Is it permissible to perform sa'i before طواف during حج or عمرہ?

The question of performing sa'i before طواف is one of the issues where scholars have significant differences of opinion. The majority of scholars — the Maliki, Shafi'i, and the well-known Hanbali position — hold that طواف must precede sa'i, and sa'i performed before طواف is invalid and must be repeated after performing طواف. Their evidence is that نبی کریم (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) performed طواف before sa'i in all his حجs, and he said: 'Take your rites from me,' establishing that his order is to be followed.

The Hanafi school takes a different position, holding that while performing طواف before sa'i is the Sunnah and preferred order, sa'i performed before طواف is valid, though it is contrary to the مستحب practice. This is based on the hadith narrated on the Day of Sacrifice when a man came to نبی کریم and said: 'I performed sa'i before طواف,' and نبی کریم replied: 'No harm' (la haraja), indicating that the order is not a strict condition.

Sheikh Ibn Taymiyyah supported the view that the order between طواف and sa'i is مستحب but not واجب, citing the hadith about نبی کریم's response on the Day of Sacrifice. Ibn Uthaymeen, while generally following the majority position, acknowledged that the hadith provides evidence for flexibility. He مستحب following the established order (طواف then sa'i) as the safe and clear practice, while acknowledging that some scholars validate the reversed order based on the explicit hadith.