The short answer
Zamzam water comes from a well beside the Kaaba in Makkah. Sahih al-Bukhari 3364, graded sahih, tells how the well began, and the Saudi Geological Survey describes the groundwater that feeds it today. The report that the water is for whatever it is drunk for is graded differently.
What is Zamzam water, and where does it come from?
The Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) places the well in the sanctuary at Makkah, beside the Kaaba. Its Zamzam platform describes a hand-dug well in the Wadi Ibrahim deposits and the surrounding rock, between 1.27 and 2.66 metres across and up to 30.50 metres deep 4.
On the same page, rain falling on the Wadi Ibrahim basin partly seeps into an unconfined aquifer and travels through soil pores and rock fractures, and part of it reaches the well 4. This page uses the SGS for the well and the water only, not for the religious story or for health.
What is the story of Zamzam?
Sahih al-Bukhari 3364 (graded sahih) tells the story. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates it and marks a few sentences as the words of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The events below follow the wording and add nothing to it.
- Left at the House. Ibrahim, peace be upon him, brings the mother of Ismail, peace be upon him, and her nursing son to the House and leaves them with dates and a water-skin. She asks whether Allah ordered this. He says yes, and she says, "Then He will not waste us." 1
- The water runs out. With the skin empty and the child thirsty, she goes up Safa, sees no one, comes down, runs through the valley like an exhausted person to Marwah, and looks again. In the narration she does this seven times 1. Ibn Abbas adds that the Prophet said: "That is the people's sa'i between them." The Umrah page covers sa'i as a rite; this page gives no ruling on it.
- A voice, and an angel. Near Marwah she hears a voice and says: "You have made me hear; if you have any help..." Then she finds the angel at the place of Zamzam. He digs with his heel, or, the narrator says, his wing, until water appears. 1
- The water, and the promise. She makes a basin around the water and scoops it into her skin as it wells up. Ibn Abbas adds that the Prophet said: may Allah have mercy on the mother of Ismail; had she left Zamzam alone, or not scooped from the water, it would have been a flowing spring. The angel tells her not to fear being lost: this is the House of Allah, which the boy and his father will build, and Allah does not waste His people. 1
- Jurhum. A company, or a household, from Jurhum camps in lower Makkah. They see a bird circling and say it must be over water, for they know of none in the valley. A runner or two finds it, and the company comes. They ask her leave to stay; she says yes, but they will have no right to the water, and they agree. Ibn Abbas adds that the Prophet said this found the mother of Ismail while she loved company. They settle there. 1
The Arabic of the moment the water appears:
فَإِذَا هِيَ بِالْمَلَكِ، عِنْدَ مَوْضِعِ زَمْزَمَ، فَبَحَثَ بِعَقِبِهِ ـ أَوْ قَالَ بِجَنَاحِهِ ـ حَتَّى ظَهَرَ الْمَاءُ
Fa-idhā hiya bi-l-malak, ʿinda mawḍiʿi Zamzam, fa-baḥatha bi-ʿaqibihi, aw qāla bi-janāḥihi, ḥattā ẓahara l-mā'.
Meaning (our rendering): Then, behold, she found the angel at the place of Zamzam. He dug with his heel, or he said with his wing, until the water appeared.
1AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 3364
The SGS page gives its own short account, which says the water burst from beneath the feet of Ismail 5. That is not in the Bukhari wording, which has an angel digging with a heel or a wing. This page follows Bukhari for the story.
Does the narration name Hajar or the angel?
Neither is named in the Bukhari wording, which says "the mother of Ismail" and "the angel". Ibn Hajar names her as Hajar, may Allah be pleased with her, in his commentary on the opening of the narration. He also reports narrations from Ibrahim ibn Nafi' and Ibn Jurayj in which the one who struck the ground is Jibril, peace be upon him, and says the Ibrahim ibn Nafi' wording makes it the heel 6.
Where does the Quran give context?
