the well that has been gushing for centuries

Muslim Views . July 201720

SALIM PARKERZAM-ZAM never dries up, andits nourishing water’s continuousflow seems to be more thanenough even if millions of pilgrims are in Makkah and seekits miraculous sustenance on adaily basis during the peak Hajjseason.

This is accepted by every Mus-lim. Yet, there was a time whenthe well was not visible and not inuse at all. Allah decreed that for atime, despite the immense wealthand trade fame that Makkah wasrenowned for, it would be de-prived of the blessings of Zam-zam.

The exact time that this oc-curred is not well established butwhat is known is that the grandfa-ther of Nabi Muhammad (SAW)was instrumental in the rediscov-ery of the well, which is situated amere twenty metres away from theKa’bah.

After Allah blessed Hajar andIsmail (AS) with the gushing wa-ters of Zam-zam in the barrendesert that is now Makkah, a car-avan that was passing by the val-ley noticed birds hovering aroundthe water, which was never present

before, so they requested Hajar’spermission to camp near thewater. This marked the beginningof Makkah.

The tribe of Jurhum establishedthemselves there and, after NabiIbrahim (AS) with the help of hisson Nabi Ismail (AS) built theKa’bah, became the custodians ofit.

At a remote, undetermined timein the Jahiliyya, the period of ig-norance, Jurhum began to violatethe sanctity of Makkah.

They committed major sacri-leges by worshipping idols andwere finally driven out ofMakkah. Some report that the Ju-rhum tribe members buried theZam-zam well.

It is reported that they alsoburied pieces of armour and otherobjects there.

Other tribes occupied Makkahand used water from other wells.The city was along importanttrade routes and flourished duringthis time. Zam-zam was fondly re-membered by believers but thereare no reports of anyone actuallytrying to recover it, and it gradu-ally faded from the memories ofthe idol worshippers.

Some time later, Shaybah, theson of Hashim, a prominentQuraishi businessman of Makkah,was born in Madinah. WhenHashim was on his deathbed, heasked his brother Muttalib tofetch Shaybah and the latter be-came known as Abdul Muttalib.

He became a respected man inMakkah and was to become thegrandfather of Muhammad(SAW).

The Quraish were involved inproviding water and provisionsfor the pilgrims who came toMakkah and Abdul Muttalib (RA)was very involved in that respect.

It was his dream one nightwhen he was sleeping in the vicin-ity of the Ka’bah that led to the re-discovery of the nourishing watersof Zam-zam.

As he was sleeping, he dreamtthat someone walked towards himand while standing next to himquietly whispered: ‘Dig for Zam-zam.’ The dream seemed so realthat Abdul Muttalib woke up andimmediately started looking forthe owner of the voice but he soonrealised that he was all alone. Itwas completely silent all aroundhim. He tossed and turned whenhe went back to sleep, trying tomake sense of the words.

The next morning, Abdul Mut-talib told his friends about hisdream and to his surprise, theyurged him to go back to sleep sothat he could get more clarity fromthe strange voice.

They knew of the existence ofthe well of Zam-zam and anyonewho rediscovered it would indeedbecome famous and be wealthy inevery sense of the word.

That night he went to sleep,hoping to hear more.

Indeed, as soon as Abdul Mut-talib fell asleep, the soft-spokenvisitor returned. ‘Dig for Zam-zam,’ the voice said again.

This time, there was some moreinformation given. ‘If you dig itup, you will not regret it. It is yourheritage from your forefather. Itwill never run low or dry up, andit will provide ample water for thepilgrims,’ the voice added.

‘Where is it?’ Abdul Muttalibasked in his sleep.

‘By the anthill, where the crowpecks the ground tomorrow,’ thesoft voice replied. The dream thenfaded away and Abdul Muttalibsettled into a deeper sleep and onlywoke up at dawn.

The next morning, Abdul Mut-talib considered his dream. Heknew from the oral traditions ofhis ancestors that the well wasclose to the Ka’bah. He sum-moned his son, Al-Harith, to ac-company him and together, eachcarrying a shovel, they decided toscout the area around the Ka’bah.

When they reached there, theirattention was immediately drawnto an anthill. Then, seemingly hav-ing waited for their arrival, agleaming crow fluttered down be-tween two of the idols placedaround the Ka’bah. It then startedpecking at the ground.

Abdul Muttalib knew then thathis dreams were due to divine in-spiration and he started to dig.Some of their fellow citizensstarted objecting to the digging asit was a site where sacrifices weremade to their idols but Abu Mut-talib instructed Al-Harith to pro-tect him while he dug. Morepeople assembled around them.

After a while, Abdul Muttalibsaw some old bricks that indicatedthe mouth of a well. Great excite-ment ensued and soon, nearly halfof Makkah was around them.

Not long after that, AbdulMuttalib’s dream came true and avast crowd witnessed him redis-covering the well when the sweetwaters of Zam-zam started flow-ing again.

The well that has been gushing for centuries

‘It is your heritage from your forefather. It will never run low or dry up, and it will provide ample water for the pilgrims,’ were the words that urged Abdul Muttalib (RA)to search for the long buried Zam-zam well. Today, centuries later, this is the welcome sight for pilgrims in Madinah and Makkah – containers bearing refreshing Zam-zam. Photo SUPPLIED

For a period of time, the Zam-zam wellwas buried and forgotten until theProphet’s (SAW) grandfather, AbuMuttalib (RA), dug it up after beingtold to do so in a dream. Today, all pilgrims to Makkah and Madinah areprivileged to access the sacred waterfrom containers or taps in and aroundthe two Harams. The writer’s son,Yaseen, who is currently on Umrah, ispictured quenching his thirst withsome refreshing Zam-zam.

Photo SUPPLIED