(158) “Indeed, al-Safā and al-Marwa are among the sacred rites of Allah. So whoever performs Hajj to the House or performs Umrah incurs no blame for passing back and forth between them. And whoever voluntarily does good—surely Allah is Appreciative, All-Knowing.”
Allah Most High informs us that al-Safā and al-Marwa—both of which are well known—“are among the sacred rites of Allah,” meaning the outward symbols of His religion, which He ordained as acts by which His servants worship Him. Since they are among Allah’s sacred rites, Allah has commanded that His rites be honored, saying, “Whoever honors the sacred rites of Allah—it is truly from the piety of hearts.” Taken together, the two texts show that they are among Allah’s sacred rites and that honoring His rites is part of the piety of hearts.
Piety is obligatory upon every legally accountable person. This indicates that traversing between al-Safā and al-Marwa is an obligatory part of Hajj and Umrah, as the majority maintain. This is also established by the Prophetic hadiths and by the practice of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said, “Learn your rites from me.”
“So whoever performs Hajj to the House or performs Umrah incurs no blame for passing back and forth between them.” This dispels the misconception of Muslims who felt uneasy about passing between the two because idols had been worshipped near them during the Age of Ignorance. Allah Most High therefore negated blame to remove this misconception, not to indicate that the rite is non-obligatory.
The restriction of this negation of blame to those who pass between them during Hajj or Umrah indicates that this traversal is not performed as an independent voluntary act, but only in conjunction with Hajj or ⦗77⦘ Umrah. This differs from circumambulating the House, which is prescribed as part of Umrah and Hajj and also as an independent act of worship.
As for traversing between al-Safā and al-Marwa, standing at Arafat and Muzdalifah, and stoning the pillars, they are performed as parts of the pilgrimage rites. If they were performed independently of those rites, they would be innovations. Innovations are of two kinds: one consists of worshipping Allah through an act of worship that He never prescribed at all; the other consists of worshipping Him through an act that He prescribed in a particular manner but performing it in a different manner. This belongs to the latter kind.
His words, “And whoever performs a voluntary act”—meaning an act of obedience done sincerely for Allah Most High—“of good,” such as Hajj, Umrah, circumambulation, prayer, fasting, or anything else, “it is better for him.” This indicates that whenever a servant increases in obedience to Allah, he increases in goodness and perfection, and his rank with Allah rises because his faith has increased.
The qualification of voluntary acts by the word “good” indicates that whoever voluntarily performs innovations that neither Allah nor His Messenger prescribed gains nothing but toil. Such acts are not better for him; rather, they may be evil for him if he performs them deliberately while knowing that they have not been prescribed.
“Surely Allah is Appreciative, All-Knowing.” The Appreciative and the Ever-Appreciative are among the names of Allah Most High. He accepts even the smallest deed from His servants and rewards them abundantly for it. When His servant fulfills His commands and obeys Him, He assists him in doing so, praises and commends him, and rewards him with light, faith, and ease in his heart; strength and vigor in his body; increased blessing and growth throughout his circumstances; and greater divine enablement in his deeds.
After all this, the servant will come before his Lord and find his deferred reward complete and abundant, undiminished by any of these immediate rewards.
Part of Allah’s appreciation of His servant is that whoever gives up something for Allah, Allah compensates him with something better; whoever draws near to Him by a handspan, He draws near to him by an arm’s length; whoever draws near to Him by an arm’s length, He draws near to him by an armspan; whoever comes to Him walking, He comes to him at a run; and whoever enters into dealings with Him earns a manifold profit.
Although He is Appreciative, He is also All-Knowing of who deserves the full reward according to his intention, faith, and piety, and who does not. He knows His servants’ deeds and never allows them to go to waste. Rather, they will find them returned in the fullest measure, according to their intentions, of which the All-Knowing, All-Wise is fully aware.