Re: Stoning the pillars/walls at Hajj.
I haven't read all comments, but here's my two cents.
The fact that so many people die during this 'ritual' is actually testimony to the fact that the devil hasn't been won over. In contrast, all these barbaric deaths are actually the devil's revenge for stoning him. Only if people will be able to control the devil inside them and act as humans instead of barbarians will such deaths be prevented.
Secondly, the presupposition that persons dying in this stampede are martyrs, is a bit odd:
a hypothetical situation: on a certain hajj, I'm standing there and throwing stones towards the devil quite gently, and emphasizing the spiritual meaning instead of the physical. Suddenly I see a heard of mullahs on a stampede running towards me with 120mph. Now the question is: Am I allowed to stand still and get killed, thinking that I will go to heaven. OR will it be considered suicide that I did not attempt to escape, because only two meters from me, I could have hid behind a safe wall and prevented this death?