Gilani: WATER ... The Basic Element of Creation

بسم اللہ الرحمان الرحیم

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

I am pleased to present my paper on water which is not only the beginning of the Universe but also the First Creation. Water is a gift from Allah … really a very precious gift. We all are not only created from water but also we need water to survive …. And the water comes only from Allah, God or Bhagwan …

Allah says in Sura Al-Anbiya ayah 30 that: Have not those who disbelieve that the heavens and the earth were joined together as one united piece and then we parted them? And we have made every living thing from water. Will they not then believe?

The Quranic account of the forming of the Cosmos places great emphasis on water, as demonstrated in other ayah. In Sura Al-Rum, Allah told us that: "We have sent down blessed water from the sky and we grow gardens with it as well as grain to be harvested and soaring palms which have compact clusters as sustenance for worshippers. We have revived a dead countryside with it; thus will your reappearance be".

The Vedas praise water as the source of everything in the universe. It is clearly mentioned in Mahan Arayana Upanishad 4.29 that the whole universe is made up of water. All beings are made up of water. The vital airs are the effects of water, cows are also effect of water; food comes from water; nectar, too, comes from water; all the kingdoms, cosmos, Vedic meters, all are made of water; water is truth and all the deities are water; all the worlds are made up of water.

Bible also has strong and numerous evidences that water is a reward of God for humanity. There are more than 107 verses in which Allah described importance of the water.

According to Al-Bukhariyy, when the holy prophet, Hazrat Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi wa-aalhi wa-sallam, was asked how this universe started to exist, he said, Allah existed eternally and nothing else existed with him. He created the Arsh, the throne and placed it above the water. Then He ordered the pen to write in Loh-e-Mahfouz, the Guarded Tablet every thing that would happen. Then Allah created the heavens and earth.

With reference of another narrator of Hadees, Ibn-e-Hibban, Hazrat Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi wa-aalhi wa-sallam said that the first creation is water and Allah created every thing from water.

It is also proved that water has played a vital role in various civilizations which historically flourished around rivers and major waterways; Mesopotamia, the so-called cradle of civilization, was situated between the major rivers Tigris and Euphrates; the ancient society of the Egyptians depended entirely upon the Nile. Large metropolises like Rotterdam, London, Montreal, Paris, New York City, Buenos Aires, Shanghai, Tokyo, Chicago, and Hong Kong owe their success in part to their easy accessibility via water and the resultant expansion of trade. Islands with safe water ports, like Singapore, have flourished for the same reason.

Moreover water is taken as a role model in traditional and popular philosophy. The Ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles held that water is one of the four classical elements along with fire, earth and air, and was regarded as the basic substance of universe. The classical element of water was also one of the five elements in traditional Chinese philosophy, along with earth, fire, wood, and metal.

Please let me mention here some kinds of water which has religious and angelic significance amongst different faiths.

First is AAB-E-ZAMZAM which considered divine water. All traditions agree that Allah created the Zamzam well to provide Hajira, the wife of Prophet Ibrahim and her baby Prophet Ismail with water in the hot, dry valley they were in, around the year 2000 BC.

115 feet deep Zamzam well is located approximately 66 feet east of the Kaaba in Makah. The miracle water of Zamzam is still flowing until today. Hazrat Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi wa-aalhi wa-sallam said: "The best water on the face of the earth is the water of Zamzam; it is a kind of food and a healing from sickness."

Scientists have found certain peculiarities that make the water healthier, like a higher level of calcium. A Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto has had a unique experience. He said the quality and purity of Zamzam water has, will not be find any where else in the water on this earth. He used the technology named NANO, and researched a lot on Zamzam water. And found out that if one drop of Zamzam water mix in 1000 drops of regular water, regular water will get the same quality like Zamzam water.

He also found that a mineral in one drop of Zamzam water has its own importance that will not be find any other water on this earth. He also found in some tests that the quality or ingredients of Zamzam water can not be changed, why; science does not know the reason. Even he re-cycled the Zamzam water, but no change it was still pure. This scientist also found out that, the Muslims says Bismillah before eating or drinking. He says that after saying BISMILLAH on regular water, there are some strange changes happened in its quality. He also found out that if some one recites the Quran on regular water, it gets the ability for the treatment of different diseases.

The second significant water is The Great Flood Water which still exists on the earth. Many researchers believe that the oceans are actually remaining water of Noah’s flood which is best known through the biblical and Quranic accounts, the foundational myths of the Quiché and Mayas, through Deucalion in Greek mythology, the Utnapishtim in Epic of Gilgamesh or the Hindu puranic story of Manu which has some very strong parallels with the story of Noah.

