Mina is a place near the holy city of Makka in Saudi Arabia. The meaning of Mina is ‘Tent City’. Muslims around the world gather at a certain time in Mina during the Hajj season. It’s a place where they stay a night inside the tents. At the time of Hajj, Muslim brothers and sisters go to Mina by foot which is about 5 kilometers away from the city of Makka.
Mina is known to play the key role at the period of hajj. In excess of 100,000 air-conditioned tents that can house not less than 3 million pilgrims at Mina. In the Mina valley, there is a place known as ‘Jamarat Bridge’ where pebbles and stones are thrown by the pilgrims to the Saitan. This activity is being observed during the last day of Hajj at the period between sunrise and sunset. Pilgrims commemorate this ‘Stone Throwing’ to remember the activities of Prophet Ebrahim who threw stones towards the devil that came between him and Allah. All the pilgrims have to spend at the valley of Mina under tents for a night at the Hajj period because it is one of the most significant parts of Hajj ritual. Muslim pilgrims go and stay at Mina from 8th to 12th day of hajj. During that period, men and women need to sleep at separate tents.
After returning from Mina, many of the pilgrims go to Madina to see the Raoza of Prophet Muhammad PBUH. But the must thing for them is to return to Makka for doing the final Tawaaf for the completion of their Hajj.