In the narration, Ibrahim says the prayer given in Surah Ibrahim 14:37 as he leaves, up to "they give thanks" 1. The verse itself does not name Zamzam or tell the story of the well:
رَّبَّنَآ إِنِّىٓ أَسْكَنتُ مِن ذُرِّيَّتِى بِوَادٍ غَيْرِ ذِى زَرْعٍ عِندَ بَيْتِكَ ٱلْمُحَرَّمِ رَبَّنَا لِيُقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ فَٱجْعَلْ أَفْـِٔدَةً مِّنَ ٱلنَّاسِ تَهْوِىٓ إِلَيْهِمْ وَٱرْزُقْهُم مِّنَ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَشْكُرُونَ
Al-Baqarah 2:158 names Safa and Marwah among the indications of Allah. The seven journeys come from the narration, not from the verse:
۞ إِنَّ ٱلصَّفَا وَٱلْمَرْوَةَ مِن شَعَآئِرِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ فَمَنْ حَجَّ ٱلْبَيْتَ أَوِ ٱعْتَمَرَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِ أَن يَطَّوَّفَ بِهِمَا ۚ وَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَاكِرٌ عَلِيمٌ
The rest of that verse speaks about pilgrimage and Umrah, which this page does not rule on. For the works' account of Umrah, see How to perform Umrah. 9
What does the name Zamzam mean?
Some write it as two words, Zam Zam. Ibn Hajar, in Fath al-Bari, gives more than one explanation of the name 7:
- Abundance: it was named for its plentiful water.
- Gathering: it was named for its gathering.
- The heel's stamp on the ground, which he reports from Mujahid, with a sound chain at al-Fakihi.
- Movement: it was named for its movement, which he attributes to al-Harbi.
- Measure: it was bound by measure so that it would not flow to the right and the left.
These are attributed explanations. This page does not choose one as the origin of the name.
What do the hadith say about the benefits of Zamzam water?
Sahih Muslim 2473a (graded sahih) is Abu Dharr's long account of how he came to Islam. Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him, says that in Makkah he stayed thirty nights or days with no food but Zamzam water, grew fat, and felt no pang of hunger. The Prophet then said of the water:
إِنَّهَا مُبَارَكَةٌ إِنَّهَا طَعَامُ طُعْمٍ
Innahā mubārakah, innahā ṭaʿāmu ṭuʿm.
Meaning (our rendering): It is blessed; it is food that nourishes.
2AuthenticSahih Muslim 2473a
That is Abu Dharr's own account of his stay. The report gives no instruction to drink it in place of food, no amount, no dose and no cure.
Ibn Hajar says that al-Tayalisi's version of this report, on the route Muslim used, adds the words "and a healing for illness" 7. Those words are not in the Sahih Muslim text read for this page, and this page does not grade them or build on them.
This is not health advice
This page reports what the sources say and makes no medical claim. If you are unwell or have a health concern, please speak to your GP or pharmacist.
Is the report that Zamzam water is for whatever it is drunk for authentic?
Sunan Ibn Majah 3062 has Jabir ibn Abd Allah, may Allah be pleased with him, saying he heard the Prophet say it. Graders differ on it, so its label here is graded differently.
مَاءُ زَمْزَمَ لِمَا شُرِبَ لَهُ
Mā'u Zamzama limā shuriba lahu.
Meaning (our rendering): The water of Zamzam is for whatever it is drunk for.
3Graded differently Sunan Ibn Majah 3062
| Group | Number of entries | Number of scholars named |
|---|---|---|
| Accepting: sahih, hasan, good, or hasan through other support | 33 | 12 |
| Weak: the report or its chain | 11 | 7 |
| Remarks: about a narrator or who relates it alone, with no verdict | 22 | 17 |
This is our count of the entries dorar.net showed on 26 October 2026, not a full census or a vote that settles the report. Entries are listed against the wording and may concern different routes of it. The commentary Fath al-Bari ties al-Dimyati's remark that a chain is on the pattern of the Sahih to a different route, through Suwayd ibn Said, and several of the entries counted as accepting are his. His own comments in al-Matjar al-Rabih, printed pages 432 and 433 of the 1414 AH edition, call the short Jabir chain hasan and a second route good, and say the first is better; these are one scholar's remarks, not two graders. The publisher of the sunnah.com text also grades it hasan. The Sources list names every scholar. Remarks are not counted as verdicts; 15 of them name one narrator in the chain, Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'ammal.
