How did Safa and Marwah become among the rituals of God when they were once places of paganism and idols, and were the pagans who embraced Islam surprised by that?

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was sent to affirm the Oneness of God. He upheld the truth that the Arab polytheists inherited from the religion of Abraham, peace be upon him, such as circumambulating the Kaaba and performing Sa'i between Safa and Marwa. He eradicated the falsehoods they had added. The presence of idols around the Kaaba or Safa and Marwa did not prevent circumambulation; rather, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, removed them when he gained the ability to do so. The Companions were not surprised by the command to circumambulate between them; they hastened to obey the commands of the Sharia. The verse regarding Safa and Marwa was revealed to resolve the hesitation of some of the Ansar who used to invoke Manat before Islam, and some Companions who thought that circumambulating between them was no longer permissible after the revelation of the verse concerning circumambulating the Kaaba.