And We send the fertilizing winds; and send down
water from the sky, and give it to you to drink; and
you are not the ones who store it (The Quran, 15.22).
Have you not seen how God propels the clouds,
then brings them together, then piles them into a
heap, and you see the rain drops emerging from its
midst? How He brings down loads of hail from the
sky, striking with it whomever He wills, and
diverting it from whomever He wills? The flash of
its lightening almost snatches the sight away (The
Quran, 24.43).
God is He who sends the winds. They stir up
clouds. Then He spreads them in the sky as He
wills. And He breaks them apart. Then you see rain
drops issuing from their midst. Then, when He
makes it fall upon whom He wills of His servants,
behold, they rejoice (The Quran, 30.48).
It is He who sends the wind ahead of His mercy.
Then, when they have gathered up heavy clouds,
we drive them to a dead land, where We make
water come down, and with it We bring out all
kinds of fruits. Thus, we bring out the dead—
perhaps you will reflect (The Quran, 7.57).
He sends down water from the sky, and riverbeds
flow according to their capacity. The current carries swelling froth. And from what they heat in fire
of ornaments or utensils comes a similar froth.
Thus, God exemplifies truth and falsehood. As for
the froth, it is swept away, but what benefits the
people remains in the ground. Thus, God presents
the analogies (The Quran, 13.17).
And it is He who sends the winds, bringing
advance news of His mercy, and We send down
from the sky pure water. To revive dead lands
thereby, and to provide drink for the multitude of
animals and humans We created (The Quran,
25.48–49).
God is He who sends the winds, which agitate
clouds, which We drive to a dead land, and thereby
revive the ground after it had died. Likewise, is the
Resurrection (The Quran, 35.9).
And in the alternation of night and day, and in the
sustenance, God sends down from the sky, with
which He revives the earth after its death, and in
the circulation of the winds, are marvels for people
who reason (The Quran, 45.5).
And We brought down from the sky blessed water,
and produced with it gardens and grain to harvest.
And the soaring palm trees, with clustered dates
(The Quran, 50.9–10).
No, we are being deprived.” Have you seen the
water you drink? Is it you who sent it down from
the clouds, or are We the Sender? If We will, we
can make it salty. Will you not be thankful? (The
Quran, 56.67–70).
In Islam, rainwater is revered as a blessing
from God, a sign of mercy, a reviver of the earth,
a source of freshwater. If we look into these
verses of the Quran, it provides an abundance of
knowledge on the water cycle and underground
water which was not known to the people in the
earlier times.
11.3.4 Water in Pilgrimage Rituals
The importance of water and its relevance can be
seen in one of the most important rituals of Hajj
and Umrah Sai, which is performed in the Hajj
and Umrah. The ritual commemorates the
struggle of Hajar (wife of Prophet Abraham) and
his son Ishmael. God commanded Prophet
Abraham to leave his wife and son in the valley
of Becca (now Mecca, Saudi Arabia), as a test of
his faith in Allah. Following the command of
God, he left them in this inhabited valley, with
no source of food and water. As soon as the
saved water and food ran out, his wife was
unable to feed her baby. So, she went alone
looking for help and ran back and forth between
the two hills—Safa and Marwa. Ahmad (2015,
pp. 8–9), with the assistance of hadith of Sahih
Bukhari, states “Ibn Abbas (May Allah be
pleased with him) narrates the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as saying:
This is the source of the tradition of the
walking of people between them (i.e., Safa and
Marwa). When she reached the Marwa (for the
last time) she heard a voice and she asked herself
to be quiet and listened attentively. She heard the
voice again and said, ‘O, (whoever you may be)!
You have made me hear your voice; have you
got something to help me? And behold! She saw
an angel at the place of Zam-Zam, digging the
earth with his heel (or his wing), till water flowed
from that place. She started to make something
like a basin around it, using her hand in this way,
and started filling her water-skin with water with
her hands, and the water was flowing out after
she had scooped some of it.”