Ibn Hajar, in Fath al-Bari, calls the Jabir report the more famous of two Zamzam reports. He says its men are trustworthy except Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'ammal, whom al-Uqayli said was alone in it, though it also came from others at al-Bayhaqi 7.
The report gives no fixed dua, repetition count, dose, deadline, or promise that a wish or illness will be met. Longer versions that add promises of healing, fullness or refuge are separate reports with their own gradings, and this page does not use them.
What dua can be said when drinking Zamzam water?
Ibn Qudamah (Hanbali), in al-Mughni, says it is recommended to come to Zamzam, drink from its water for whatever one loves, and drink to the full. He then says that one says, when drinking 8:
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ، اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْهُ لَنَا عِلْمًا نَافِعًا، وَرِزْقًا وَاسِعًا، وَرِيًّا وَشِبَعًا، وَشِفَاءً مِنْ كُلِّ دَاءٍ، وَاغْسِلْ بِهِ قَلْبِي، وَامْلَأْهُ مِنْ حِكْمَتِك
Bismillāh. Allāhumma ijʿalhu lanā ʿilman nāfiʿan, wa rizqan wāsiʿan, wa rayyan wa shibaʿan, wa shifā'an min kulli dā', waghsil bihi qalbī, wamla'hu min ḥikmatik.
Meaning (our rendering): In the name of Allah. O Allah, make it for us beneficial knowledge, wide provision, quenched thirst and fullness, and healing from every illness; wash my heart with it and fill it with Your wisdom.
These are Ibn Qudamah's words. He gives them without a chain and does not say that the Prophet or a companion said them, and this page has not graded them as a hadith. The request for healing is a request to Allah, not a medical claim, and no result is promised. Other wordings and other schools' works were not read for this page; for your own practice, ask a scholar you trust.
Does the well hold an unchanged store of ancient water?
The SGS calls Zamzam water renewable and affected by rainy and dry seasons. It says the well may be old, going back to the time of Ismail, but that this is not the age of the water. It adds that historical books and narrations record the well drying up in the past 5.
That is a statement about a water system, not about the narration.
I had always known Zamzam as water brought back from a trip, with little said about where the story came from. Reading what the reports say, and where they stop, helped me see what belongs to the report and what belongs to retelling.
Try it: match the claim to its source
Three checks, each with its source.
1Does Sahih al-Bukhari 3364 name the angel who dug at Zamzam?
Answer: No, it says only "the angel". The wording says "the angel", with heel or wing as the narrator's doubt. Fath al-Bari reports other narrations that name Jibril. Source 1
2Does the text of Sahih Muslim 2473a read for this page contain the words "a healing for illness"?
Answer: No. It has "blessed" and "food that nourishes". Fath al-Bari says another version adds the healing words, which this page does not grade. Source 2
3Whose words is the drinking dua shown on this page?
Answer: The wording given in al-Mughni, a Hanbali work. Al-Mughni, a Hanbali work, gives it without a chain, so this page presents it as that work's wording and not as a hadith. Source 8
Questions people ask
How do I drink Zamzam water?
This page gives no method. Al-Mughni, a Hanbali work, says it is recommended to drink from Zamzam to the full, and it reports an account from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, on how to drink, recorded by Ibn Majah, which this page has not graded. For the manners of drinking, ask a scholar you trust.
Sources
Every claim on this page comes from one of these. Gradings are reported with the scholar's name; we do not grade hadith ourselves.
- 1
Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates how Ibrahim, peace be upon him, left the mother of Ismail, peace be upon him, and her nursing son at the House; how, with the water gone, she went between Safa and Marwah seven times; how an angel dug at the place of Zamzam with his heel or, the narrator says, his wing, and water appeared; and how a company of Jurhum later settled there with her leave.
Sahih al-Bukhari 3364 Book 60, Hadith 38
Authentic: in Sahih al-Bukhari
- 2
Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him, says that during his first stay in Makkah he had no food for thirty nights and days but the water of Zamzam, grew fat and felt no pang of hunger, and that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, told him it is blessed and is food that nourishes.
