FRIDAY MAGAZINE
Welcome to the Friday Magazine page, at this page you will find selections from
the Dawn's Friday Magazines.
This page is updated every Monday.
MAKKAH'S WATER OF BENISON
BY MOIN UDDIN AHMED
Come the haj season, and I am reminded of the wonders
of aab-i-Zumzum. Let me go back to how it all
started.
In 1971, an Egyptian doctor wrote to the European Press, a letter saying that aab-i-Zumzum was not fit for drinking purposes. I
immediately thought that this was just a form of prejudice against the Muslims
and that since his statement was based on the assumption that since the Khaan-i-Ka'aba was a shallow place (below sea level) and
located in the center of the city of Makkah, all the
waste water of the city collecting through the drains fell into well holding
the water.
Fortunately, the news came to Shah Faisal's ears who
got extremely angry and decided to disprove the Egyptian doctor's provocative
statement. He immediately ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Water
Resources to investigate and send samples of aab-i-Zumzum
to European laboratories for testing the potability
of the water. The ministry then instructed the Jeddah Power and Desalination
Plants to carry out this task. It was here that I was employed as a desalting
engineer (chemical engineer to produce drinking water from sea water). I was
chosen to carry out this assignment. At this stage, I remember that I had no
idea what the well holding the water looked like.
I went to Makkah and reported to the authorities at
the Khaan-i-Ka'aba explaining my purpose of visit.
They deputed a man to give me whatever help was required. When we reached the
well, it was hard for me to believe that a pool of water, more like a small
pond, about 18 by 14 feet, was the well that supplied millions of gallons of
water every year to hajis ever since it came into
existence at the time of Hazrat Ibrahim,
many, many centuries ago.
I started my investigations and took the dimensions of the well. I asked the
man to show me the depth of the well. First he took a shower and descended into
the water. Then he straightened his body. I saw that the water level came up to
just above his shoulders. His height was around five feet, eight inches.
He then started moving from one corner to the other in the well (standing all
the while since he was not allowed to dip his head into the water) 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.
I thought of another idea. The water could be withdrawn rapidly with the help
of a big transfer pump which was installed at the well for the aab-i-Zumzum storage tanks. In this way, the water level
would drop enabling us to locate the point of entry of the water. Surprisingly,
nothing was observed during the pumping period, but I knew that this was the
only method by which you could find the entrance of the water to the well. So I
decided to repeat the process. But this time I instructed the man to stand
still at one place and carefully observe any unusual thing happening inside the
well. After a while, he suddenly raised his hands and shouted, "Alhamdollillah! 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 I finished my observations I took the samples of the water for European
laboratories to test. Before I left the Khaan-i-Ka'aba,
I asked the authorities about the other wells around Makkah.
I was told that these wells were mostly dry.
When I reached my office in Jeddah I reported my findings to my boss who
listened with great interest but made a very irrational comment that the Zumzum well could be internally connected to the
The results of the water samples tested by the European laboratories and the
one we analyzed in our own laboratory were found to be almost identical. The
difference between aab-i-Zumzum and other water (city
water) was in the quantity of calcium and magnesium salts. The content of these
was slightly higher in aab-i-Zumzum. This may be why
this water refreshes tired hajis, but more
significantly, the water contains fluorides that have an effective germicidal
action. Moreover, the remarks of the European laboratories showed that the
water was fit for drinking. Hence the statement made by the Egyptian doctor was
proved false. When this was reported to Shah Faisal he was extremely pleased
and ordered the contradiction of the report in the European Press.
In a way, it was a blessing that this study was undertaken to show the chemical
composition of the water. In fact, the more you explore, the more wonders
surface and you find yourself believing implicitly in the miracles of this
water that God bestowed as a gift on the faithfuls
coming from far and wide to the desert land for pilgrimage.
Let me sum up some of the features of aab-i-Zumzum.
* This well has never dried up. On the contrary it has always fulfilled the
demand for water.
* It has always maintained the same salt composition and taste ever since it
came into existence.
* Its potability has always been universally
recognized as pilgrims from all over the world visit Khaan-i-Ka'aba
every year for haj and umrah,
but have never complained about it. Instead, they have always enjoyed the water
that refreshes them. Water tastes different at different places. Aab-i-Zumzum's appeal has always been universal.
* This water has never been chemically treated or chlorinated as is the case
with water pumped into the cities.
* Biological growth and vegetation usually takes place in most wells. This
makes the water unpalatable owing to the growth of algae causing taste and odor
problems. But in the case of the aab-i-Zumzum well
there wasn't any sign of biological growth.
Centuries ago, Bibi Hajra
searched desperately for water in the hills of Sufwa
and Murwa to give to her newly-born son Hazrat Ismail. As she ran from
one place to another in search of water, her child rubbed his feet against the
sand. A pool of water surfaced, and by the grace of God, shaped itself into a
well which came to be called aab-i-Zumzum.
DAWN Front page | Magazine page