Zamzam Well
21.422539.826444444444Koordinaten: 21 ° 25 ' 21 " N, 39 ° 49' 35" E
Zamzam (Arabic زمزم ), occasionally Zemzem, is the name of a fountain in the courtyard of the Great Mosque in Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The water of the fountain an origin in paradise is said and thus healing effect.
Role in the religious life of Muslims
Pilgrims drink Zamzam water on site as part of the pilgrimage ritual and bring small amounts back home. Typically, each pilgrim 10-20 liters of Zamzam water. Commercial trade with the genuine Zamzam water and also the commercial export thereof is prohibited under Saudi law. Yet in many Islamic countries and in the Diaspora, a demand for the water that is partially satisfied by profiteers by fakes. In Mecca itself a trade during the ʿ Umrah and Hajj is operated with the water. Here, however, the largest price component must be attributed to the acquisition of robust and disinfected containers, which must make the pilgrimage separately in the terminals of the King Abdul Aziz airport Weld into appropriate plastic bags if they want to spend it abroad.
According to the Islamic tradition is the source ( the first son of Abraham ) let God arise for Hagar and her son Ismail, when they were dying of thirst in the desert near. Exhausted and anxious to be Hagar ran between the hills of Safa and Marwa back and forth to find some water. After the seventh round they saw the water at the feet of her son's gushing. As a result of the new source, people settled in the valley otherwise arid what should have represented the beginning of the city of Mecca. In memory of this search and effort still run the pilgrims during the Hajj pilgrimage seven times between the two hills - which today are located inside the Grand Mosque - back and forth (Arabic Sa ʿ y).
Promotion and purification of water
The water is slightly alkaline and is similar in mineral composition to sea water, but the salt concentrations are lower. Today, the water is pumped from the well by means of electric pumps (instead of earlier with ropes and buckets). The water quality is monitored and ensured by filtration and UV disinfection. In order to meet the increased demand during the pilgrimage, water is temporarily stored in large tanks. The sufficient complement of the source horizon by precipitation is target different cities - such as hydraulic engineering measures in the catchment area.
Zamzam is contrary to other cleaning methods not with chlorine, but with UV irradiation kept sterile in order to prevent infection or epidemic risk. For the maintenance and cleaning of dispensers in Mecca employees are responsible in overalls who were assigned to the royal family for the largest construction company in the country that are Saudi Binladin Group, works.
History
According to Islamic tradition, it was ʿ Abd al - Muttalib ibn Hashim, the grandfather of the Prophet Mohammed, who dug up the Zamzam after they had been forgotten over time due to a vision again. He dug out the treasures that Mudād ibn ʿ Amr had once buried there. To the distribution was decided by Lospfeilen, where ʿ Abd al - Muttalib and the Kaaba won against the Quraysh. To determine the portion of Zamzam they wanted to pull an outside arbitrator to rate, on the way there came the two parties but in water shortages until the camel of ʿ Abd al - Muttalib had encountered a source. This stood looking to the Quraish him Zamzam as God's providence.
With the Zamzam the Office of the impregnation of the pilgrims was connected ( siqāya ). This was after the death of ʿ Abd al - Muttalib first at Abu Taalib about, but sold it that after he was impoverished, to repay a debt to his half-brother al - ʿ Abbās. Al- Azraqi reported, citing senior authorities that al- ʿ Abbās had forbidden to use the spring water for cleaning the body. Henceforth it was to be used only for drinking and ablution. After his death, the source and siqāya - office remained in the hands of his descendants, the Abbasid.
At the time of ʿ Abd Allāh ibn ʿ Abbās the Zamzam standing outdoors and was surrounded by two basins. One of them was located between the well and the corner of the Kaaba and served the impregnation of the pilgrims, the other stood behind the fountain and served ablution. From the latter, the wastewater was passed through an underground channel from the mosque courtyard. Those who drew water from the well, it poured alternately from hoses in the one and the other pool.
After coming to power in the middle of the 8th century, the Abbasids, the Zamzam well attended and built him out gradually. Al- Mansur was boarding the fountain with marble slabs and provided with a wooden lattice.