Sahih Muslim 2473a Book 44, Hadith 189
Authentic: in Sahih Muslim
- 3
Jabir ibn Abd Allah, may Allah be pleased with him, says he heard the Messenger of Allah say: 'The water of Zamzam is for whatever it is drunk for.' Graded differently.
Sunan Ibn Majah 3062 Book 25, Hadith 181
Graded differently. Here is who graded it which way:
- SoundDarussalam, Ibn Uthaymin, Al-Dimyati, Ibn al-Mulaqqin, Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Al-Mundhiri, Ibn al-Qayyim, Al-Albani, Al-Zarkashi, Al-Ajluni, Kamal ibn al-Humam, Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut, Muhammad Jar Allah al-Sa'di
- Weak chain, strengthenedAl-Albani, Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut, Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani
- WeakIbn Baz, Ibn al-Qattan, Ibn al-Qaysarani, Al-Sakhawi, Al-Shawkani, Al-Iraqi, Al-Nawawi
- Other remarksIbn al-Qaysarani, Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Siddiq Hasan Khan, Ibn al-Turkmani, Al-Mu'allimi, Ibn al-Mulaqqin, Ibn Hibban, Ibn Kathir, Al-Dhahabi, Al-Shawkani, Al-Diya al-Maqdisi, Al-Tabarani, Al-'Uqayli, Jamal al-Din al-Mardawi, Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut, Yusuf al-Maqdisi, Zayn al-Din al-Munawi
See each grading in full, with its wording and where it was given
Scholars disagree about this hadith. Here is how each graded it, so you can follow the scholar you trust.
- Hasan (hasan): Darussalam, as shown on sunnah.com
- ضعيف (weak): Ibn Baz, فتاوى نور على الدرب لابن باز 352/34 (as listed on dorar.net)
- إسناده حسن (its chain is hasan): Ibn Uthaymin, فتاوى نور على الدرب لابن عثيمين 2/460 (as listed on dorar.net)
- حسن (hasan): Ibn Uthaymin, لقاء الباب المفتوح 4/ 93 (as listed on dorar.net)
- حسن (hasan): Ibn Uthaymin, لقاء الباب المفتوح 10/ 197 (as listed on dorar.net)
- حسن (hasan): Ibn Uthaymin, مجموع فتاوى ابن عثيمين 220/23 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [صحيح] (sahih , bracketed in the source): Al-Dimyati, النكت على كتاب ابن الصلاح 1 / 273 (as listed on dorar.net)
- صحيح (sahih): Ibn al-Mulaqqin, شرح البخاري لابن الملقن 11/454 (as listed on dorar.net)
- في إسناده ضعف، وله شاهد (there is weakness in its chain, and it has a witness): Ibn Baz, مجموع فتاوى ابن باز 28/10 (as listed on dorar.net)
- حسن (hasan): Ibn Uthaymin, الشرح الممتع 7/347 (as listed on dorar.net)
- إسناده حسن (its chain is hasan): Ibn Uthaymin, مجموع فتاوى ابن عثيمين 217/23 (as listed on dorar.net)
- حسن (hasan): Ibn Uthaymin, مجموع فتاوى ابن عثيمين 219/23 (as listed on dorar.net)
- فيه عبد الله بن المؤمل المخزومي هو منكر الحديث لا يتابع عليه (about a narrator: Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'ammal is munkar al-hadith and has no corroboration): Ibn al-Qaysarani, معرفة التذكرة 195 (as listed on dorar.net)
- في سنده ضعف (there is weakness in its chain): Ibn Baz, فتاوى نور على الدرب لابن باز 17/298 (as listed on dorar.net)
- له علتان (it has two defects , no grade word): Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, ماء زمزم 21 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [حسن] (hasan , bracketed in the source): Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, رحلة الصديق إلى البلد العتيق 125 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [صحيح] (sahih , bracketed in the source): Al-Mundhiri, رحلة الصديق إلى البلد العتيق 125 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [فيه] عبد الله بن المؤمل ضعيف (about a narrator: Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'ammal is weak): Siddiq Hasan Khan, رحلة الصديق إلى البلد العتيق 125 (as listed on dorar.net)
