We are in the 21st century, when the advancement of science has carved a niche, shaping one’s thought and determining the course of life. On the path of discovery and rediscovery, science happens to be getting compatible to the Qur’ān, a book revealed over 1400 years ago in the desert of Arabia, on an unlettered prophet.
Scientists and researchers, through their experiments and research, come across evidences certifying the divine origin of the Qur’ān. Here I invite a layman who can have direct experience with the miracle of Allah, whenever he wishes.
I am talking about Zamzam water.
Zamzam is the name of a famous well in al-Masjid al-Haraam [the Sacred Mosque in Makkah], which is 38 cubits away from Ka’bah. It is the well from which Allah quenched the thirst of Ismael, the son of Ibraheem (peace and blessings of Allah be to them both) when he was an infant.
According to Arab historians, the well has been in use for 4000 years. It makes the site of a spring that miraculously has issued forth from a barren and desolate non-perennial stream where the prophet Abraham, under God’s command, had left his wife Hagar and infant son Ismael in the desperate search for water.
There is nothing ordinary about it. The miracle of how it came to being in the middle of a desert, its consistency throughout thousands of years, the beneficial qualities it has, the fact that it never dries up. This water is special.
Sodium and Potassium are manifold higher in Zamzam water than in tap and solar pump water. Zamzam water has an effect of removing toxins from the body thus making it helpful in speeding the process of curing cancer, food poisoning, burns, arthritis, eczema, thyroid dysfunction, mental confusion, high cholesterol, hypertension, SLE, haemorrhoids and generalised fatigue. Zamzam water has a vitality that no other water has. It is a healer in every disease.
The water of Zamzam has also been medically and chemically proven to contain elements that are beneficial for the stomach, liver, intestines and kidneys.
Alkaline in nature, the Zamzam water can neutralise excess Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) found in the stomach and reduces heartburn. Iodide, Sulphate, Nitrate contents are much higher in Zamzam water. It was revealed that it has contents of macro-nutrients like magnesium.
Zamzam water has scientifically been proven to contain healing qualities due to its higher content of Calcium and Magnesium Salts and also natural fluorides that encompass a germicidal action.
The best water on the face of the earth is the Zamzam water. This is the water which heals. Ibn ‘Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “The best water on the face of the earth is the water of Zamzam. It contains food to satisfy hunger and a cure for illnesses. The worst water on the face of the earth is the water at Wadi Barhut in Hadramawt, which is like locusts in comparison with other pests. It gushes in the morning and is dry by the evening.” (At-Tabarani)
It is also an established scientific fact that pools or water wells tend to grow vegetation such as algae – especially in warm climates. Amazingly this is not the case in the well of Zamzam. It has remained free from biological contaminations.
The fact is, this small and only ‘5 ft deep well’ is far away from any other source or body of water. It is self replenishing. It is constantly replenishing itself in order to produce gallons upon gallons of water for the consumption of thirsty pilgrims plus the additional amount that is bottled up and also the amount that is taken as gifts and distributed worldwide to millions.
Recently I came across a valuable article in The Muslim World League Journal, Vol. 35, July 2007, regarding Zamzam water. Engineer Muinuddin Ahmad, the author of the article, has explained his first hand experience with research work regarding Zamzam in the capacity of a desalting engineer (chemical engineer to produce drinking water from seawater). I am presenting his story here in a nutshell, which is worth knowing.
In 1971, an Egyptian doctor wrote a letter to the European Press, saying that Zamzam water was not fit for drinking purposes. His statement was based on the assumption that since Ka’bah was a shallow place (bellow sea level) and located in the centre of the city of Makkah, the wastewater of the city collecting through the drains fell into the well holding the water.
The then king, King Faisal got extremely angry over this, ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources to investigate and send samples of Zamzam water to European laboratories for testing the potability of the water.
The ministry then instructed the Jeddah Power and Desalination Plant to carry out this task. It was here that Mr. Ahmad, the author, was employed as desalting engineer, who was chosen to carry out this assignment.
Mr. Ahmad writes that it was hard to believe that a pool of water, more like a small pond, about 18 by 14 feet (5.5 by 4.3 metres), was the well that supplied millions of gallons of water every year to Hajj pilgrims ever since it came into existence at the time of Prophet Ibraheem, many centuries ago.
The investigation started. Mr. Ahmad asked the man escorting him to descend into the well for the purpose. After taking a shower, the man descended and moved from one corner to the other in the well in search of any inlet or pipeline inside the well to see from where the water came in. However, the man reported that he could not find any inlet or pipeline inside the well.
Mr. Ahmad thought of another idea. The water could be withdrawn rapidly with the help of a big transfer pump that was installed at the well for the Zamzam water storage tanks. In this way, the water level would drop, enabling one to locate the point of entry of the water. Surprisingly, nothing was observed during the pumping period. The process was repeated with an instruction to the man to stand still at one place and carefully observe any unusual thing happening inside the well. After a while, the man inside the well suddenly raised his hands and shouted:
“Alhamdulillah! I have found it. The sand is dancing beneath my feet as the water oozes out of the bed of the well.”
Then he moved around the well during the pumping period and noticed the same phenomenon everywhere in the well. Actually the flow of water into the well through the bed was equal at every point, thus keeping the level of the water steady.
After Mr. Ahmad finished his observations, he took the samples of the water for European laboratories to test. Before he left Ka’bah, he asked the authorities about the wells around Makkah. He was told that those wells were mostly dry.
The results of the water samples tested by the European laboratories and the one analysed in Jeddah laboratory were found to be almost identical. Finally, the remarks of Jeddah and European laboratory not only showed that Zamzam was fit for drinking, but also revealed its rich properties. Hence the statement made by the Egyptian doctor was proved false. Extremely happy over this report, King Faisal ordered the contradiction of the report in the European press.
Mr. Ahmad says, “In fact, the more you explore, the more wonders surface and you find yourself believing implicitly in the miracles of this water that Allah bestowed as a gift on the faithful coming from far and wide to the desert land for the pilgrimage.”
[ASIF MOAZZAM JAMAI is Lecturer in King Khalid University, Abha, KSA]