A miracle is defined as an extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore attributed to a divine agency.
Sometimes amazing and wonderful events are described as miracles. When two South African couples’ babies were recently born in the Holy city of Makkah, people smiled and said “Amazing”. And while a woman giving birth is miraculous in itself, despite knowing the science and biology behind it, South Africans being born – prematurely – in the land of our beloved Prophet Muhammad, SallAllahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, is a blessing that can only be seen as a double miracle.
But during the blessed month of Dhul Hijjah many miracles take place and sometimes it’s only in hindsight that it dawns on us. For example sitting in Masjid an Nabawi and out of nowhere taking in the sweetest scent as though someone just passed by you or performing tawaaf in scorching temperatures and suddenly being refreshed by the coolest breeze.
Then there’s the recollection of an eighty year old lady in her wheelchair at the Rhoda Mubarak hearing a voice whisper to her to come closer to pay her salutation to Muhammad, SallAllahu Alaihi Wa Sallam.
Habiba Sujee says her sister was making dua in the Haram when a stranger walked up to her, “And this stranger just told her ‘read this dua for conceiving’, my sister just went cold. How did this lady know what dua she was making, Allah swt is the greatest! Shukr, my sister has a little boy now.”
Something for future pilgrims to look out for is an observation made by Waseem Sirkhot. “You wear ihraam for three days. Mina. Arafat. Muzdalifah. Sleep on the road etc. Your ihraam is full of dust, turns brown even, yet when you shower after Qurbani [there’s] not a speck of dust [that] comes off your body. The water is as clean as it came out from the tap.”
Asiaah Essop was performing her Umrah when she travelled for Hajj when a woman, dressed only in white, signed to her guide that she was to perform her tawaaf alongside Essop. “He asked my permission and I agreed. She held onto me the entire time and smiled. Never spoke once. Once we performed the tawaaf she just disappeared. No one saw her leave and no one saw her come. I wonder?” commented Essop.
Others say miracles occurred in the acceptance of even the smallest momentary wish and dua. “[The] entire trip is a miracle,” says Fatima Gaffar, “Feeling Allah SWT’s power n presence every step of the way. Walking to Arafat and suddenly [I] feel like eating strawberries! A few meters away a small stand selling the hugest juiciest strawberries!”
She says wishing she had carried a water bottle while climbing Jabl Noor one hot morning she came across a freezer halfway up the mountain selling ice cold drinks. “Allah hears the silent prayer in my heart even when I want little things that don’t matter, like strawberries! So Allah will definitely answer that which I fervently pray for. Faith and patience in Ar Rahmaan Ar Raheem.”
Once a Sudanese woman was reported to have regained her eyesight while praying in Masjid an Nabawi. She had lost her eyesight seven years ago .
“I made sincere supplications inside the Prophet’s Mosque asking Allah to bless me with my eyesight. In a miraculous moment of providence I started to see light. I turned left and right and could see the mosque very clearly. I went delirious with happiness when I saw my son who was accompanying me,” said Fatima Al-Mahi to the Saudi Gazette.
In 2010 a Somali man who had lost his ability to hear and speak after a bomb explosion in his country regained his hearing while in Makkah during his pilgrimage. After completing his tawaaf and drinking Zamzam water, the man was reported to have heard the azaan after returning from the bathrooms outside the Haram.
The well of Zamzam is the oldest well in the world. Scientifically Zamzam water is proven to be free from viruses or bacteria. The sacred water’s healing qualities has also been proven.
According to the hadeeth of Abu Dharr RA, Muhammad, SallAllahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, said of Zamzam, “It is a blessing, and it is food that satisfies.” Al-Tayaalisi added, in a version that he narrated, “and a cure for the sick,” as proven in the hadeeth of Abu Dharr al-Ghifaari RA who stayed in Makkah for a month without any nourishment except Zamzam water and still gained weight.
Another hadith states that Ibn al-Mubaarak entered Zamzam and said, “O Allaah, Ibn al-Mu’ammal told me, from Abu’l-Zubayr from Jaabir that the Messenger of Allah, SallAllahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, said: ‘The water of Zamzam is for whatever purpose it is drunk for,’ so, O Allaah, I am drinking it (to quench) my thirst on the Day of Resurrection.”
Muhammad, SallAllahu Alaihi Wa Sallam’s blessed heart was removed by two angels when he was a child and washed in Zamzam water. Al-Haafiz al-‘Iraaqi RA said: “The reason why the Prophet’s chest was washed with Zamzam water was to make him stronger so that he could see the kingdom of heaven and earth, and Paradise and Hell, because one of the special qualities of Zamzam is that it strengthens the heart and calms the soul.
This is proven in the hadeeth of Abu Dharr RA, who reported that Muhammad, SallAllahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, said: “My roof was opened when I was in Makkah, and Jibraeel (AS) came down and opened my chest, then he washed it with Zamzam water. Then he brought a gold basin full of wisdom and faith, poured it into my chest, and closed it up again. Then he took me by the hand and ascended with me into the first heaven.”
[Al-Bukhaari, 3/429]
It is sunnah to drink one’s fill of Zamzam water and to quench one’s thirst.
☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