The ruling for the prescribed distance for sa'y
Question
We are confused about the boundaries of as-Safa and al-Marwa. Some of us assumed that the end of the railing erected for the track for wheelchair patients and which runs the length of as-Safa and al-Marwa signifies the end of the boundary for sa'y. Therefore, when one of us would reach that point, he would turn around and start the next round thinking that he had completed the obligatory length of the round. Please take into account that the railing ends at the point of ascension of the hill before one reaches the boulders at the base of the hill. Is the ascending part that is paved with marble before the hill considered its beginning, such that if one reaches the end of the above mentioned railing in all the rounds, he would have spanned the distance between as-Safa and al-Marwa that is necessary for sa'y?
Answer
The obligation of sa'y is met by spanning the entire distance between as-Safa and al-Marwa signified by the end of the railing at the beginning of the ascension point of the hill; this is the beginning for both as-Safa and al-Marwa. Imam Al-Sindi, the Hanafi scholar, verified that spanning the entire distance is obligatory in the Hanafi School of jurisprudence. Neglecting to span the entire distance does not nullify sa'y but obligates slaughtering in compensation.