- قال البيهقي: تفرد به عبد الله بن مؤمل. قلت: لم ينفرد به بل تابعه إبراهيم بن طهمان عن أبي الزبير (disputes that Ibn al-Mu'ammal was alone: Ibrahim ibn Tahman followed him): Ibn al-Turkmani, الجوهر النقي 5/148 (as listed on dorar.net)
- ضعيف عند أهل العلم (weak according to the people of knowledge): Ibn Baz, مجموع الشروح الفقهية. 239/16 (as listed on dorar.net)
- جاء من طرق وكلها لا تخلو من ضعف، لكن يشهد له بالمعنى: إنها مباركة، إنها طعام طعم، وشفاء سقم (it came by routes none free of weakness, with a witness in meaning): Ibn Baz, مجموع الشروح الفقهية. 251/9 (as listed on dorar.net)
- في إسناده عبد الله بن المؤمل، وهو ضعيف الحديث (about a narrator: Ibn al-Mu'ammal is weak in hadith): Al-Mu'allimi, الفوائد المجموعة 112 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [ إسناده ضعيف ] (its chain is weak): Ibn al-Qattan, الوهم والإيهام 3/477 (as listed on dorar.net)
- غير محفوظ (not preserved , ghayr mahfuz): Ibn al-Qaysarani, ذخيرة الحفاظ 4/2072 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [فيه] عبد الله بن المؤمل المخزومي منكر الحديث ولم يتابع عليه (about a narrator: Ibn al-Mu'ammal is munkar al-hadith): Ibn al-Qaysarani, تذكرة الحفاظ 287 (as listed on dorar.net)
- حسن (hasan): Ibn al-Qayyim, زاد المعاد 4/360 (as listed on dorar.net)
- مشهور (famous , mashhur, no grade word): Ibn al-Mulaqqin, البدر المنير 6/299 (as listed on dorar.net)
- صحيح أو حسن [كما اشترط على نفسه في المقدمة] (sahih or hasan [by the condition he set himself in the introduction]): Ibn al-Mulaqqin, تحفة المحتاج 2/188 (as listed on dorar.net)
- لم يتابع عليه عبد الله بن المؤمل[وهو] قليل الحديث منكر الرواية لا يجوز الاحتجاج بخبره إذا انفرد لأنه لم يتبين عندنا عدالته (about a narrator: Ibn al-Mu'ammal, whose report cannot be used as proof when he is alone): Ibn Hibban, المجروحين 1/522 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [فيه] سويد بن سعيد ضعيف (about a narrator: Suwayd ibn Said is weak): Ibn Kathir, البداية والنهاية 2/230 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [فيه] عبد الله بن المؤمل وقد تكلموا فيه (about a narrator: they spoke about Ibn al-Mu'ammal): Ibn Kathir, البداية والنهاية 2/229 (as listed on dorar.net)
- حسن لغيره (hasan li-ghayrihi , hasan through other support): Al-Albani, صحيح الترغيب 1165 (as listed on dorar.net)
- صحيح (sahih): Al-Albani, صحيح ابن ماجه 2502 (as listed on dorar.net)
- حسن لغيره (hasan li-ghayrihi , hasan through other support): Al-Albani, إرواء الغليل 4/322 (as listed on dorar.net)
- صحيح (sahih): Al-Albani, إرواء الغليل 1123 (as listed on dorar.net)
- صحيح (sahih): Al-Albani, مناسك الحج والعمرة 24 (as listed on dorar.net)
- إسناده حسن (its chain is hasan): Al-Dimyati, المتجر الرابح 159 (as listed on dorar.net; not checked against the scan)
- حسن [وورد أيضاً] بإسناد جيد (hasan, and it also came with a good chain): Al-Dimyati, المتجر الرابح 159 (as listed on dorar.net; not checked against the scan)
- فيه ابن المؤمل ضعيف (about a narrator: Ibn al-Mu'ammal is weak): Al-Dhahabi, المهذب في اختصار السنن 4/1899 (as listed on dorar.net)
- فرد منكر، ما أتى به سوى سويد (about another route of this wording, through Suwayd ibn Said: a lone, rejected report , fard munkar, only Suwayd brought it): Al-Dhahabi, سير أعلام النبلاء 8/393 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [فيه] عبد الله بن مؤمل ضعفوه (about a narrator: Ibn al-Mu'ammal, they weakened him): Al-Dhahabi, ميزان الاعتدال 2/510 (as listed on dorar.net)
- إسناده جيد (its chain is good , jayyid): Al-Zarkashi, اللآلئ المنثورة 151 (as listed on dorar.net)
- إسناده ضعيف وله شاهد (its chain is weak, and it has a witness): Al-Sakhawi, المقاصد الحسنة 421 (as listed on dorar.net)
- إسناده ضعيف وقد ثبت في الصحيح من حديث أبي ذر: أنه طعام طعم وشفاء سقم (its chain is weak): Al-Shawkani, الفوائد المجموعة 112 (as listed on dorar.net)
