صحیح مسلم · Hadith 3082

Urwa b. Zabair reported: I said to 'A'isha, the wife of Allah's Apostle ( ‌صلی ‌اللہ ‌علیہ ‌وسلم ‌ ): I do not see any (fault) in one who does not circumambl te between al-Safa' and al-Marwa, and I do not mind if I do not circumambulate between them, whereupon she said: O, the son of my sister, what you say is wrong. Allah's Messenger ( ‌صلی ‌اللہ ‌علیہ ‌وسلم ‌ ) observed Sa'i and so did the Muslims. So it is a Sunnah (of the Prophet). And it was a common practice (with the pagan Arabs) that those who pronounced Talbiya for the wretched al-Manat, situated at Mushalla, did not observe Sa'i between al-Safa' and al-Marwa. With the advent of Islam, we asked Allah's Apostle ( ‌صلی ‌اللہ ‌علیہ ‌وسلم ‌ ) about this practice, and (it was on this occasion) that Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, revealed this verse: Verily al-Safa' and al-Marwa are among the Signs of Allah ; so he who performed Hajj or 'Umra it is no sin on him if he circumambulates them. And if it were as you state, (then the wording would have been): There is no harm for him, that he should not circumambulate round them. Zuhri said: I made a mention of that to Abu Bakr b. 'Abd al- Rahman b. al-Harith b. Hisham; he was impressed by that and said: This is what is called knowledge. And I have heard many a scholar saying: Many of the Arabs who did not circumambulate between al-Safa' and al-Marwa caid: Our circumambulation between these two hills is an act of ignorance; whereas others among the Ansar said: We have been commanded to circumambulate the House, and not Commanded to run between al-Safa' and al-Marwa. So Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, revealed thia verse: Verily al-Safa' and al-Marwa are among the Signs of Allah. Abu Bakr b. 'Abd al-Rahman said: I think that this (verse) has been revealed for such and such (persons).

Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020