View source for Safa and Marwa

{{Short description|Two holy hillocks in Mecca, Saudi Arabia}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name              = Safa and Marwa
| native_name       = {{native name list|tag1=ar|name1=Aṣ-Ṣafā wal-Marwah|tag2=ar|name2=ٱلصَّفَا وَٱلْمَرْوَة}}
| photo             = {{Photomontage
| photo1a           = Sa'yee To Go Safa start.jpg
| photo1b           = Tavaf.jpg
| size              = 400}}
| photo_caption     = Left: A sign guides pilgrims toward Safa <br /> Right: Path of movement between Safa and Marwa, illustrated alongside the Tawaf or circumambulation of the ''[[Ka'bah]]''
| elevation_m       =
| elevation_ref     =
| prominence_m      =
| prominence_ref    =
| parent_peak       = '''Safa''': Abu Qubais<br />'''Marwa''': Qaiqan
| listing           =
| range             = [[Hijaz Mountains]]
| country           = {{KSA}}
| subdivision1_type = Region
| subdivision1      = [[Hejaz]]
| subdivision2_type = [[Provinces of Saudi Arabia|Province]]
| subdivision2      = [[Mecca Province|Mecca]]
| settlement_type   = City
| settlement        = [[Mecca]]
| map               = Saudi Arabia#Middle East#West Asia
| map_caption       = Location in Saudi Arabia
| map_size          = 234
| coordinates       = {{coord|21|25|25|N|39|49|38|E}}
| coordinates_ref   =
| topo              =
| type              =
| first_ascent      =
| easiest_route     =
| fetchwikidata     = ALL
}}

'''Safa and Marwa''' ({{langx|ar|{{Script|Arab|ٱلصَّفَا وَٱلْمَرْوَة}}|Aṣ-Ṣafā wal-Marwah}}) are two small hills, connected to the larger Abu Qubais and Qaiqan mountains, respectively,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Hamw|first1=Mahmoud M.|title=Makkah Al-Mukarramah: History and Milestones|last2=Isa|first2=Abdul Ghani|year=2019}}</ref> in [[Mecca]], [[Saudi Arabia]], now made part of ''Al-[[Masjid al-Haram]]''. [[Muslim]]s travel back and forth between them seven times in what is known as ''saʿī'' ({{langx|ar|سَعِي|lit=seeking/searching or walking}})<ref name="AtoZ">{{cite book|last=Mohamed|first=Mamdouh N.|url=https://archive.org/details/hajjumrahfromtoz00moha|title=Hajj to Umrah: From A to Z|publisher=Amana Publications|year=1996|isbn=0-915957-54-X|url-access=registration}}</ref>  ritual pilgrimages of ''[[Hajj|Ḥajj]]'' and ''[[Umrah]]''.

Muslims run between the two mountains, which they believe was made a ritual as a tribute to [[Hagar in Islam|Hajar]]'s search of water for her child dying of thirst until she found a water source in the [[Zamzam Well]]. The space between the two mountains in which the pilgrims run is called ''al-Mas'aa''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2018-01-06|title=IN PICTURES: The story of a Muslim ritual with roots dating back 5,000 years|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2018/01/06/IN-PICTURES-The-story-of-a-Muslim-ritual-that-goes-back-5-000-years.html|access-date=2020-07-06|website=Al Arabiya English|language=en}}</ref>

== Geography ==
Safa is a small mountain located at the bottom of the Abu Qubais Mountain, about {{cvt|130|m|ft}} southeast of the [[Kaaba|Ka'bah]], which is the beginning of the Sa'ee. As for Marwa, it is also a small mountain of white stone, located {{cvt|300|m|ft}} to the northeast of the Ka'bah and it is connected to Qaiqan Mountain, marking the end of the Sa'ee. Safa, Marwah and the Masa'a (space between the two mountains) were located outside the [[Masjid al-Haram]] and were separate until the year 1955/56 (1375 AH), when the project to annex the two sites into the Masjid al-Haram was undertaken for the first time, and they were subsequently annexed.<ref name=":0" /> The distance between Safa and Marwa is approximately {{convert|450|m|abbr=on}}, therefore, seven trips back and forth amount to roughly {{Convert|3.15|km|abbr=on|}}.

