which the pilgrim performing tamattu' did first suffices in place of the sa'i of Hajj? This cannot be maintained. Then it may be said: If you claim that it is the sa'i of Hajj that was brought forward, this cannot be correct. How can the sa'i of Hajj be performed before entering into ihram for Hajj? Can a person bow before commencing the prayer? This is not possible.
Those who hold that a single sa'i suffices for the pilgrim performing tamattu' have no evidence other than the apparent meaning of the hadith of Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him: “The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions did not perform sa'i between Safa and Marwah more than once—their initial sa'i.” (1) The answer to this is very simple: what is meant by “his Companions” is those who had not exited ihram and were in the same state as he was.
This is the correct view: the pilgrim performing tamattu' is required to perform a sa'i for Hajj, just as he is required to perform a sa'i for Umrah.
His statement, “and he had not performed sa'i with the tawaf of arrival,” indicates that, in the author’s view, a pilgrim performing qiran or ifrad may perform the sa'i of Hajj after the tawaf of arrival, or may defer it. All of this is permissible. However, the preferable course—and Allah knows best—is to perform it after the tawaf of arrival, because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did so.
Someone might object: “I dispute this line of reasoning, because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, performed it early in order to teach his Companions how to perform sa'i. Most of his Companions needed to learn the sa'i because they were performing tamattu'. Therefore, his performing it early does not decisively prove that it is preferable for one performing ifrad or qiran to perform the sa'i after the tawaf of arrival.”
We answer this objection by saying that the basic principle concerning the actions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is that they constitute sunnah, and the possibility that this was in order to teach