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Zamzam

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Created: 2006-10-07 00:15:16

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The Well of Zamzam (or the Zamzam Well, or just Zamzam is a well located within the Masjid al Haram in Mecca, near the Kaaba, the holiest place in Islam.
History
Muslims believe that the well was revealed to Hagar, handmaiden to Sarah, Abrahams wife, and the mother of Abrahams son Ishmael. (Abraham is known as Ibrahim to Muslims.) She was desperately seeking water for her infant son, but could find none. Mecca is located in a hot dry valley with few other sources of water. Muslim traditions say that Hagar ran seven times back and forth in the scorching heat between the two hills of Safa and Marwa, looking for water. God then sent the angel Gabriel, who scraped the ground, causing the spring to appear. On finding the spring, Hagar confined the pool of water with sand and stones. Other versions of the story say Ishmael scraped the ground with his heel and the ZamZam appeared.
The grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Abdul Muttalib, is said to have rediscovered the well after it had been neglected and had filled with sand. He became the guardian of the well, charged with maintaining it and serving the Arabs who came to Mecca on pilgrimage (as was done even in pre-Islamic times).
Academic historians doubt these stories, but do believe that the well might well have been important to the pre-Islamic inhabitants of Mecca, and perhaps one of the reasons that Mecca had become a pilgrimage site and trading center.
Technical information
Zamzam well is 30 meters deep. Depth to water is 3.23 meters. There are some springs contributing to the well at approximately 13 meters below surface.
A pumping test at 8000 liters/second for more than a 24 hour period showed a drop in water level from 3.23 meters below surface to 12.72 meters and then to 13.39 meters, after which the water level stopped to recede. Water level recovered to 3.9 meters below surface just 11 minutes after pumping had stopped. The aquifer feeding the well seems to recharge from rock fractures in neighboring mountains around Mecca.
Zamzam today
The story of Hagar and the divine origin of the Zamzam well is commemorated in the Islamic rites of pilgrimage, the Umrah and the Hajj. Like Hagar, pilgrims run between the hills of Safa and Marwa seven times.
Many Muslims believe that the water of the Zamzam well is divinely blessed (it is believed to satisfy both hunger and thirst, and cure illness) and make every effort to drink of this water during their pilgrimage. The water is served to the public through coolers stationed throughout the Masjid al Haram in Mecca and the Masjid al Nabawi in Medina. Pilgrims also fill water canisters from special taps, to take home as gifts for relatives and friends, and some of them also dip their pilgrimage clothes, ihram, in the water. The ihram are then preserved to serve as burial clothes when the pilgrim dies; thus he or she will go to the grave touched by the Zamzam water.
As the Muslim population of the world has grown, and air travel has made the Hajj more accessible to them, the Hajj is increasingly crowded. There can be up to four million pilgrims performing the Hajj. There is increasing concern that the Zamzam Well may not be able to provide enough water to satisfy all demands. The Saudi Geological Survey has set up a Zamzam Studies and Research Centre, which is charged with keeping the Zamzam water both hygienic and plentiful.
There have been some attempts to scientifically validate Muslim beliefs regarding the special nature of Zamzam water. The water is said to contain high levels of some minerals: calcium, magnesium, and fluoride.
Commercial sale of Zamzam water

In Europe, Zamzam water is frequently encountered in bottles like as these
The Saudi government, which controls the Hijaz and Mecca, has prohibited the commercial export of Zamzam water from the kingdom. However, there is a strong commercial demand for Zamzam water and Zamzam water can be found on sale in many countries. There is some evidence that most, if not all, of this water is mislabeled. UK environmental agencies have tested purported Zamzam water on sale in the UK, and found high arsenic levels in much of it. The water is not only fraudulent, but dangerous to health. Trade in fake Zamzam water is said to be spreading.
Pilgrims who go to Makkah to perform Hajj usually carry home water from the ZamZam well for distribution among friends and relations. Its the well that provides the water which billions of people have thirstily drunk throughout history especially during the Hajj pilgrimage.
The ZamZam is located in Makkah, which is the heart of the Hajj pilgrimage. Standing only a few metres east of the Kaaba, the well is 35 meters deep and topped by an elegant dome.
The history of ZamZam is very interesting. For a thousands of years, the water of ZamZam continued to flow, and millions of people throughout the history of Islam have drunk it ferventively. When Prophet Ibrahim left his wife Hajira and his son Ismail at the Kaaba, he made his famous supplication: "O Our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in a valley without cultivation, by the Sacred house: In order, O our Lord that they may establish regular prayer.
So fill the hearts of some among men with love towards them, and feed them with fruits; so that they may give thanks" - Quran 14:37.
Allah accepted his Dua after Hajira had a hard time locating water in the neighbourhood of the safa and the Marwa. Water poured from under the feet of the child Ismail. Hajira tried not to lose the water by making a circle of mud around it. The appearance of the ZamZam began the settlement of the Makkah valley, where the descendants of Ismail populated the area.
One of the miracles of ZamZam water is its ability to satisfy both thirst and hunger. One of the Companions of the Prophet said that before Islam, the water was called shabbaaah or satisfying. It was filling and helped them nourish their families. More recently, in the last few decades, samples of ZamZam water have been collected by scientists and they have found certain peculiarities that make the water healthier, like a higher level of calcium.
Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) said it has healing effects. This is why pilgrims to Makkah to this day collect it in bottles, to bring back for relatives and friends back home who are ill.
It is also reported also that the Prophet rubbed the gums of his two grandchildren - Hassan and Hussain - with dates and ZamZam. It was also reported that the Prophet used to carry the water of ZamZam in pitchers and water skins back to Madinnah.
He used to sprinkle it over the sick and make them drink it.
In some Hadith, it has been reported that the water of ZamZam has healing effects. In one Hadith it is said: Narrated by Jabir that the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) said: "Water of ZamZam is good for whatever purpose it has been drunk. In another Hadith the Prophet said "Water of ZamZam is a healer of every disease. Muslims throughout the world do believe that the water is blessed and accordingly it is considered as one of the best gift to be offered.
Four senior experts of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission have found the water of ZamZam well to be scientifically superior to tap or solar pump water. The experts have analysed and tested samples of water from ZamZam and from tap and solar pumps.
It was found that the ZamZam water has a curative effect.
Alkaline in nature, the ZamZam water can neutralise excess hydrochloric acid formed in the stomach and reduces heartburn.
Iodide, sulphate and nitrate contents are also much higher in the ZamZam water. Supply of iodide through ZamZam may sufficiently fulfil the requirement of iodide for the thyroid organ of a body. The research was carried out jointly by M. A. Khan, A. K. M. Sheriff, K. M. Idris and M. Alamgir.
It was revealed that contents of macro-nutrients like magnesium, sodium and potassium were manifold higher in ZamZam water than in tap and solar pump water.
The scientists said all the data indicated that ZamZam water had much more nutritive values than ordinary underground water.
The hardness of ZamZam water is four times that of tap and solar pump water but it is within the acceptable limit set by the WHO, the researchers found.

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