upon it is more virtuous, following the action of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). If he leaves anything of the distance between them, even if it is a cubit, it is not sufficient for him until he fulfills it. It is not Sunnah for a woman to ascend [the Safa or Marwah] lest she crowd the men; refraining from that is more concealing for her. She does not trot (raml) in either the Tawaf or the Sa'i. The ruling regarding the obligation of covering the full distance between them by walking is the same as the ruling for a man.

621 - Issue: He said: "Then he descends from al-Safa, and walks until he arrives at the marker that is in the bottom of the valley, then he trots (yarmul) from the marker to the marker, then walks until he arrives at al-Marwah, where he stands upon it and says just as he said upon al-Safa (1), and whatever he supplicates with is sufficient for him. Then he descends, walking to the marker, then trots until he arrives at the marker. He does this seven times, counting the going as one lap and the returning as one lap, starting at al-Safa and concluding at al-Marwah."

This is the description of the Sa'i, which is that he descends from al-Safa and walks until he reaches the marker. Its meaning is that he comes parallel to the marker, which is the green pillar suspended in the corner of the mosque. When he is approximately six cubits from it, he runs vigorously until he is parallel to the other marker, which are the two green pillars that are in the courtyard of the mosque, adjacent to the house of al-Abbas. Then he stops the running and walks until he arrives at al-Marwah, where he faces the Qiblah and supplicates with the like of his supplication upon al-Safa. Whatever he supplicates with is permissible; there is nothing in the supplication that is fixed. Then he descends, walking where he should walk and running where he should run, and he engages in much supplication and dhikr during the intervals. Abu Abd Allah said: When Ibn Mas'ud would perform Sa'i between al-Safa and al-Marwah, he would say: "O Lord, forgive, have mercy, and pardon that which You know, for You are the Most Mighty, the Most Generous." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Indeed, the stoning of the jamarat and the Sa'i between al-Safa and al-Marwah were only ordained for the establishment of the remembrance of Allah Almighty" (2). He said