the famous report of ʿĀʾishah.
As for the pilgrim who performs Ifrād—devoting himself solely to Ḥajj—he is liable for only one circumambulation, as we have stated, and that is on the Day of Sacrifice. The jurists differed, however, with regard to the Qārin, the one who combines Ḥajj and ʿUmrah in a single state of consecration.
Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, and Abū Thawr say: One tawāf and one saʿy are sufficient for the Qārin. This is also the view of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar and Jābir, and their proof is the aforementioned ḥadīth of ʿĀʾishah.
Al-Thawrī, al-Awzāʿī, Abū Ḥanīfah, and Ibn Abī Laylā maintain that the Qārin must perform two tawāfs and two saʿys. They relate this position from ʿAlī and Ibn Masʿūd, arguing that the two rites are distinct acts of worship; whenever either stands alone it requires its own tawāf and saʿy, so both are required when they are combined.
Thus ends the discussion of the obligation, description, conditions, number, and timing of this act. What follows in the sequence of Ḥajj rites—namely, Tawāf al-Qudūm—is the saʿy between Ṣafā and Marwah, the third act after entering iḥrām. Let us now speak about it.
[The Saʿy between Ṣafā and Marwah]
We shall discuss its legal status, its manner, its conditions, and its order.
- Its ruling. Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī say that it is obligatory; whoever omits it must perform another Ḥajj in the future. Aḥmad and Isḥāq concur.
The jurists of Kūfah regard it as Sunnah; if a pilgrim returns to his homeland without having performed it, he must offer a sacrificial animal in expiation.
Others hold that it is merely voluntary, and nothing is due from one who neglects it.
Those who deem it obligatory rely on the report that “The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—used to perform saʿy and would say: ‘Perform saʿy, for Allah has prescribed saʿy for you.’” Al-Shāfiʿī transmitted this ḥadīth from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Muʾammil. Moreover, the default in the Prophet’s actions—peace be upon him—in acts of worship is that they signify obligation unless evidence, whether by hearing, consensus, or analogy (according to those who employ analogy), removes them from that status.
Those who do not obligate it cite the Almighty’s words:
“Indeed, Ṣafā and Marwah are among the symbols of Allah. Whoever performs pilgrimage to the House or makes ʿUmrah—there is no blame upon him for walking between them” (al-Baqarah 2:158).
They say the meaning is that he is not required to walk; this was Ibn Masʿūd’s recitation. Similarly, the Most High says, “Allah clarifies things for you lest you go astray” (al-Nisāʾ 4:176), meaning: so that you do not go astray. They also consider the ḥadīth of Ibn al-Muʾammil weak.
ʿĀʾishah, however, said: The verse is to be taken at face value. It was revealed concerning the Anṣār, who were uneasy about performing saʿy between Ṣafā and Marwah as they had done in the pre-Islamic period, for the place had been a site where the idolaters slaughtered their sacrifices.
It has also been said that they used to avoid saʿy between Ṣafā and Marwah in veneration of certain idols; when they asked about the matter, this verse was revealed to grant them permission. The majority nonetheless regard saʿy as one of the rites of Ḥajj because it is how the Prophet—peace be upon him—performed the pilgrimage, and the reports that he linked saʿy to tawāf are mass-transmitted.