RIYADH, January 2, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – The cool, refreshing and blessed water of Zamzam welcomes the sea of pilgrims flocking to Saudi Arabia for hajj, quenching both their spiritual and corporeal thirst.
"We launched a three-pronged plan this hajj to provide Zamzam water to the pilgrims through 950 workers in Makkah and Al-Madinah," Abdullah Al-Deweri, the deputy head of the Zamzam United Office, told IslamOnline.net on Monday, January 2.
He said plastic 300mm bottles of Zamzam water are being distributed in abundance among the faithful as they enter Makkah.
"We also offer the blessed water to the pilgrims in their buses through copper-made cups decorated with Islamic calligraphy and paintings," he added.
"We further knock on the doors of the pilgrims and give each a liter of Zamzam on a daily basis.
Deweri said as the pilgrims finish with the hajj rites and start packing, everyone of them will get a 5.1-liter plastic container of Zamzam water.
The Zamzam United Office is expected to distribute up to four million cubic liters among the pilgrims this hajj, which climaxes on January 9 when the faithful ascend the Mount `Arafat.
Hajj consists of several ceremonies, which are meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.
Every able-bodied adult Muslim who can financially afford the trip must perform hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, once in their lifetime.
Mosques
The Zamzam United Office is expected to distribute up to four million cubic liters among the pilgrims this hajj.
The government body supervising the affairs of the two holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah undertakes the mammoth task.
"We have set up more than 8,000 container across Al-Masjid Al-Haram," Efian Bin Mohammad, the chief of the Zamzam Department in the mosque, told IOL.
"All in all there are 935 taps providing pure and cold Zamzam water round the clock," he said, adding that three million cups of water would be distributed daily.
"The Prophet’s Mosque is further provided with an average of 664,000 cubic liters of Zamzam water every day," said the official.
The pilgrims are expected to drink more than 1,641 cubic liters of water everyday.
The 35-meter-deep Zamzam well is located in Makkah, standing only a few meters east of the holy Ka`bah.
God created the well to provide Hajir, the wife of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), and her baby Prophet Ismail (peace be upon him) with water in the hot, dry valley they were in.
In her desperate search for water, Hajir ran seven times back and forth in the scorching heat between the two hills of Safa and Marwa to provide for her baby who was dying of thirst.
Today, this same act is a necessary rite of hajj all Muslims must complete.
God saw her effort and miraculously blessed the spot with a water spring.
Zamzam water's health benefits are commended.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said it was a healing from sickness. This is why pilgrims to this day collect it in bottles to take back home for relatives and friends.
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