Makkah

Zamzam Well

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Zamzam


the history of this miraculous water goes back some 5,000 years. After the floods of Noah has destroyed the original foundations of the Ka’bah in Makkah set down by the Prophet Adam, Allah (SWT)  commanded the Prophet Ibrahim to take his wife Hajir and his son Isma’il and to leave them in the barren sands and dry heat of the desert. This he dutifully did, and when the water that he had left for them ran out, the thirsty young Isma’il started crying. Hajer began to search frantically for water between Al Safa, (Abi Qubais Mountain) and Al Marwa (Qaiqa'an Mountain). She continued her effort running to and fro until lsma’il (peace be upon him) stamped on the dry ground and Allah sent a fountain of water spurting from the ground beneath his feet Hajer quenched her son son’s thirst and her own.  Bukhari a well known chronicler of the sayings of the Prophet, has narrated from the sayings of Ali Bin Abi Taleb, (peace be upon him) that the Angel Gabriel (peace be upon him). At this moment in time said to Hajer: He said to her: " not be scared of loss, as here in this place is the House of Allah, : this young child and his father will build it and Allah will not forsake his family."


Hajar searched desperately for water between to give to her infant son. As she ran between Safa and Marwah in search of water, her child rubbed his feet against the sand. A pool of water surfaced, and by the grace of Allah, shaped itself into a well that came to be called Zamzam water.


By the grace of Allah, the pool of water come to be known as ‘Zamzam’ and the spring still flows to this day, supplying billions of pilgrims with water in abundance.

Hajar and Isma’il (peace be upon them) remained in isolation for five days on the sixth day,  a tribe known as Bano Jurhum happened to pass their way and, seeing a lonely lady and child sitting beside the spring, they asked permission to settle there. Hajir gladly granted permission to these, the first settlers of Makkah. Subsequently, some people of the Qantor tribe also came to Makkah from Yemen and thus it was that a small township began to develop.

The emergence of water from the Well of Zamzam was very much the event that brought about the growth of habitations around it. As the Angel Gabriel had promised, Allah gave Ibrahim and Isma’il (peace be upon them) the task of rebuilding the Ka’bah on Adam’s foundation. It became place of a religious sanctity visited by Muslim pilgrims from all over the Arab Peninsula. [9, 11].


The miracle of Zamzam water is well worth dwelling upon. The well is also called the well of Isma’il and it is 35 meters deep. It has never dried up; on the contrary, it has always provided a ceaseless supply of water. It has retained the same salt composition and taste ever since it came into existence. Its portability has always been universally recognized with pilgrims from all over the world drinking heartily from it as part of the rites of Hajj and Umrah. Never once has a pilgrim complained about it. Instead, they have always enjoyed its refreshing task. Its health-giving and hearting properties are also recognized, and pilgrims collect it bottles large and small to take back home to their own countries.


The Well of is 100% free of algae and vegetation, and it requires no chemical treatment or chlorination [ 3, 11].

 

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