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R. S. Singh and S. Ahmad
water from the sky, and give it to you to drink; and
you are not the ones who store it (The Quran, 15.22).
Have you not seen how God propels the clouds,
then brings them together, then piles them into a
heap, and you see the rain drops emerging from its
midst? How He brings down loads of hail from the
sky, striking with it whomever He wills, and
diverting it from whomever He wills? The flash of
its lightening almost snatches the sight away (The
Quran, 24.43).
God is He who sends the winds. They stir up
clouds. Then He spreads them in the sky as He
wills. And He breaks them apart. Then you see rain
drops issuing from their midst. Then, when He
makes it fall upon whom He wills of His servants,
behold, they rejoice (The Quran, 30.48).
It is He who sends the wind ahead of His mercy.
Then, when they have gathered up heavy clouds,
we drive them to a dead land, where We make
water come down, and with it We bring out all
kinds of fruits. Thus, we bring out the dead—
perhaps you will reflect (The Quran, 7.57).
He sends down water from the sky, and riverbeds
flow according to their capacity. The current carries swelling froth. And from what they heat in fire
of ornaments or utensils comes a similar froth.
Thus, God exemplifies truth and falsehood. As for
the froth, it is swept away, but what benefits the
people remains in the ground. Thus, God presents
the analogies (The Quran, 13.17).
And it is He who sends the winds, bringing
advance news of His mercy, and We send down
from the sky pure water. To revive dead lands
thereby, and to provide drink for the multitude of
animals and humans We created (The Quran,
25.48–49).
God is He who sends the winds, which agitate
clouds, which We drive to a dead land, and thereby
revive the ground after it had died. Likewise, is the
Resurrection (The Quran, 35.9).
And in the alternation of night and day, and in the
sustenance, God sends down from the sky, with
which He revives the earth after its death, and in
the circulation of the winds, are marvels for people
who reason (The Quran, 45.5).
And We brought down from the sky blessed water,
and produced with it gardens and grain to harvest.
And the soaring palm trees, with clustered dates
(The Quran, 50.9–10).
No, we are being deprived.” Have you seen the
water you drink? Is it you who sent it down from
the clouds, or are We the Sender? If We will, we
can make it salty. Will you not be thankful? (The
Quran, 56.67–70).
In Islam, rainwater is revered as a blessing
from God, a sign of mercy, a reviver of the earth,
a source of freshwater. If we look into these
verses of the Quran, it provides an abundance of
knowledge on the water cycle and underground
water which was not known to the people in the
earlier times.
11.3.4 Water in Pilgrimage Rituals
The importance of water and its relevance can be
seen in one of the most important rituals of Hajj
and Umrah Sai, which is performed in the Hajj
and Umrah. The ritual commemorates the
struggle of Hajar (wife of Prophet Abraham) and
his son Ishmael. God commanded Prophet
Abraham to leave his wife and son in the valley
of Becca (now Mecca, Saudi Arabia), as a test of
his faith in Allah. Following the command of
God, he left them in this inhabited valley, with
no source of food and water. As soon as the
saved water and food ran out, his wife was
unable to feed her baby. So, she went alone
looking for help and ran back and forth between
the two hills—Safa and Marwa. Ahmad (2015,
pp. 8–9), with the assistance of hadith of Sahih
Bukhari, states “Ibn Abbas (May Allah be
pleased with him) narrates the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as saying:
This is the source of the tradition of the
walking of people between them (i.e., Safa and
Marwa). When she reached the Marwa (for the
last time) she heard a voice and she asked herself
to be quiet and listened attentively. She heard the
voice again and said, ‘O, (whoever you may be)!
You have made me hear your voice; have you
got something to help me? And behold! She saw
an angel at the place of Zam-Zam, digging the
earth with his heel (or his wing), till water flowed
from that place. She started to make something
like a basin around it, using her hand in this way,
and started filling her water-skin with water with
her hands, and the water was flowing out after
she had scooped some of it.”
152
R. S. Singh and S. Ahmad