Water in Hinduism has a special place because it is believed to have spiritually cleansing powers. To Hindus all water is sacred, especially rivers, and there are seven sacred rivers, namely the Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Sarasvati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri. .Pilgrimage is very important to Hindus. Holy places and Funeral Grounds are usually located on the banks of rivers, coasts, seashores and mountains. The Ganges River is the most important of the sacred rivers. Its waters GANGAJAL are used in puja (worship) and if possible a sip is given to the dying.

No ceremony, from birth to death, is complete and perfect without Gangajal. According to Maharishi Vedvyas the only way to fight the malefic effects of the Kalyuga, the holy water of Ganga should be used in all the religious ceremonies.

Baptism and marriage are the most important ceremonies in the life of a Sikh. It is in the form of a formal oath and initiation ceremony by which a Sikh becomes a true Khalsa, purified or chosen one. These ceremonies can not be completed without drinking of Amrit or specially prepared sweet Holy water.

Water does however feature in Buddhist funerals where it is poured into a bowl placed before the monks and the dead body. As it fills and pours over the edge, the monks’ recitez”As the rains fill the rivers and overflow into the ocean, so likewise may what is given here reach the departed."

A term is also used as Holy water that, in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and some other churches, has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism, the blessing of persons, places, and objects; or as a means of repelling evil. The use for baptism and spiritual cleansing is common among several religions, from Christianity to Sikhism and Hinduism. The use of holy water as a sacramental for protection against evil is almost exclusive to Roman Catholics.

Modern science affirms clearly religion and philosophy and states that water is the basic component of life. Chemists have proven that it is a necessary and active substance used in changes and reaction which occur inside the body. For this reason it is the only fluid which every living thing needs, no matter how large or small it may be, starting with micro-organisms to the largest living animals on earth.

The main source for the human and animal body is water, as well as the plants, as it is proven by scientific analysis’s showing the body of a human adult from the age of 15 years and upwards contains approximately 71 % of water as for the child his body contains 93 % of water, which indicates 80 % of water runs through the human body and the remainder is blood, and as much as 90 % water is found in animals and plants.

Basically, Water is a chemical substance with the H₂O formula. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Under nomenclature used to name chemical compounds, Dihydrogen monoxide is the scientific name for water, though it is almost never used.

Water covers 70.9% of the Earth's surface. 96.5% of the planet's water is found in oceans, 1.7% in groundwater, 1.7% in glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds and precipitation. Only 2.5% of the Earth's water is fresh water, and 98.8% of that water is in ice and groundwater. Less than 0.3% of all freshwater is in rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere, and an even smaller amount of the Earth's freshwater, 0.003% is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products.

Safe drinking water is essential to all life forms but more than one billion people still lack access to safe water. Observers have estimated that by 2025 more than half of the world population will be facing water-based vulnerability. The UN World Water Development Report indicates that, in the next 20 years, the quantity of water available to everyone is predicted to decrease by 30 to 40%.

At this time, Earth's approximate water volume is 1,338 million Cubic meter and 70% of the fresh water used by humans goes to agriculture because this is a key component to generate nourishment. To produce food for the 7 billion people of the planet requires the water that would fill a canal ten meters deep, 100 meters wide and 7.1 million kilometers long and that's enough to circle the globe 180 times but an assessment of water management in agriculture was conducted in 2007 by the International Water Management Institute in Sri Lanka . It found that a fifth of the world's people, more than 1.2 billion, live in areas of physical water scarcity, where there is not enough water to meet all demands.

The second important consumer of water is human body which contains from 55% to 78% water. It is not clear how much water intake is needed by healthy people, though most advocates agree that approximately 2 liters of water daily is the minimum to maintain proper hydration.

Water plays an important role in the world economy and this factor has introduced water politics. Now, water is a strategic resource in the globe and an important element in many political conflicts. As a representative from Pakistan I must say that water politics is on extreme between Pakistan and India now a days and the base of this conflict is Indus Water Treaty which took place 52 years ago between these neighbors.

Pakistan has an estimated 1.927422 Million acres of wetlands that cover 9.7% of the total surface area of the country. In excess of 225 significant wetlands sites are on record in the prototype Pakistan Wetlands GIS Database, of which 19 have been internationally recognized by the Ramsar Convention Bureau. Pakistan has more than 80 Rivers and one of the largest canal irrigation systems in the world which accounts for 2/3 of employment and about 80% of exports.

