Saudi Arabia: Meet Pakistani man who has served Zamzam water for 18 years in Mecca

Cairo: A Pakistani man counts as a blessing his job in serving the holy Zamzam water to the faithful at the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site in the Saudi city of Mecca.

Qamar Ali Khan has been working for 18 years at a department in charge of serving the holy water at the mosque to which millions of Muslims from across the globe flock around the year.

“Zamzam is a blessing,” he says. “I feel glad when pilgrims drink the Zamzam water,” he adds.

Khan says he makes it a point to work at sunset during Ramadan in order to provide the holy water to Muslims to drink at iftar.

“Working at the Sacred Mosque is a blessing,” he says.

Ramadan is usually the peak season for Umrah or lesser pilgrim-age at the Grand Mosque

Around 20,000 sites have been allocated at the Grand Mosque to distribute more than 40 million litres of Zamzam to worshippers during Ramadam, according to a Saudi official.

Head of the Zamzam department at the Grand Mosque Abdul Rahman Al Zahrany said last month that 30,000 Zamzam containers have been spread across the site to give worshippers an easy access to the holy water.

“The directorate has recruited 1,423 personnel to ensure efficiency and quality services,” he added.

The General Presidency in charge of the Grand mosque affairs has achieved a “quality leap” by using robots as well as 80 smart carts in providing access to Zamzam throughout the mosque, he said.

Robots were used during last year’s Hajj pilgrimage to distribute Zamzam bottles at the Grand Mosque as part of precautions against COVID-19.

Zamzam is also popular with overseas pilgrims who present it as a gift to relatives and friends after home return.