== History ==

=== Geological perspective ===
[[File:Mount Safa Mecca.jpg|thumb|Mount Safa]]
[[File:Al-Marwah 6.JPG|thumb|Mount Marwa]]
{{See also|Hijaz Mountains|Sarawat Mountains|label 1=Hijaz mountain range|label 2=Sarawat mountain range}}
The individual geological history of the two mountains is relatively unknown. Marwa has been described as smoother and lighter in color than Safa, with some even calling it white, such as Majd ad-Din Ferozabadi, az-Zubaidi, al-Fayoumi. al-Alusi further went on to say that Safa's color was comparable to a tint of red. Safa and Marwa are a part of the [[Hijaz Mountains|Hejaz]] [[mountain range]], which run parallel to most of the Saudi coast on the [[Red Sea]]. The Hejaz themselves are part of the larger [[Sarawat Mountains|Sarawat]] range, which is characterized by young and jagged mountains.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Farmer, G. Thomas.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/826009050|title=Climate change science. Volume 1, The physical climate : a modern synthesis|date=2013|publisher=Springer|others=Cook, John (Climatologist)|isbn=978-94-007-5757-8|location=Dordrecht|oclc=826009050}}</ref>

=== Islamic narrative ===
{{Main|Abraham in Islam}}
In [[Islam]]ic tradition, the civilization of Mecca started after [[Abraham in Islam|Ibrāhīm]] ([[Abraham]]) left his son [[Ishmael in Islam|Ismāʿīl]] ([[Ishmael]]) and wife [[Hagar in Islam|Hājar]] ([[Hagar]]) in the valley,<ref name="Lings1983">{{cite book |last=Lings |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Lings |title=Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources |publisher=Islamic Texts Society |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-946621-33-0|title-link=Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources }}</ref><ref name="Glasse1991">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Glassé |first=Cyril |title=Kaaba |encyclopedia=The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam |publisher=[[HarperSanFrancisco]] |year=1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dlPuAAAAMAAJ |isbn=0-0606-3126-0}}</ref> which Muslims believe was a command by God. When their provisions were exhausted, Hajar eventually ran out of food and water and could no longer breastfeed Ismail.<ref name=":1" /> She thus ran back and forth seven times between Safa and Marwa hoping to find water.<ref name=":1" /> To make her search easier and faster, she went alone, leaving the infant on the ground. She first climbed the nearest hill, Safa, to look over the surrounding area. When she saw nothing, she then went to the other hill, Marwah, to look around. While Hagar was on either hillside, she was able to see Ishmael and know he was safe. However, when she was in the valley between the hills she was unable to see her son, and would thus run whilst in the valley and walk at a normal pace when on the hillsides. Hagar traveled back and forth between the hills seven times in the scorching heat before returning to her son. Allah then sent Angel [[Jibril]] ([[Gabriel]]) to their aid and a spring of water appeared from the ground. The well was named [[Zamzam Well|Zamzam]] and the journey back and forth Safa and Marwa was made a ritual during Hajj and Umrah.<ref name=":1" /> The two mountains are mentioned by name in the [[Quran 2:158]].