In Pakistan there are 3 large dams, 85 small dams, 19 barrages, 12 inter link canals, 45 canals and 0.7 million tube wells to meet the commercial, domestic and irrigational needs of the country. Similarly Pakistan is home to 32 big and more than 200 small natural and man made lakes and reservoirs. The largest lake in Pakistan is the Manchar Lake, which is also the largest in South Asia. The lake is spread over an area of over 100 square miles. The highest lake in Pakistan is the Rush Lake, which is also the 25th highest lake is the world at an altitude of over 15,420 feet.

But apart from these facts and figures, Pakistan is one of the world’s most arid countries. It ranks 127 in 141 countries with a water availability of 0.23 thousand cubic meters per capita. Pakistan’s economic and social well being is built on this water system despite the scant average annual rainfall of just 240 millimeters. Over the years, Pakistan has harnessed the Indus River to bring 35.7 million acres under irrigation to cultivate land in otherwise desert conditions. It is currently experiencing water stress and will soon face outright water scarcity. Pakistan is using almost all its water resources and no more are available. If something goes drastically wrong with the salt, sediment, water balance of the Indus system, there is no other river system in the region to draw on.

Pakistan is running out of water so fast that the shortage will strangulate all water-based economic activity by 2015, a Pakistani think tank says. In opinion of Islamabad based Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan has gone from a “water scarce” country to a “water-stressed” country, worse than Ethiopia. In 10 years time, it will become a water-famine country. Among the 25 most populous countries, South Africa, Egypt and Pakistan are the most water-limited nations that study said.

According to the World Bank data, Pakistan only stores 30 days of river water, India stores 120 days, while the Colorado River system in the U.S. has storage capacity of up to 900 days of water usage.

The population and economy are heavily dependent on an annual influx into the Indus river system of about 180 billion cubic meters of water that emanates from India and is mostly derived from snowmelt in the Himalayas. But this single river system on which Pakistan almost entirely relies has been heavily harvested and there is no additional water to be injected in to this system.

According to the most recent UN World Water Development Report, indicates an available supply of water of little more than 1,000 cubic meters per person, which puts Pakistan in the category of a high stress country.

Although about 36% of the groundwater is classified as highly saline, in urban areas, most water is supplied from groundwater except for the cities of Karachi, Hyderabad and a part of Islamabad, where mainly surface water is used but in rural areas, with saline groundwater, irrigation canals serve as the main source of domestic water.

Statistics indicates that out of the 169,384 billion Cubic Meter of water which was withdrawn in 2000, 96% were used for agricultural purposes, leaving 2% for domestic and another 2% for industrial use. By far most water is used for irrigated agriculture. The sector contributes about 25% of the Pakistan's GNP with a total irrigated area of 181,000 Sq Kilometers.

But it is an ugly truth that this agriculture based country has not its own water resources and its all water comes from India. In 1947, when Punjab was divided between the two countries, many of the canal head-works remained with India. The division of Punjab thus created major problems for irrigation in Pakistan.

On April 1, 1948, India stopped the supply of water to Pakistan from every canal flowing from India to Pakistan. Pakistan protested and India finally agreed on an interim agreement on May 4, 1948. This agreement was not a permanent solution; therefore, Pakistan approached the World Bank in 1952 to help settle the problem permanently. It was finally in Ayub Khan's regime that an agreement was signed between India and Pakistan in September 1960 which is known as the Indus Water Treaty.

This treaty divided the use of rivers and canals between the two countries. Pakistan obtained exclusive rights for the three western rivers, Indus, Jhelum and Chenab. And India retained rights to the three eastern rivers, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.

Although the Indus Water Treaty has survived hostilities between India and Pakistan over the years, recent developments threaten to undermine this agreement. On October 10, 2008, India inaugurated Baglihar hydro-electric dam on the Chenab River, one of the western rivers given to Pakistan in the IWT. India is currently building a dam and a hydroelectric water project on River Indus at Nimzoo Bagin. Pakistan alleges the projects are a violation of the Indus Waters Treaty but India holds that it is committed to the treaty.

Despite from Pak India claims, in fact the water is Life …. And its true, when you save water, you save life and I hope that with good decisions we will save our future which lies behind water. Violations and problems can be solved and drastic situations can be controlled … but with a soft touch. I also would like to conclude my paper with lively strokes. Let’s see that what some poets have said about this basic substance of our life …

Please see this desire …

پانی دِیاں چّھلاں ہوون ، توں ہوویں تے مَیں ہوواں

پیار دِیاں گلاں ہوون ، توں ہوویں تے مَیں ہوواں

And this cry

آ کر لے جائے میری آنکھ کا پانی مجھ سے

کیوں حسد کرتی ہے دریا کی روانی مجھ سے

صرف اِک شخص کے غم میں مجھے برباد نہ کر

روز روتے ہوئے کہتی ہے جوانی مجھ سے