious edict, issued last year that allowed the stoning before the dawn prayers.

"We were worried about the crowds and we had heard some real horror stories so we feel much better that we made it here early," said Ahmed Sodikin, 56, from Bandung, Indonesia.

On Wednesday, the pilgrims had converged on nearby Mount Arafat, where Islam's 7th century prophet Muhammad gave his last sermon in the year 632, three months before his death.

Saudi Arabia's top cleric, speaking at a mosque near Mount Arafat, lamented the violence waged by Muslim militants against Saudi Arabia and complained that that a hostile world was conspiring against Islam.

"The greatest affliction to strike the nation of Islam came from some of its own sons, who were lured by the devil," Sheik Abdul-Aziz al-Sheik said. "They have called the nation infidel, they have shed protected blood and they have spread vice on earth, with explosions and destruction and killing of innocents."

He pointedly asked of Muslim youth: "How would you meet God? With innocent blood you shed or helped shed?"

The cleric also warned of anti-Islamic campaigns from outside the Muslim world-"military campaigns, thought campaigns, economic campaigns, and media campaigns.

"They are all against this religion. The nation was described as a terrorist nation, that we are terrorists and backward," he said. "Conferences have been held and conspiracies have been woven ... all unjustly and unfairly."

Al-Sheik urged worshippers to abide the words of God and his prophet and not be "fooled by a civilization known for its weak structure and bad foundation."

Men and women, otherwise not allowed to mix in the conservative kingdom, rubbed shoulders and stretched helping hands to each other as they climbed the uneven but gentle slope of Mount Arafat.

Helicopters hovered above the plain, dotted by pilgrims all the way to the peak. Some paused for photographs; men in seamless white robes and women, covered from head to foot except for their hands and faces, held prayer booklets and recited the Quran. Many had tears in their eyes as they prayed.

The fatwa allowing pilgrims to stone the pillars before dawn prayers was a result of precautions taken by Saudi officials to prevent the deadly stampedes that have marred the ritual in the past. Last year, 244 pilgrims died in a stampede; 1,426 died in a similar fashion in 1990.

"I'm sure God will accept this. It's in the best interest of all," Jamal Adel, 50, of Khartoum, Sudan, said. The early pilgrims moved down an expanded foot bridge to stone the pillars, or Jamarats and were able to walk away without facing the normal crush of humanity.

Authorities have erected three new pillars, wider and taller than ones used previously, so more pilgrims can throw rocks at the same time. The foot bridge leading to the pillars was expanded to accommodate more people and includes two new emergency exits.

About 10,000 troops were expected to patrol the area later Thursday to ensure the smooth flow of the ritual.

"We are very confident that we will be able to handle the crowd," Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said. "Pilgrims will also have to do their part to avoid accidents."

Most pilgrims are expected after noon and will then return to Mecca, about a mile away to circle the holy Kaaba in the last ritual of the pilgrimage.

The hajj-required at least once in the lifetime of every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it-began earlier this week with the circling of the Kaaba, the large cubic stone structure that Muslims face during their five daily prayers. Muslims believe completing the hajj will erase their sins.

The Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, begins with dawn prayers Thursday.

Ahmed Saleh, 60, from San`a, Yemen, limping and leaning on a friend, was smiling after throwing his stones and walking to the bus that would take him to Mecca.

"If I had not come early today, God knows what would have happened to me," he said. "Now I can offer my Eid prayers in front of the Kaaba."
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