Is sa'y in 'Umrah or Hajj a pillar or an obligatory act? What is the criterion for distinguishing between a pillar and an obligatory act? Is tawaf al-ifadhah a pillar or an obligatory act?

Al-Huwaini: Is sa'y in Hajj or 'Umrah a pillar or an obligatory act?

The Shaykh: In Hajj?!
Al-Hawini: Is the questioner asking about 'Umrah?

The Shaykh: About 'Umrah?! Repeat the question for me.
Al-Hawini: The questioner?

The questioner: About 'Umrah.
Al-Hawini: About 'Umrah?

The Shaykh: Sa'y in 'Umrah?

The questioner: Is it an obligatory act or a pillar?

The Shaykh: No, it is a pillar of the completion of tawaf.
Al-Hawini: And what is the criterion for distinguishing between a pillar and an obligatory act? Part of this has already been mentioned, but if we were to isolate it for a specific answer.

The Shaykh: We do not have, meaning, anything clear regarding some of the pillars except for the consensus (ijma') reported by many scholars. We previously mentioned the hadith: to the end of the hadith; this is evidence of its status as a pillar. And as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . However, there are some pillars, such as tawaf al-ifadhah, on which the scholars agreed that it is a pillar and that Hajj is not valid without it. Personally, I do not know of any explicit evidence for its status as a pillar other than what the scholars report regarding their consensus that tawaf al-ifadhah is a pillar of Hajj.