What Is Saee In Umrah

Saee is one of the important rites of Hajj and Umrah. It refers to the ritual of walking back and forth seven times between the two small hills of Safa and Marwa, located adjacent to the Kaabah in Masjid al-Haram.

 Definition of Saee

The word saee is derived from the Arabic verb Sa'a (Arabic: سعى) which means "to walk to strive or to pursue". Technically it's mean is to walk between Safa and Marwah in a particular manner a total of seven times.

History of Saee

Safa and Marwa are the two Holy Hills located in Mecca. The Memories of sacred Safa and Marwa Hills belong to Bibi Hajra and Prophet Ismail (A.S). Prophet Ibrahim (A.S) was directed by Allah to leave his wife Bibi Hajra and child Hazrat Ismail (A.S) in the desert of Arab close Safa and Marwah. Ibrahim (A.S) is the Prophet of Allah and He must fulfil the orders of His Lord. So He left His wife and child in the desert alone with a pitcher of water.

When the pitcher of water ended infant Ismail (A.S) was crying for water then her mother bibi Hajra complete seven rounds between the Safa and Marwah for the seeking of water and at a certain place from where She couldn’t able to see Her son Ismail (A.S), She ran fast.

After returning to check on his son's condition, he saw the water of fountain flow from beneath Ishmael's heel. They quenched their thirst with water. And to stop this water fountain, she said Zam Zam because the word Zam-zam means to stay or to stop. Since then this well is known as Zam Zam. It is located in Masjid al-Haram.

Significance of Sa’i

Allah says in the Quran:

Indeed, Safa and Marwa are among the symbols of Allah. So whoever makes Hajj to the House or performs Umrah – there is no blame upon him for walking between them. And whoever volunteers good – then indeed, Allah is appreciative and Knowing.

Providing commentary on this verse, Ibn Kathir (RA) writes:

Whoever performs Saee between Safa and Marwah should remember his meekness, humbleness and need for God to guide his heart, lead his affairs to success and forgive his sins. He should also want God to eliminate his shortcomings and errors and to guide him to the straight path. He should ask God to keep him firm on this path until he meets death and to change his situation from that of sin and errors to that of perfection and being forgiven, the same providence which was provided to Hajara.

 How to perform Sa’i

Sa'i is a part of Umrah, immediately after the tawaf, it is Sunnah to perform sa'i. Before performing Sai, make sure you are fully prepared for it because you need a lot of energy to perform this ritual.

There is no condition for wudoo 'for Sa'i, though. But performing rituals with Wudhu is Sunnah. The Sa’i will be valid even if it carried out in a state of minor or major ritual impurity. Therefore, women in a state of menstruation or post-natal bleeding can perform it.