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Abstract
As the first Islamic sacred city, the health security of drinking water in Mecca has been highly concerned since ancient time. As a unique potable water resource of Mecca, the health security of Bir Zam Zam has aroused the high attention of Muslims and related countries all over the world, which is closely related to the special status generated by the origin of the role in the sa’y ceremony of the hajj. Because of this, Zam Zam water is widely regarded as ‘sacred water’ and appears the phenomenon of religious alienation in its health function. In 2013, Saudi Arabia launched a new Bir Zam Zam project to improve water quality by more scientific and technological means. Relevant tests found that its water quality could meet the potable water standards of the World Health Organisation and the American Public Health Association, but there were also voices of doubt from abroad, and Saudi Arabia also responded to this. With the advent of the post-pandemic era and the resumption of the hajj for Muslims outside Saudi Arabia in 2022, the consumption of Bir Zam Zam by pilgrims and Muslims will rise to high levels, inevitably leading to an upward risk to international health security.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 See Song Niu and Rawya Gamil Metwally, ‘Hajj and Its Impact on International Relations’, Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies 10(4), (2016), p. 50; Song Niu, ‘Virtual Hajj as a Response to Demographic and Geopolitical Pressures’, Contemporary Islam: Dynamics of Muslim Life, (23 January 2023), available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-023-00512-1.
2 See Song Niu and Mindan Xu, ‘Impact of Hajj on Global Health Security’, Journal of Religion & Health 58(1), (2019), p. 289.
3 See G. Bos, Qusṭā Ibn-Lūqā’s Medical Regime for the Pilgrims to Mecca: The Risāla fī tadbīr safar al-ḥajj (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992).
4 Eric Tagliacozzo, The Longest Journey: Southeast Asians and the Pilgrimage to Mecca (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 32.
5 Murat Özyüksel, The Hejaz Railway and the Ottoman Empire: Modernity, Industrialisation and Ottoman Decline (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2014), pp. 225–226.
6 Michael Christopher Low, ‘Ottoman Infrastructures of the Saudi Hydro-State: The Technopolitics of Pilgrimage and Potable Water in the Hijaz’, Comparative Studies in Society and History 57(4), (2015), p. 959.
7 Ibid., p. 959.
8 Ibid., p. 957.
9 Ibid., p. 971.
10 Saudi Hollandi Bank, ‘90 Years of Serving the Kingdom’, available at: http://shb.com.sa/en/about/AboutSHB/History.aspx.
11 F. W. Brecher, ‘Charles R. Crane’s Crusade for the Arabs, 1919-39’, Middle Eastern Studies 24(1), (1988), p. 45.
12 Robert Bianchi, ‘Hajj by Air’, in Eric Tagliacozzo, Shawkat M. Toorawa, eds., The Hajj: Pilgrimage in the Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016), p. 132.
13 Ghazy Abdul Wahed Makky, Mecca: The Pilgrimage City, A Study of Pilgrim Accommodation (London: Croom Helm, 1978), pp. 35–36.
14 Ibid., p. 35, 37.
15 Ibid., p. 38.
16 The first king Ibn Saud.
17 This refers to King Faisal, the fourth son of Ibn Saudi, who reigned from 1964 to 1975.
18 Ibn Saud’s second son, who was in power from 1953 to 1964, was deposed in 1964.
19 Ghazy Abdul Wahed Makky, Mecca: The Pilgrimage City, A Study of Pilgrim Accommodation (London: Croom Helm, 1978), p. 35.
20 Ibid., p. 39.
21 Robert Bianchi, Guests of God: Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 29.
22 Saudi Geological Survey, ‘Zamzam Studies and Research’, available at: https://sgs.gov.sa/en/activities/studies-and-research/zamzam-studies-and-research/.
23 Jonathan Gornall, ‘How Saudi Authorities Overseeing the Holy Zamzam Well Have Moved with the Times’, Arab News, (7 April 2022).
24 Robert Bianchi, Guests of God: Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 39.
25 Ibid., p.42.
26 Saudi Geological Survey, ‘Zamzam Studies and Research’, available at: https://sgs.gov.sa/en/pages/zamzam-studies-and-research.
27 Amira Y. Boshra and Abdalbasit A. Mariod, ‘Composition, Hydrology, and Health Benefits of Zamzam Water’, Bionatura: Latin American Journal of Biotechnology and Life Sciences 6(4), (2021), p.2326.
