Sa’i worship is one of the rituals in the implementation of the Hajj and Umrah. The first person to carry out this worship was Hajar, the mother of the prophet Ismail (AS). Sa’i is walking in a hurry between the Safa and Marwa hills which far is about 405 meters which is located in the Mosque al Haram.
What Is Sa’i Worship?
Sa’i worship is done after doing the Tawaf worship. After performing the thawaf, Some one then stepped through the door of Baab Ash-Safa (door of Safa), to come to Safa and Marwa hills, he went to the Safa hill and then went up some stairs to do the Sa’i. Sa’i is one of the pillars of Hajj and its implementation is by walking briskly (faster than walking and slower than running).
Sa’i is a pilgrimage (Hajj and Umrah) that is carried out by fast walking between the Safa and Marwah hills seven times. In practice, the walking from Safa to Marwah is counted once and from Marwah to Safa is counted once. So, this hurry walking starts from Safa and ends at Marwah. That means 4 times walking fast from Safa to Marwah and 3 times from Marwah to Safa.
Also see: Types of Hajj: Hajj ul-Ifrad, Hajj ul-Qiran, and Hajj ul-Tamattu’
When starting Sa’i, we should walk at a regular pace up to the Bathnul Waadidi boundary which is marked with the first green light. Starting from this green light sign, men walk fast and women walk as usual until the next limit is marked with a second green light. Meanwhile, women continue to walk as usual and sick pilgrims are allowed to use a wheelchair.
Well, when someone has arrived at Mount Marwah, the performer of the pilgrimage should go up to Mount Marwah and face the hill of Safa as when on Mount Safa (up to the hill of Safa). On this hill he recited a special prayer as recited when he was on the hill of Safa. When you reach Marwah, it is counted once and when you reach Safa again, it is counted twice. Well, and so on until there are seven passes. If the Sa’i has been completed, then the performer of the Hajj has completed two things, namely Thawaf qudum and Sa’i.
Can We Start Sa’i from Marwah?
If a person starts Sa’i from the hill of Marwah (not from Safa), then his Sa’i is valid, but he has to add one more pass until he ends seven laps at Marwah (not ending in Safa). When performing Sa’i it is recommended to perform ablution (Wudu), but this is not something that is obligatory as when performing tawaf. That is, Sa’i can be done even if it is not in a state of purity from small or large hadas.
The existence of the place of sa’i in the past was outside the haram mosque. However, due to the continuous expansion of the mosque in order to accommodate the large number of worshipers, this area was then located inside the Haram Mosque. However, according to syar’i this is not the same as the haram mosque.
The sa’i (mas’a) place has a distance of 405 meters and a long building consisting of two levels with a road width of 20 meters has been made. The lanes used for the sa’i now have four lanes, two lanes for pedestrians and two lanes for those with disabilities and worshipers who use wheelchairs. The building where the sa’i is located on the second floor uses Air Conditioning so that the sa’i hurry walking of 7 rounds no longer feels as tired as before using the Air Conditioner. These 7 rounds are 405 x 7 = 2835 km and with lots of fans and air conditioning, sa’i worship is no longer as difficult as one might think.
See too: Facts about the Kaaba – The Holy Baitullah
What Islamic Scholar Said About Sa’i
Sa’i is the main worship in the implementation of the pilgrimage or is called the pillars of the pilgrimage. This is as the opinion of the companions such as Ibn Umar, Jabir, Aisyah and later became the opinion held by scholars such as Imam Shafi’e, Imam Malik, and Imam Ahmad, they argue that Sa’i is one of the pillars of Hajj. So, whoever leaves Sa’i, his Hajj cannot be replaced with (al-dam) and he is obliged to replace his Hajj in the following year.
But there are also scholars who say that sa’i is a sunnat practice, this is as said by Ibn Abbas, Anas, Ibn al-Zubair, Ibn Sirin and several other scholars.
This is different from the opinion of scholars such as Abu Hanifah, Imam Hasan, al Thauri, where they say that Sa’i is “obligatory for Hajj”. So, if a person leaves sa’i (not doing it) his Hajj is not canceled because it can be replaced with al-dam (a fine for slaughtering a goat).
The Wisdom of Sa’i Worship
Allah says in the Qur’an, Surah Ibrahim verse 37, which means: “Our Lord, indeed I have placed some of my descendants in a valley where there is no vegetation near Your house (Baitullah) which is respected, O our Lord (thus that), so that they establish Salah, then make the hearts of some people inclined towards them and provide them with sustenance from fruits, hopefully they will be grateful.”
This verse tells about the origin of the Sa’i worship, where at one time the prophet Ibrahim left his infant son (Ismail AS.) with his wife Hajar, in the valley of Mecca. An arid place without trees and springs. Once, the baby (little Ismail) was crying because he was thirsty and his mother (Hajar) was confused and didn’t know where to look for water, finally she walk fast between the Safa hill (to see if there was a caravan that passed, sometimes there was a little water for her child), likewise ran to the hill of Marwa for the same.
But then, the Angel stomped his wings around little Ishmael’s feet, and the water gushed out. This is water that until now never runs out even though it is used by millions of people. This water is known as Zamzam water.