- في إسناده عبد الله بن المؤمل وقد تفرد به وهو ضعيف [وروي] من طريق أخرى فيها ضعيف جدا وله طريق أخرى (about a narrator: Ibn al-Mu'ammal was alone in it and is weak): Al-Shawkani, نيل الأوطار 5/168 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [فيه] عبد الله بن المؤمل تكلم فيه بعض الأئمة (about a narrator: some imams spoke about Ibn al-Mu'ammal): Al-Diya al-Maqdisi, السنن والأحكام 1/174 (as listed on dorar.net)
- لم يرو هذا الحديث عن أبي الزبير إلا عبد الله بن المؤمل (Ibn al-Mu'ammal alone related it from Abu al-Zubayr , a note on who relates it): Al-Tabarani, المعجم الأوسط 1/259 and 9/26 (as listed on dorar.net)
- إسناده جيد (its chain is good , jayyid): Al-Ajluni, كشف الخفاء 2/229 (as listed on dorar.net)
- إسناده ضعيف (its chain is weak): Al-Iraqi, تخريج الإحياء للعراقي 1/345 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [فيه] عبد الله بن المؤمل لا يتابع عليه قال ابن معين ضعيف (about a narrator: Ibn al-Mu'ammal has no corroboration; Ibn Ma'in called him weak): Al-'Uqayli, الضعفاء الكبير 2/303 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [حسن] (hasan , bracketed in the source): Kamal ibn al-Humam, شرح فتح القدير 2/520 (as listed on dorar.net)
- إسناده صحيح (its chain is sahih): Al-Mundhiri, الترغيب والترهيب 2/201 (as listed on dorar.net)
- إسناده ضعيف من رواية جابر (its chain is weak, from the report of Jabir): Al-Nawawi, المجموع للنووي 8/267 (as listed on dorar.net)
- من رواية عَبْد اللهِ بن المؤمل، وقد ضعفه الأكثر (about a narrator: most weakened Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'ammal): Jamal al-Din al-Mardawi, كفاية المستقنع لأدلة المقنع 406 (as listed on dorar.net)
- محتمل للتحسين (likely to be improved to hasan): Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut, تخريج المسند لشعيب 14849 (as listed on dorar.net)
- سنده ضعيف، وله شاهد (on the same Siyar passage, the Suwayd route: its chain is weak, and it has a witness): Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut, تخريج سير أعلام النبلاء 8/393 (as listed on dorar.net)
- صحيح (sahih): Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut, تخريج زاد المعاد 4/360 (as listed on dorar.net)
- صحيح (sahih): Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut, تخريج سير أعلام النبلاء 14/ 370 (as listed on dorar.net)
- صحيح (sahih): Muhammad Jar Allah al-Sa'di, النوافح العطرة 298 (as listed on dorar.net)
- [فيه] عبد الله بن المؤمل، وهو ضعيف (about a narrator: Ibn al-Mu'ammal is weak): Yusuf al-Maqdisi, المقرر على أبواب المحرر (1/ 558) (as listed on dorar.net)
- صحيح (sahih): Al-Albani, صحيح الجامع 5502 (as listed on dorar.net)
- غريب حسن بشواهده (gharib, hasan through its witnesses): Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, فيض القدير 5/ 404 (as listed on dorar.net)
- على رسم الصحيح (on the pattern of the Sahih , ala rasm al-sahih): Al-Dimyati, فيض القدير 5/ 404 (as listed on dorar.net)
- إسناده جيد (its chain is good , jayyid): Al-Zarkashi, فيض القدير 5/ 404 (as listed on dorar.net)
- فيه خلاف طويل (there is a long disagreement about it , no grade word): Zayn al-Din al-Munawi, فيض القدير 5/ 404 (as listed on dorar.net)
- إسناده حسن (its chain is hasan): report 892, the short Jabir wording: Al-Dimyati, al-Matjar al-Rabih (ed. Abd al-Malik ibn Duhaysh, 1414 AH / 1994), printed p. 433 (scan read)
- إسناده جيد والأول أحسن (this chain is good and the preceding one is better): report 893, another route: Al-Dimyati, al-Matjar al-Rabih, same edition, printed p. 433 (scan read). One scholar's remark, not a second grader
Entries marked as remarks are comments on a narrator, or on who relates the report alone, and are listed for completeness; they are not counted as verdicts. Bracketed Arabic is printed as dorar.net prints it.
