3-The Promise at Zamzam

the well of zamzam, which disappeared when the arabs placed idols at the ka'bah, remained buried under the sand.

the people of quraysh, thus, had to fetch their water from far away for many years. one day 'abd al-muttalib was very tired from doing this and fell asleep next to the ka'bah. he had a dream in which he was told to dig up zamzam. when he woke up he was puzzled because he did not know what zamzam was, the well having disappeared many years before he was born. the next day he had the same dream, but this time he was told where to find the well.

'abd al-muttalib had one son at that time, and together they began to dig. the work was so difficult that 'abd al-muttalib made an oath to allah that if one day he were to have ten sons to help him and stand by him, in return he would sacrifice one of them in allah's honor. after working for three days they finally found the well of zamzam. pilgrims have been drinking from it ever since. the years passed by and 'abd al-muttalib did have ten sons. they grew into fine, strong men and the time came for him to keep his promise to allah. he told his sons about the promise and they agreed that he had to sacrifice one of them to see which one it would be,

they decided to draw lots, which was the custom of quraysh when deciding important matters. 'abd al-muttalib told each son to get an arrow and write his own name upon it and then to bring it to him. by doing so, he took them to the ka'bah where there was a man whose special task was to cast arrows and pick one from among them. this man solemnly proceeded to do this. on the chosen arrow, the name of 'abd allah, the youngest and favorite son of 'abd al-muttalib, was written. the father, therefore, took his son near the ka'bah and prepared to sacrifice him.
many of the quraysh leaders were present and they became very angry because 'abd allah was very young and much loved by everyone. they tried to think of a way to save his life. "do not do so! go to the wise old woman of yathrib and ask her for advice!", someone suggested. 'abd al-muttalib, thus, took his son and went to see what she could do.

some of the meccans went with them. "how much is the ransom in your tribe?", the woman asked. they told her, 'ten camels', for at that time if one man killed another, his family would have to give ten camels to the dead man's family in order to keep the peace among them. so the woman told them to go back to the ka'bah and draw lots between 'abd allah and ten camels. if the camels were chosen, they were to be killed and the meat given to the poor. if 'abd allah was picked then ten more camels were to be added and the lots drawn again and again until they finally fell on the camels.

'abd al-muttalib returned to the ka'bah with his son and the people of mecca. there they started to draw lots between 'abd allah and the camels, starting with ten camels. 'abd al-muttalib prayed to allah to spare his son and everyone waited in silence for the result. the choice fell on 'abd allah, so his father added ten more camels. again the choice fell on 'abd allah, so they did the same thing again and again,adding ten camels each time. finally they reached one hundred camels, and only then the lot did fall on the camels. 'abd allah was saved and everyone was very happy. 'abd al-muttalib however, wanted to make sure that this was the true result so he repeated the draw three times and each time it fell on the camels. he then gave thanks to allah that he had spared 'abd allah's life. the camels were sacrificed and there was enough food for the entire city, even the animals and birds.

'abd allah grew up to be a handsome young man and his father eventually chose aminah, the daughter of wahb, as a wife for him. it was a good match for she was the finest of quraysh's women and 'abd allah the best of its men. he spent several months with his wife but then he had to leave her and travel with one of the caravans to trade with syria. on his way back to mecca from syria 'abd allah became ill and had to stop off in yathrib to recover. the caravan, however, continued on its way and arrived back in mecca without him. on hearing of 'abd allah's illness,'abd al-muttalib sent another son, al-hareth, to bring 'abd allah back to mecca, but he was too late.

when he arrived in yathrib 'abd allah was dead. aminah was heart-broken to lose her husband and the father of the child she would soon give birth to. only allah knew that this orphan child would one day be a great prophet.