The Prophet of Islam performed just one Hajj during the period of his prophetic mission. This Hajj of the Prophet is known as his Farewell Pilgrimage. He performed it a few months before his death, in the year AD 632.
A detailed account of the Farewell Pilgrimage has been given in teachings of the Prophet. We are told how, after circumambulating the House of God in Makkah, he performed Sa’i, which consisted of running seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah. He commenced the Sa’i from the hill of Safa, saying as he did so: “Safa and Marwah are among the symbols set up by God.’ (2: 158) I am starting where God started.”
In this verse of the Quran mentioning Safa and Marwah, Safa comes first and Marwa second. The Prophet considered it natural to start his Sa’i at Safa, and then proceed to Marwa, because that was the sequence mentioned in the Quran.
Islam is based on simple realities of life. It puts aside intellectual polemics and analogical intricacies. There is nothing artificial or forced about Islam.
This apparently trivial incident contains great significance, for it shows Islam’s preference for simplicity. For the Prophet to have commenced his Sa’i from Marwah would have put people to unnecessary inconvenience. They would have had to keep two sequences in mind—that in the Quran and the one followed during the rites of pilgrimage—instead of just one. So, the Prophet adopted the same sequence in pilgrimage as had been followed in the Quran, thus saving people the trouble of remembering two different orders.
Simplicity is a factor essential to the spirit of Islam. We can see it in every aspect of Islamic teachings. Islam is absolutely free of perplexing complications and unwarranted formalities. Emphasis has been laid on the spirit of worship; the form which worship takes has been given secondary importance.
A distinction has been drawn between fundamentals on the one hand, and subordinate matters on the other. Fundamental importance has been attached to the basics, with subordinate issues occupying a subordinate position in the Islamic structure. Islam is based on simple realities of life. It puts aside intellectual polemics and analogical intricacies. There is nothing artificial or forced about Islam. It is an absolutely natural event, as simple as adopting air and water.