- 4
The Saudi Geological Survey's Zamzam platform, read on 26 October 2026, places the well in the Haram of Makkah beside the Kaaba and describes it as a hand-dug well sunk in the Wadi Ibrahim deposits and the surrounding rock, from 1.27 m to 2.66 m across and up to 30.50 m deep, and says that when rain falls on the Wadi Ibrahim basin part of it seeps into an unconfined aquifer, travels through soil pores and rock fractures, and part of it reaches the well and forms Zamzam water.
Saudi Geological Survey, Zamzam platform (the well and the sources that feed it) Read on 26 October 2026. Record: reference-sgs-zamzam-well-recharge.
- 5
The Saudi Geological Survey's Zamzam platform, in its questions and misconceptions section read on 26 October 2026, says the water is renewable and affected by rainy and dry seasons, that the well itself may well be old, dating from the time of Ismail, and that this does not reflect the age of the water, and that the well has run dry in history according to historical books and narrations.
Saudi Geological Survey, Zamzam platform (questions and misconceptions) Read on 26 October 2026. Record: reference-sgs-zamzam-faq-renewable.
- 6
Ibn Hajar, in Fath al-Bari on Sahih al-Bukhari 3364, identifies the mother of Ismail in the narration as Hajar (Sarah had given her to Ibrahim and she conceived Ismail), calls 'heel or wing' the narrator's doubt, and reports narrations in which the angel is Jibril.
Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari 6/400 and 6/402 (Salafiyyah print: the mother of Ismail, and the angel) Read on shamela.ws on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-zamzam-ibnhajar-fath-6-hajar.
- 7
Ibn Hajar, in the Zamzam chapter of Fath al-Bari, gives several explanations of the name Zamzam (abundance, gathering, a link with the heel's stamp reported from Mujahid, movement, and being bound by measure), says al-Tayalisi's version of the Abu Dharr report adds 'and a healing for illness', and says the men of the Jabir report 'the water of Zamzam is for whatever it is drunk for' are trustworthy except Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'ammal, whom al-Uqayli said was alone in it, while it also came from others at al-Bayhaqi.
Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari 3/493 (Salafiyyah print: the name, and the reports on Zamzam) Read on shamela.ws on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-zamzam-ibnhajar-fath-3-493.
- 8
Ibn Qudamah (Hanbali), in al-Mughni, says it is recommended to come to Zamzam and drink from its water for whatever one loves and to drink to the full, and gives these words for the time of drinking: 'In the name of Allah. O Allah, make it for us beneficial knowledge, wide provision, quenched thirst and fullness, and healing from every illness; wash my heart with it and fill it with Your wisdom.'
Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni 3/394, mas'ala 2561 (drinking from Zamzam) Read on shamela.ws on 26 October 2026. Record: scholarly-zamzam-ibnqudamah-mughni-drinking.
- 9
Quran Arabic and English for Ibrahim 14:37 and Al-Baqarah 2:158.
Tanzil Project Uthmani text, CC BY 3.0. English: adapted from Marmaduke Pickthall's translation (1930), modernised and checked against modern translations.
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