173 – They unanimously agree that whoever completes seven circuits of ṭawāf and then prays two rakʿas has fulfilled the rite correctly.
174 – They unanimously agree that a sick person may be carried for ṭawāf and that this suffices for him. ʿAṭāʾ alone held that he must hire someone to perform the circumambulation on his behalf.
175 – They unanimously agree that a minor may be carried for ṭawāf.
176 – They unanimously agree that ṭawāf performed from outside the mosque is not valid.
177 – They unanimously agree that ṭawāf performed behind the Saqāya is valid.
178 – They unanimously agree that the pilgrim may perform the two post-ṭawāf rakʿas wherever he wishes. Mālik alone maintained that praying them inside the Ḥijr does not suffice.
179 – They unanimously agree on the authentic report from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—that after finishing his ṭawāf he touched the Corner, having first prayed behind the Station.
180 – They unanimously agree that whoever begins his saʿy at Ṣafā and concludes it at Marwa has adhered to the Sunnah.
181 – They unanimously agree that saʿy between Ṣafā and Marwa performed without ritual purity is nonetheless valid. Al-Ḥasan alone said: if he remembers this before releasing from iḥrām, he must repeat the ṭawāf (1).
(1) Al-ʿIraqi states in Tarh al-Tathrib (5/122-123): “Al-Hasan al-Basri used to say: if the pilgrim remembers (his state of impurity) before leaving ihram, he must repeat the tawaf; if he remembers after leaving ihram, nothing is required of him. Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr added: I know of no one who made ritual purity a condition for the saʿy except al-Hasan, for he said: if someone performs the saʿy without wudu and recalls this before leaving ihram, he must repeat it; if he recalls it after leaving ihram, nothing is due.” End quote.
This opinion is open to critique on two counts:
First, it is internally inconsistent: to stipulate purity contradicts accepting the act when purity is lacking. I have found no transmission that al-Hasan required purity; at most he viewed it as recommended. Indeed, Ibn Abi Shaybah reports from al-Hasan and Ibn Sirin that they saw no harm in walking between Safa and Marwa without wudu, though they preferred doing so with wudu. This shows that al-Hasan merely recommended purity, like other scholars.
Second, al-Hasan is not alone in his view. Ibn Abi Shaybah transmits from Abu ʿAliya: a menstruating woman should not recite the Quran, pray, perform tawaf of the House, or walk between Safa and Marwa, adding that the saʿy equals the tawaf of the House. Ibn ʿUmar said: a menstruating woman performs all the rites except the tawaf of the House and the saʿy between Safa and Marwa (Malik, al-Muwattaʾ). Another report from Ibn ʿUmar states: she is not to make tawaf, saʿy, or approach the mosque until she becomes pure. A similar ruling is attributed to Ahmad ibn Hanbal—cited by Ibn Taymiyya in al-Muharrar—requiring purity for the saʿy just as for tawaf.
I ask: if saʿy does not require purity, why did ʿAʾisha refrain from it, saying: “I did not perform tawaf of the House nor between Safa and Marwa,” and abstaining from saʿy just as she abstained from tawaf? The answer is that saʿy is only valid after tawaf; her abstention was due not to a purity condition in saʿy itself, but to the purity required for the preceding tawaf.
As for Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr’s claim that saʿy is inseparable from tawaf, this is incorrect, for continuity between them is not obligatory. Abu Dharr al-Harawi relates in his Manasik from Ibn ʿUmar: a menstruating woman performs all the rites except the tawaf of the House and the saʿy between Safa and Marwa—unless she menstruates after completing the tawaf of the House, in which case she may perform the saʿy. Ibn Abi Shaybah likewise reports that a woman who completes tawaf and then menstruates may perform the saʿy while menstruating; this is the view of ʿAʾisha, Umm Salama, Ibn ʿUmar, ʿAtaʾ, al-Hasan, Ibrahim, al-Hakam, and Hammad.” End of quotation.