But it is a far-fetched interpretation.

But it is a far-fetched interpretation. In fact, at-taw' is opposite of al-kurh (dislike), and is not irreconcilable with obligatory deeds. Allah says: so He said to it (i.e., the heaven) and to the earth: "Come both, willingly or unwillingly" (41:11) The characteristic meaning of the paradigm at-tafa' 'ul is to take to oneself, for example, tamayyaza (he took on distinguishing), ta'allama (= he took on learning); in the same way tatawwa'a means, he took on doing good willingly.

In short, at-tatawwu' is not reserved, from the linguistic point of view, for voluntary, non-obligatory good deed - unless credit is given to the usage of the common people. QUR'AN: Surely the Safa and the Marwah are among the signs of Allah... to go round them both: The two hills are marked by the signs of Allah; they lead accordingly to Him and remind one of Him.

They have been especially counted "among the signs of Allah'' to the exclusion of other things; it shows that the word, "the signs" has not been used here in the sense in which every created thing is a sign of the Creator. They are the Divine Signs because Allah'' has made them so, by appointing them as the places of His worship; thus they remind one of Allah'' the Creator. They are the signs for which Allah'' has prescribed especial rites of worship.

Then comes the next sentence: "so whoever makes a pilgrimage to the House or performs 'umrah thereof, there is no blame on him to go round them both. The word "so" in the beginning shows that it is an offshoot of the preceding sentence. Its import is to show that walking quickly between these two hills is a part of the Islamic shari'ah - it does not imply that the said walking is voluntary or non-obligatory.

If Allah'' had wanted to declare its voluntariness, it would have been more appropriate to praise and extol as-sa'y, rather than saying that there was no blame in it. The gist of the meaning is that - because the Safa and the Marwah were among the places of the worship of Allah'' - it would do you no harm to worship Him therein. And it is the language of legislation.

If Allah'' had wanted to show only its desirability, He would have said that, because the two hills were among the signs of Allah'' He likes you to go round them. Frequently, when the Qur'an wants to ordain an obligatory law, it uses such expressions which by themselves do not show obligatoriness.