Reports on drawing out the water of Zamzam

It is narrated from Ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) that an Abyssinian fell into Zamzam and died. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) ordered that he be taken out, and said that all the water of the well should be drawn out. He says: A spring that was gushing from the direction of the Corner overpowered them. At the order of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), that spring was stopped up with Coptic linen and silk wraps until they drained the well. When they had drained it, the spring burst forth upon them.
(b) Ibn Abi Arubah narrated from Qatadah that an Abyssinian fell into Zamzam, so Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) ordered that it be drained. This is a report that reached the two of them. (c) Neither of them met Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) nor heard from him. (d) Jabir al-Ju'fi sometimes narrates it from Abu al-Tufayl from Ibn Abbas, and sometimes from Abu al-Tufayl himself, that a boy fell into Zamzam and it was drained. Jabir al-Ju'fi is not used as proof. (e) Ibn Lahi'ah narrated it from Amr bin Dinar, and Ibn Lahi'ah is not used as proof. (f) Al-Za'farani mentions the saying of Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) that this narration is not known from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both); Zamzam is with us, and no such incident has been heard about it.

Ibn Uyaynah (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I have been in Makkah for seventy years; I have not seen anyone, young or old, who knew the hadith of the Zanji, which they narrated, that he fell into Zamzam. I have not heard anyone say that Zamzam was drained. Abu Ubayd (may Allah have mercy on him) says that regarding Zamzam there are reports that its water will not be drained nor will it be dishonoured. I do not know whether Abu Qudamah narrated this from Abu Ubayd, from Abu al-Walid al-Faqih (may Allah have mercy on him). Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said to those who disagreed with him: You yourselves narrate the marfu' hadith of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Nothing makes water impure." Do you then think that Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) would narrate a report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and then abandon it, if this is indeed his narration? You also narrate from him that he performed ablution from a pool in which a carcass was floating, and you narrate from him that water does not become impure. If any of this is authentic, it shows that he did not drain Zamzam because of impurity but for cleaning, if he did so at all; Zamzam is for drinking, and blood may have appeared on the water until it could be seen in it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed ablution with some water. It was said to him: "So-and-so, meaning one of his wives, has just bathed with it." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, nothing makes water impure."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that one of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) bathed in a tub. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to perform ablution or take a bath from it. She said: O Messenger of Allah! I was in a state of major impurity (junub). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, water does not become impure."

Yahya bin Ubayd says: I asked Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) about the water of the bathhouse, and he said: Water does not become impure.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that four things do not become impure: a person, water, a garment and the ground.

Abu Yahya al-Himmani narrated it.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): "Impurity does not come upon water." (b) Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) says that our position is what we narrate from Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) and al-Qasim bin Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him), that they ordered a man to take the ritual bath (ghusl) for major impurity in a well, and something similar in meaning is narrated from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him).

(a) Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said concerning a mouse that fell into a well and died, that the water should be drawn out until it overwhelms the people. This narration is not strong, because Abu al-Bakhtari did not hear from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). This narration is munqati' (broken).
(b) Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When a mouse falls into a well and dies, one or two buckets are to be drawn from it, and if it has burst apart, five or seven buckets are to be drawn; and this narration too is munqati'.

It is reported from Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him), concerning the argument of one who argued from the reports of Ali and Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): I said: Should what came from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) be abandoned for the saying of someone else? He said: No. I said: You have done so, and in addition you have contradicted Ali and Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both). You claimed that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When a mouse falls into a well, seven or five buckets are to be drawn from it, yet you claimed that it does not become pure except by (drawing) twenty or thirty. And you claimed that Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) drained Zamzam because of a Zanji who fell into it, yet you say that forty or sixty buckets suffice. This is not established from Ali and Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both).