Virtue of Quenching Thirst

All praise is due to Aallah the Especially Merciful, the Accepter of Repentance, the All-Mighty, the Bestower. He opened the doors of goodness for the spenders. And he detailed the types of kindness for the doers. And singled out His charitable servants with grace. And he bestowed His bounties on all creation. We praise Him for guiding and directing us to Him. And we thank Him for the blessings and the wellbeing that He has given us. And for trials from which He has spared us. And we bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah, alone having no partners. We have no other Lord besides Him. And we only worship Him. With sincere devotion to Him, even if the disbelievers may dislike it. And His servant and messenger Mohammad is the best of His creation. He ﷺ guided us to the good so that we take our share from it. He warned us from evil so that we distance ourselves from it. Out of advising and mercy for us. So whoever obeys him ﷺ wins and whoever disobeys him ﷺ loses.

So be conscious of Allah and obey Him. And take a lesson from the heat of this world for the heat of the hereafter. And from its thirst, a reminder for the thirst of the Day of Resurrection. And from its sun a warning for the sun of the Great Day, when it will be a mile from the heads of the creation. So know that your salvation is by worshipping your Lord. And perform deeds that will be an asset for you. For indeed the time is near and the horrors are severe.

Al Ma’arej (70) 6-10:(6) Indeed, they see it [as] distant, (7) But We see it [as] near. (8) On the Day the sky will be like murky oil. (9) And the mountains will be like wool, (10)

When the heat intensifies, the value of water increases. For thirst, there is nothing tastier than cool, sweet water. Hence the Prophet ﷺ enticed his ummah (nation) to follow his Sunnah by being able to drink from his ﷺ reservoir on the day of the greatest thirst. He ﷺ described his hawd (reservoir) as:
“…Its water is whiter than milk and its scent is more pleasant than musk, and its drinking cups are (as numerous) as the stars of the sky; and whoever drinks from it, will never be thirsty.” [alBukhari 6579, Muslim 2292]

And in the Hadith of the Israa (the Night Journey) the Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) sent a message to this ummah (nation) with its prophet ﷺ saying: ‏
O Muhammad, convey my greetings of peace to your ummah (nation), and inform them that Paradise has pure soil and delicious water. [Sahih Tirmithi 3462]

And the Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) supplicated for the inhabitants of Makkah to have barakah (blessing) in the water. And Haajer (peace be upon her) placed a condition on the tribe of Jurham when they came to live there that they would have no rights to the water because ZamZam sprung forth because of her and her son.

The greatest offering in the sight of Allah and most beneficial to people is what they are in most need of. And after air, water is the most important thing for sustaining mankind. So in providing it, is life for them. Just as in withholding it, is destruction for them. And for this reason, providing water is among the most virtuous deeds. As in the Hadith, Saad bin Ubaadah (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Prophet ﷺ:
Which charity do you like most? He replied Water. [Abu Dawood 1679]

And in another narration for At Tabarani, Saad bin Ubaadah (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Prophet ﷺ:
“Oh Messenger of Allah, my mother died and did not leave a will; shall I give charity on her behalf?” He said: “Yes, and remember water.” [Sunan an-Nasa’i 3654]

And the well of Ruma belonged to a Jew who used to sell the water to the Muslims at a price of one dirham for every container. That became a hardship for the Muslims so the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Who will buy the well of Ruma and dip his bucket in it alongside the buckets of the Muslims, in return for a better one in Paradise?” So Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) bought it and made it a waqf (endowment) for the Muslims.[Sunan an-Nasa’i 3608]

And a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said:
I fill my reservoir until it is enough for my family. And a camel belonging to someone else came to me so I gave it water. So will I be rewarded for that? Then he ﷺ said: Yes, in every living being there is reward.’ [Ahmad 12/30]

Ibn Battaal – ابْنُ بَطَّالٍ – (may Allah have mercy on him) said: providing water is one of the best offerings in the sight of Allah. And some of those coming after the companions said: Whoever has many sins should provide water. And in an authentic hadith an unchaste woman from bani Israel was forgiven as a result of her providing water to a dog.

And listen to this story that was narrated by al Bayhaqee that a man came to Ibn Al Mubarek and asked him: Oh Abu Abdulrahman, a sore appeared on my knee seven years ago and I have been treated with various kinds of treatments. I asked the doctors, but I did not benefit from it. He said: “Find a place that people need water and dig a well there. For I hope that a spring will emanate from there and your bleeding will stop.” So the man did so and was cured. Al Bayhaqee (may Allah have mercy on him) said: And in this sense is the story of the sore of our shaikh Al Haakem Abu Abdallah (may Allah have mercy on him). Sores appeared on his face and he treated them with different remedies but they did not go away. And they stayed with him for almost a year. So he asked the Imam Abu Uthaman AsSaaboonee to supplicate for him in his gathering on Friday, so he supplicated for him. And there were many people who said “Amen”. Then the next Friday a woman placed a note in the gathering indicating that she had gone to her house and strived in supplicating for Al Haakem Abu Abdallah that night. Then she saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in her sleep and it was as if he said to her: tell Abu Abdallah to give more water to the Muslims. So I brought the note to Al Haakem Abu Abdallah and he commanded that a watering station be built at the door of his house. And when they finished building it, he commanded that water be placed in it. And drinking vessels were placed in the water. And people started drinking from it and a week did not pass until he was cured and those sores disappeared. And his face returned to its best. And he lived for many years after that.

Oh Muslims: Giving water in the intense heat is among the greatest offerings. And quenching the thirst of others is better than spending money. Whether the thirsty is a person, animal or bird. And it is a small deed but its benefit is big and its impact is great. And the Prophet ﷺ said:
Pouring what remains in your bucket into your brother’s bucket is a charity for you. [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1956]

And sufficient are the words of Allah on the Day of Resurrection regarding providing water:
Oh son of Adam, I asked you for water and you did not give Me water.’ He will reply, ‘O Lord, how could I give you water when You are the Lord of the Worlds?’ He will say, ‘My servant so-and-so asked you for water and you did not give him water. Do you not know that if you had given him water, you would have found that action with Me? [Muslim 2569]

And the need for water is urgent. Especially in the extreme heat of hot countries. And there are many and varied ways of providing water. So it is not good for a believer to be denied all of its paths and ways. And the one who gets a share in every way thereof will get a great deal of good, and will attain a great reward.

Al Baqarah (2) 110: And whatever good you put forward for yourselves – you will find it with Allah. Indeed Allah, of what you do, is Seeing.

We ask Allah Almighty to safeguard us from the stinginess of ourselves and for Him to guide us to what pleases Him. And to open our hearts to good. And to accept our righteous deeds and that of the Muslims.

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