The Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam and one of the largest religious pilgrimages in the world, is currently taking place in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Starting last Friday and continuing through Wednesday, some 3 million Muslims from around the globe are participating in several rituals, including the Tawaf -- the circumambulation of the Kaaba, the enormous cube-shaped building in the center of the Masjid al-Haram mosque. The pilgrims are are also taking part in the Sa'i, traveling back and forth between the mountains of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, and Ramy al-Jamarat, in which they throw pebbles at three walls in the city of Mina to show their defiance of the Devil. Directly after the Hajj, Muslims all over the world will observe Eid al-Adha, or the Festival of Sacrifice. The feast honors Abraham who, according to Muslim tradition, was prepared to sacrifice his son Ishmael before God sent a ram in his place. To commemorate this event, worshippers sacrifice sheep, cows, and camels, and share the meat among family, neighbors, and the needy. Collected here are scenes of this year's Hajj and Eid al-Adha, from Mecca and around the globe.
The Hajj and Eid al-Adha 2011
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A Muslim pilgrim prays as visits the Hiraa cave, at the top of Noor Mountain on the outskirts of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on November 2, 2011. According to tradition, Islam's Prophet Mohammed received his first message to preach Islam while he was praying in the cave. #
AP Photo/Hassan Ammar -
An aerial view shows the Mecca Clock Tower as Muslim pilgrims walking around the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque of the holy city of Mecca during the annual Hajj pilgrimage rituals on November 7, 2011. #
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This aerial image taken through a window of a helicopter shows thousands of tents housing Muslim pilgrims crowded together in Mina, near the Saudi holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on November 7, 2011. #
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Muslim pilgrim pray outside Namira mosque in Arafat near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on November 5, 2011. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws 2.5 million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. #
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A man is silhouetted against the sun while selling livestock at a cattle market ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, on October 29, 2011. Muslims around the world celebrate the Islamic festival Eid al-Adha by slaughtering sheep, goats, cows and camels to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael on God's command. #
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Muslims pray during the Kurban Bairam (Eid al-Adha) festival outside a mosque in Moscow, on November 6, 2011. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha, marking the end of the Hajj. #
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A Pakistani man sharpens a knife at his shop in Karachi, Pakistan, on November 6, 2011. Eid, is celebrated throughout the Muslim world as a commemoration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for God, with cows, camels, goats and sheep are traditionally slaughtered on the holiest day. #
Rizwan Tabassum/AFP/Getty Images -
Ethnic Turkish men hold a ram in Bucharest, Romania, on November 6, 2011, during celebrations of the first day of Eid al-Adha. Romania's Turkish minority inhabits mostly the south east of the country near the Black Sea. The ram was present as a mascot and was not sacrificed. #
AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda -
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Muslim pilgrims cast stones at a pillar, symbolizing the stoning of Satan, in a ritual called "Jamarat," the last rite of the annual Hajj, in Mina near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on November 6, 2011. #
AP Photo/Hassan Ammar -
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Ethnic Turkish girls from the village of Cumpana, eastern Romania, wait to perform traditional dances in Bucharest, Romania, on November 6, 2011, during celebrations of the first day of Eid al-Adha. #
AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda -
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In rainy weather, Iranian Sunni Muslims perform their Eid al-Adha prayer, at the Jame mosque in the city of Agh Ghala, about 250 miles (415 kilometers) northeast of the capital Tehran. #
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Muslims perform their ablutions in the inner courtyard of the 17th century Jama Masjid mosque in New Delhi, India, before early morning Eid al-Adha prayers on November 7, 2011. Thousands of Indian Muslims crowded in and around the mosque, the largest in India, to attend prayers in the first morning of Eid-al Adha or Festival of Sacrifice. India has the second largest population of Muslim followers in the world with over 150 million faithful. #
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Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants living in the northern port city of Thessaloniki in Greece, offer Eid al-Adha prayers on November 6, 2011. For the first time in Thessaloniki, Greek authorities granted a public hall to Muslims in order to celebrate Eid al-Adha or the Feast of the Sacrifice, in remembrance of Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son. #
AP Photo/Nikoloas Giakoumidis
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