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

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

The Shaykh : Hajj?
Al-Huwaini: The person who wrote the question is asking about 'Umrah?

The Shaykh : 'Umrah? Repeat the question for me.
Al-Huwaini: The person who asked this question is asking about sa'y?

The questioner : In 'Umrah.

The Shaykh : Sa'y in 'Umrah.

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

The Shaykh : Yes, it is a pillar of the completion of tawaf.
Al-Huwaini: And what is the criterion for distinguishing between a pillar and an obligatory act? We have already touched on part of this, but if we were to isolate it for a moment.

The Shaykh : We do not have 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, as well as his (peace be upon him) saying: . However, there are some pillars, such as the tawaf of ifadah, 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 the tawaf of ifadah is a pillar of Hajj.