Safa and Marwa () are two small hills, connected to the larger Abu Qubais and Qaiqan mountains, respectively, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, now made part of the Masjid al-Haram. Muslims travel back and forth between them seven times in what is known as Sa'ee () ritual pilgrimages of Ḥajj and Umrah. Muslims run between the two mountains (called Sa'ee), which they believe was made a ritual as a tribute to Hajar's search for water in the area when she ran out of provisions after Ibrahim left her in the valley upon Allah's command. The space between the two mountains in which the pilgrims run is called al-Mas'aa. Geography Safa is a small mountain located at the bottom of the Abu Qubais Mountain, about 130 meters (430 ft) southeast of the Ka'bah, which is the beginning of the Sa'ee. As for Marwa, it is also a small mountain of white stone, located 300 meters (980 ft) to the northeast of the Ka'bah and it is connected to Qaiqan Mountain, marking the end of the Sa'ee. Safa, Marwah and the Masa'a (space between the two mountains) were located outside the Masjid al-Haram and were separate until the year 1955/56 (1375 AH), when the project to annex the two sites into the Masjid al-Haram was undertaken for the first time, and they were subsequently annexed. The distance between Safa and Marwa is approximately , therefore, seven trips back and forth amount to roughly . History Geological perspective The individual geological history of the two mountains is relatively unknown. Marwa has been described as smoother and lighter in color than Safa, with some even calling it white, such as Majd ad-Din Ferozabadi, az-Zubaidi, al-Fayoumi. al-Alusi further went on to say that Safa's color was comparable to a tint of red. Safa and Marwa are a part of the Hejaz mountain range, which run parallel to most of the Saudi coast on the Red Sea. The Hejaz themselves are part of the larger Sarawat range, which is characterized by young and jagged mountains. Islamic narrative In Islamic tradition, the civilization of Mecca started after Ibrāhīm (Abraham) left his son Ismāʿīl (Ishmael) and wife Hājar (Hagar) in the valley, which Muslims believe was a command by God. When their provisions were exhausted, Hajar eventually ran out of food and water and could no longer breastfeed Ismail. She thus ran back and forth seven times between Safa