=== Before Muhammad ===
{{See also|Pre-Islamic Arabia}}
The early [[Ansar (Islam)|Ansari]] Muslims gave up the custom of ''Sa'ee'' seeing it as idol worship and ''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]'' and a sign of the pre-Islamic period of ignorance (''[[jahiliyyah]]''). It is in this context that Verse 158 of Surah 2 was revealed ([[Sahih al-Bukhari|Sahih Bukhari]], Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 22/23).<ref>{{Cite book|author=Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Ismāʻīl |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/35673415|title=The English translation of Ṣaḥīḥ al Bukhārī with the Arabic text|date=1996|publisher=Al-Saadawi Publications|others=Khan, Muhammad Muhsin.|isbn=1-881963-59-4|location=Alexandria, Va.|oclc=35673415}}</ref> In another narration by [[Abdullah Yusuf Ali]] in his commentary on Verse 2:158, he argues that the verse had been revealed because the pagans of [[Quraysh]] had placed two idols atop the two hills and the Muslims felt hesitant to walk between the hills, seeing it as idol worship or as an act of ''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/870650664|title=The Holy Qur'an|translator=Ali, Abdullah Yusuf |isbn=978-1-84870-568-5|location=Ware|oclc=870650664}}</ref> [[Anas ibn Malik]] also said that he felt hatred in walking between the two hills as he saw it as a pre-Islamic custom from the ''jahiliyyah'' until Allah had revealed Verse 2:158 (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 2). [[Aisha]] confirmed the verse had been revealed with regards to the Ansar, who said it was sinful to walk between the hills as they used to visit the idol [[Manat (goddess)|Manat]] at Qudaid (near [[Mecca]]) in the state of [[Ihram]] before going about with the rituals of their pilgrimage in pre-Islamic times. Several similar reasons have been given by multiple scholars of Islam, including [[al-Suyuti]] in his Asbab an-Nuzul<ref>{{Cite book|last=as-Suyuti|first=Imam Jalaludin 'Abdul Rahman bin Abi Bakr|title=Reasons and Occasions of Revelation of Quran: Asbab Nuzul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wx5LDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 |publisher=Dar al-Kotob al-Ilmiyah (DKI)|year=2008|isbn=9782745184108|location=[[Beirut]]|pages=27}}</ref> and [[George Sale]] in his Preliminary Discourse to the Quran.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wherry|first=Elwood Morris|title=A Comprehensive Commentary on the Qurán: Comprising Sale's Translation and Preliminary Discourse|year=2019|isbn=9783337821944|pages=22}}</ref>

== Revisionist and source critical views ==
[[Tom Holland (author)|Tom Holland]] and [[Patricia Crone]], both [[Revisionist school of Islamic studies|revisionist scholars of early Islamic history]], suggest that Islam might not have originated in Mecca, but rather someplace to the north, possibly in the Levant. Building on this suggestion, but taking it a step further, Paul Ellis suggests that Islam originated in or near [[Jerusalem]]. One of the main pieces of evidence for this theory is his claim that the hills referred to as Safa and Marwa in the Qur'an are actually hills in Jerusalem. According to Ellis, Marwa is Mount [[Moriah]] and Safa is [[Mount Scopus]]. Ellis notes that [[Josephus]] referred to Mount Scopus as ''Sapha'' (Σάφα), which is phonetically identical to ''Safa''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/76385952 | title=Jerusalem, City of Islam by Paul D d'A Ellis | last1=d &#39 | first1=Paul D. | last2=Ellis | first2=A. }}</ref>

== Significance in the Hajj and Umrah ==
{{See also|Hajj|Umrah}}
Performing the ''Sa'ee'' serves to commemorate Hajar's search for water for her son and God's mercy in answering prayers. Two walkways guide pilgrims from Safa to Marwa, and from Marwa to Safa, with two narrower walkways in the center to serve elderly and [[Disability|disabled]] pilgrims. The walkways between the two mountains are collectively called the ''Mas'aa'' ({{Langx|ar|المسعى|translit=al-Mas'aa|lit=way, place of walking}}) and are air-conditioned. Water pumped from the Zamzam Well is also available on the way. ''Sa'ee'' is an integral part and ''[[Fard|rukn]]'' of Hajj and Umrah.
<gallery mode="slideshow">
Sa'yee To Go.jpg|The first walkway of the ''Mas'aa'' leading from Safa to Marwa
Sa'yee For older.jpg|Central section reserved for the elderly and disabled
Sa'yee To return.jpg|The second walkway returning from Marwa to Safa
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Sarawat Mountains]]
* [[Moriah]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Sa'yee}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCWJIzY7gJE Safa Marwa Sai | السعي بين الصفا والمروة] ([[YouTube]])
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDfrcit6EO4 How to make Umrah- Part 3 Safa and Marwa]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Il90ycNGEs Safa-Marwa Umrah 2012 HD]

{{Characters and names in the Quran}}
{{Hajj topics}}
{{Mecca}}
{{Holiest sites in Shia Islam}}
{{Mountains in the Arabian Peninsula}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-Safa And Al-Marwah}}
[[Category:Islamic pilgrimages]]
[[Category:Islamic holy places]]
[[Category:Hajj]]
[[Category:Masjid al-Haram]]
[[Category:Mountains of Saudi Arabia]]
[[Category:Hagar]]