| Safa and Marwa | |
|---|---|
  Left: A sign guides pilgrims toward Safa Right: Path of movement between Safa and Marwa, illustrated alongside the Tawaf or circumambulation of theKa'bah | |
| Highest point | |
| Parent peak | Safa: Abu Qubais Marwa: Qaiqan |
| Coordinates | 21°25′25″N39°49′38″E / 21.42361°N 39.82722°E /21.42361; 39.82722 |
| Naming | |
| Native name | |
| Geography | |
  Safa and Marwa Location in Saudi Arabia Show map of Saudi Arabia Safa and Marwa Safa and Marwa (Middle East) Show map of Middle East Safa and Marwa Safa and Marwa (West and Central Asia) Show map of West and Central Asia | |
| Country |  Saudi Arabia |
| Region | Hejaz |
| Province | Mecca |
| City | Mecca |
| Parent range | Hijaz Mountains |
Safa and Marwa (Arabic:ٱلصَّفَا وَٱلْمَرْوَة,romanized: Aṣ-Ṣafā wal-Marwah) are two small hills, connected to the larger Abu Qubais and Qaiqan mountains, respectively,[1] inMecca,Saudi Arabia, now made part ofAl-Masjid al-Haram.Muslims travel back and forth between them seven times in what is known assaʿī (Arabic:سَعِي,lit. 'seeking/searching or walking')[2] ritual pilgrimages ofḤajj andUmrah.
Muslims run between the two mountains, which they believe was made a ritual as a tribute toHajar's search of water for her child dying of thirst until she found a water source in theZamzam Well. The space between the two mountains in which the pilgrims run is calledal-Mas'aa.[1][3]
Safa is a small mountain located at the bottom of the Abu Qubais Mountain, about 130 m (430 ft) southeast of theKa'bah, which is the beginning of the Sa'ee. As for Marwa, it is also a small mountain of white stone, located 300 m (980 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 theMasjid 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.[1] The distance between Safa and Marwa is approximately 450 m (1,480 ft), therefore, seven trips back and forth amount to roughly 3.6 km (2.2 mi).
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 theHejazmountain range, which run parallel to most of the Saudi coast on theRed Sea. The Hejaz themselves are part of the largerSarawat range, which is characterized by young and jagged mountains.[4]
InIslamic tradition, the civilization of Mecca started afterIbrāhīm (Abraham) left his sonIsmāʿīl (Ishmael) and wifeHājar (Hagar) in the valley,[5][6] 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.[3] She thus ran back and forth seven times between Safa and Marwa hoping to find water.[3] 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 AngelJibril (Gabriel) to their aid and a spring of water appeared from the ground. The well was namedZamzam and the journey back and forth Safa and Marwa was made a ritual during Hajj and Umrah.[3] The two mountains are mentioned by name in theQuran 2:158.
The earlyAnsari Muslims gave up the custom ofSa'ee seeing it as idol worship andshirk 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 Bukhari, Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 22/23).[7] In another narration byAbdullah Yusuf Ali in his commentary on Verse 2:158, he argues that the verse had been revealed because the pagans ofQuraysh 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 ofshirk.[8]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 thejahiliyyah 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 idolManat at Qudaid (nearMecca) in the state ofIhram before going about with the rituals of their pilgrimage in pre-Islamic times. Several similar reasons have been given by multiple scholars of Islam, includingal-Suyuti in his Asbab an-Nuzul[9] andGeorge Sale in his Preliminary Discourse to the Quran.[10]
Tom Holland andPatricia Crone, bothrevisionist 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 nearJerusalem. 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 MountMoriah and Safa isMount Scopus. Ellis notes thatJosephus referred to Mount Scopus asSapha (Σάφα), which is phonetically identical toSafa.[11]
Performing theSa'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 anddisabled pilgrims. The walkways between the two mountains are collectively called theMas'aa (Arabic:المسعى,romanized: 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 andrukn of Hajj and Umrah.
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Every year, from the eighth to the twelfth day ofDhu al-Hijjah. | ||
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| Sequence | ||
| Mosques | ||
| Related | ||
Hills andmountains on the Arabian Peninsula | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Note: Mountains are sorted in alphabetical order, unless where it concerns ranges. The highest confirmed mountains in each country are indicated with 'HP', and those with the highest peak are indicated with 'HP', bearing in mind that in the UAE, the highest mountain and the mountain with the highest peak are different.Outcrops are indicated with 'OC', andoutliers with 'OL', andanticlines with 'AC'.Volcanoes are indicated with 'V',volcanic craters with 'VC',lava fields with 'LF', andvolcanic fields with 'VF'. Other notes:
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