28 Ibid.
29 A kind of white garment for Muslims.
30 Mingxue Shi, ‘How to Correctly Understand Zam Zam Water’, China Muslim 3, (2013), p. 46.
31 Ahmad Ghabin, ‘The Zamzam Well Ritual in Islam and Its Jerusalem Connection’, in Marshall Breger, Yitzhak Reiter and Leonard Hammer, eds., Sacred Space in Israel and Palestine: Religion and Politics (London: Routledge, 2012), p. 126.
32 Weibin Mu, ‘Bir Zam Zam - Praise for the infinite awe of Allah’, China Muslim 1, (2011), p. 57.
33 Mohammed Francis, ‘Zam Zam-20 Compelling Reasons Why I Won’t Drink Normal Water Again’, Inside Saudi, available at: https://insidesaudi.com/zam-zam-20-compelling-reasons-why-i-wont-drink-normal-water-again/.
34 Basem Shomar, ‘Zamzam Water: Concentration of Trace Elements and Other Characteristics’, Chemosphere 86(6), (2012), pp. 600–605.
35 Nada Hameed, ‘The Well of Zamzam Is a Lasting Miracle’, Arab News, (1 August 2020).
36 Ibid.
37 Ibid.
38 Saudi Geological Survey, ‘Zamzam Studies and Research Centre’, (20 October 2010), available at: https://abdullahsameer.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Zamzam-Studies-and-Research-Centre.pdf.
39 Ibid.
40 ‘NWC Awards $52.2m Zamzam O&M Project’, Saudi Gulf Projects, (28 April 2022), available at: https://www.saudigulfprojects.com/2022/04/nwc-awards-52-2m-zamzam-om-project/.
41 Ibid.
42 Mohammed Francis, ‘Zam Zam-20 Compelling Reasons Why I Won’t Drink Normal Water Again’, Inside Saudi, available at: https://insidesaudi.com/zam-zam-20-compelling-reasons-why-i-wont-drink-normal-water-again/.
43 Ibid.
44 Ibid.
45 Ibid.
46 Ibid.
47 Aya Batrawy, ‘New at Saudi hajj: Bottled Holy Water, Sterilized Pebbles’, ABC News, (8 July 2020).
48 Song Ru, Hongxia Ma, Qinwei Xu, Yuxiang Zhu, Zhen Nie, ‘Bacteriall detection of sacred water carried by hajis at Ningxia Port in 2007-2010’, Chinese Journal of Frontier Health and Quarantine 3, (2011), pp. 155–157.
49 Lingbing Wang, Bing He, Feng Tian, Minjie Zhu, ‘Microbiological detection of ‘sacred water’ brought in by hajis in Xinjiang Port, 2009-2012’, Journal of Preventive Medicine Information 8, (2014), pp. 594–595.
50 Badea Abu Al-Naja, ‘Kingdom Rejects BBC Claim of Zamzam Water Contamination’, Arab News, (8 May 2011).
51 Ibid.
52 Ibid.
53 Arwa Aburawa in Health, ‘Zam Zam Holy Water Is ‘Unsafe for Human Consumption’’, Green Prophet, (6 May 2011), available at: https://www.greenprophet.com/2011/05/holy-water-unsafe/.
54 CBHUK, ‘Zam Zam Water Is Safe’, (12 May 2011), available at: http://cbhuk.org/news/ministry-of-hajj/zam-zam-water-is-safe/.
55 Ibid.
56 Ahmed F. Donia and Wael I. Mortada, ‘Chemical Composition of Zamzam Water: A Comparative Study with International Standards of Drinking Water’, Heliyon 7(1), (2021), p. 1.
57 Ibid.
58 Ibid.
59 Sami S. Ashgar and Hamdi M. Al-Said, ‘Detection of Legionella Pneumophila as the Cause of Atypical Pneumonia in the Water Sources of the Holy Places of Makkah’, African Journal of Microbiology Research 15(8), (2021), pp. 429–432.
60 Ibid.
61 See Marcus King, Water and Conflict in the Middle East (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020).
62 Song Niu and Xueyan Li, ‘Between Religious Obligation and Health Security: Saudi Hajj Governance under COVID-19’, Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies 16(1), (2022), p. 1.