Zamzam Water: Allah’s Gift to Believers

By Tariq Hussain and Moin Uddin Ahmad

    Come the Hajj season, and I am reminded of the wonders of Zamzam water. Let me go back to how it all started. In 1971, an Egyptian doctor wrote to the European Press, a letter saying that Zamzam water 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 Ka'aba was a shallow place (below sea level) and located in the centre of the city of Makkah, all the wastewater of the city collecting through the drains fell into well holding the water.

Fortunately, the news came to late Saudi King 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 Zamzam water 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 desalinating engineer. 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 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 (pilgrims) ever since it came into existence at the time of Ibrahim (SAWS), many many centuries ago.