Prophet Ibrahim & His Wife Hajar

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated, 'Prophet Ibrahim
brought Isma'eel's mother (his wife, Hajar) and Isma'eel, while she was
still nursing him, and then camped with them next to (the area where)
the House (the Kaa'bah) was to be built, next to a large tree just above
(the area where now exists the well of) Zamzam and which is also above
the Masjid (the Holy Masjid in Makkah). At that time, Makkah had
neither inhabitants nor a known source of water. He left them there and left
with them a bag full of dates and a Siqaa' (a jug usually made of
leather) full of water.

When Ibrahim started to depart, Hajar followed him, saying, 'O Ibrahim!
Where are you going and leaving us in this valley that does not have
any inhabitants or anything else?' She repeated this several times, but
he was not paying any attention to her. She then said to him, 'Did Allah
command you to do this?' Ibrahim replied, 'Yes.' She said, 'Then
certainly, He will not abandon us.' She went back, while Ibrahim kept on
walking, until he was next to a hill where he could no longer be seen. He
then faced the direction of the House and recited the following
supplication,

"O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in an
uncultivated valley by Your Sacred House; in order, O our Lord, that they may
perform prayer, so fill some hearts among men with love towards them, and
(O Allah) provide them with fruits so that they may give thanks."
[14:37].

Afterwards, Isma'eel's mother nursed nurse him and drank from the water
(that Ibrahim left with them). When they ran out of water, she and her
son became thirsty. She looked at Isma'eel and saw that he was turning
around on the ground (out of thirst). She hated to see him like this,
so she left and went up on Mount Safa, the nearest mountain to her, then
looked down to the valley, trying to locate any person. She then
descended down Mount Safa until she reached the valley, and then raised her
sleeve (trying to protect her eyes from the sun). She walked just like
an exhausted person would walk until she reached the end of the valley.
She then went up on Mount Marwah and stood trying to locate anyone, but
she did not see any person. She repeated this sequence seven times.

Ibn Abbas then said, "The Prophet Salla Allahu Alayhi Wasallam said,
'This is why people walk between them (between Mounts Safa and Marwah,
while performing the rituals of Hajj).' When Hajar went up on Mount
Marwah (for the fourth time, completing seven trips back and forth between
Mounts Safa and Marwah), she heard a voice, and said to herself,
'Shush,' and tried hard to listen. She heard something again, and then said
(aloud to whom she thought she heard), 'I heard you! Do you have relief
so that you will provide us with assistance?' She then saw an angel
digging up the ground with his wing where Zamzam exists today, and water
then started to flow. She then started to contain the water with her hand
(trying to make a pool of mud to collect the water in it), and she was
also cupping her hands to fell her Siqaa' (water jug), yet the water
was flowing as fast as she was filling."

Ibn Abbas then said, 'The Prophet Salla Allahu Alayhi Wasallam said,
'May Allah bestow His Mercy upon Isma'eel's mother! If she had left
Zamzam - or if she had not cupped her hand - Zamzam would have been a
flowing spring.' Ibn Abbas then said, 'So she drank and nursed her son. The
angel then said to her, 'Do not fear abandonment, for a House for Allah
(the Kaa'bah) will be built in this area by this boy and his father,
and most certainly, Allah does not abandon His people.'
[Al-Bukhari].

Prophet Ibrahim's sincerity with Allah was evident in his leaving his
wife and son in an uninhabited area, just as Allah commanded him. Also,
his wife's sincerity with Allah was evident by her attesting with
certainty that Allah will not abandon her and her son, since it was Allah
Who commanded Ibrahim to leave them in Makkah.

Did Allah abandon them? No, indeed. Prophet Ibrahim and his wife had
a type of sincerity that brings strong emotions to all those believers
who hear their story. Because of sincerity, Allah made Zamzam flow
with water, not only for Isma'eel and his mother, but also for the
billions of Muslims throughout the ages, all drinking from it while visiting
the House of Allah.