بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

إِنَّ ٱلصَّفَا وَٱلۡمَرۡوَةَ مِن شَعَآٮِٕرِ ٱللَّهِ‌ۖ فَمَنۡ حَجَّ ٱلۡبَيۡتَ أَوِ ٱعۡتَمَرَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيۡهِ أَن يَطَّوَّفَ بِهِمَا‌ۚ وَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيۡرً۬ا فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَاكِرٌ عَلِيمٌ

“Indeed Safa and Marwah are among the symbols of Allah. So whoever comes to the House for Hajj or performs ‘Umrah, there is no sin for him if he makes rounds between them; whoever comes up with good on his own, then Allah is Appreciating, All-Knowing.” (158)

Ruling: Sa’i is wajib according to imam Abu Hanifa رحمه الله, which means one who leaves it out would need to slaughter an animal to compensate. The Prophet ﷺ clarified its wajib nature in many ahadith such as, “Allah has ordained sa’I upon you” (Bayhaqi) and “begin with which Allah began with (meaning Safa) (Muslim) (As in Tafsir Jalalayn). In the days of jahiliyya, two idols were placed on top of Safa and Marwah, the people showed devotion to the two idols by doing sa’i between them. Many companions felt uncomfortable doing sa’I out of fear that they would be imitating a jahili custom. In response to this anxiety faced by the companions, Allah revealed this verse to dispel all such thoughts. It was in answer to this doubt, that Allah declared there is no sin in it. Therefore, the negation of sin does not mean the negation of wujub. (Ruh Al Maani, Jalalayn V1 pg 92)