Ibrahim (AS)’s life began in what is now known as Iraq, in the Mesopotamian region. After inviting his people and the incident of the fire caused by people not accepting his invitation, Ibrahim (AS) starts migrating in the direction of Palestine. He settles down there at various places; he stopped in what is now known as Nablus and he went further west, and with him were his wife Sara and his nephew Lut (AS). At one point, Ibrahim (AS) goes to Egypt, and that is where the incident of the king who tries to kidnap Sara takes place, and Allah (SWT) helps her, and the king not only lets her go, but he also gifts her with someone who is going to look after her. Now, there are various approaches to this incident, but when we look at what the ahadith are saying, and also what some of the biblical narratives are saying; when we put all of this together, there are indications that Hajar, the one that he handed over to Sara, was not an ordinary person; in fact, some historical narrations mention that she happened to be his daughter, and the king was so overwhelmed by this blessing granted by Allah (SWT) to Sara that every time he tries to approach her and grab her, Allah (SWT) saves her from him, and he became impress and he wanted to not only set her off, but give her something as well, so he gives him his own daughter. Some narrations mention from that perspective that Hajar was, in fact, the daughter of the king; others mention that she was just a person that he gave over.
The reason why this is being mentioned is that some people looked at sayyid Hajar in a derogatory fashion. They tried to undermine her importance, and therefore, undermine the important of Banu Isra’il, that through the tribe of Isra’il came a slave girl, and so they do not have the importance that the progeny of Ishaq (AS) has. This is incorrect. In any case, even if she was a slave or servant, she had been gifted over to Ibrahim (AS) who freed her and married her, so he was in fact the wife of Ibrahim (AS). Allah (SWT) gave her Isma’il (AS) and various circumstances ensued. The result of this was that Ibrahim (AS) was commanded by Allah (SWT) to bring them to the land of Makkah. It was a long, difficult and dangerous journey, and they crossed many regions and landscapes without many supplies and had to endure long periods of hunger and thirst. Finally, when they reached their destination, they saw that it was a place that was devoid of vegetation; no trees, gardens, rivers, streams or wells. It was a completely uninhabited place. The du’a that Ibrahim (AS) made, [“Our Lord, I have settled some of my descendants in an uncultivated valley near your sacred house, our Lord, that they may establish prayer. So make hearts among the people incline toward them and provide from the fruits that they might be grateful.” Surah Ibrahim: 37] “O Allah, I have left part of my progeny here in this valley that has no vegetation, and it is close to your sacred house.” If Ibrahim (AS) made that du’a at the time that he was departing, this would also indicate that Bayt-ul Muharram was already there. Nevertheless, he leaves them there, and sayyid Hajar continues to ask him, “Why are you leaving us here?” Ibrahim (AS) was commanded not to respond and did not have permission from Allah (SWT) to explain the reasoning behind his actions. Yet, when Ibrahim (AS) continued away, sayyid Hajar asked, “Has Allah (SWT) commanded you to do this?” and Ibrahim (AS) nodded yes, to which Hajar responded, “In that case, Allah (SWT) will not put us to waste.” When Allah (SWT) commands someone to do something, she knew that Allah (SWT) does that because he wants to give them something, not because he wants to take something away. Allah (SWT), in his infinite wisdom, never commands his slaves to do something that is ultimately going to hurt or harm them.
Armed with this faith, Hajar assesses her situation; the young Isma’il is now crying out of hunger and thirst, and he is starting to turn about and panic. Hajar tries to use whatever means she had at that time, despite the only means she had was to search around for someone to approach for water. In front of her, there are two hills; the hills of Safa and Marwa. She climbs up Safa and looks around to see if there are any caravans or any sign of human or plant life, to no avail, and she climbs up Marwa and does the same, and repeats this seven times. After doing this seven times, she sees an angel’s presence right where her son is, and he scrapes the ground with his wing, causing water to gush from the ground. Overjoyed, she creates a basin around the water to contain the water, for if she did not, the water would have flowed so much that it would have created a river. In any case, she now has a life source to sustain her and her child, and this water is no ordinary water; like the Prophet (SAW) has told us, this takes the place of a drink, and serves a purpose of quenching our thirst, but it also serves a purpose of satisfying our hunger; this, in fact, is zamzam water, and will fulfill any purpose that you drink it for.
