Seven centuries had passed since the Zubaydah canal which brought water to Makkah from outlying springs. The passage by now had reached a bad state of repair, with the wells and springs having dried up and the canal now being full of sand/stones.

It was 965 AH (1557 AD) when a Turkish princess Fatimah, daughter of the Uthami ruler Sultan Salim came along. She took the task to rebuild and redevelops the ‘Zubaydah canal’. The rebuilding of the canal was extremely difficult ad involved Egyptian, Syrian and Yemeni engineers and masons.

On their route, there was a large rock 50 feet wide and 2000 feet long, which looked as if it was going to stop the efforts. The chief of the project lost his heart in fear of not being able to overcome it. Fatimah refused to accept that. In this time period dynamite didn’t exist, rather the only way to cut through such large rocks would be to heat them up with coal to high degrees and them to cut the stones with sharp tools. It took hundreds of workers, who burnt millions of tons of fuel. In 979 AH (1571 AD) the rock was conquered. Soon afterwards water again began to flow to Makkah on the repaired Zubaydah canal.

The event was celebrated with a great feast/party, which involved not only the everyday people but also the government officials. Due to her commitment to rebuilding the canal, Fatimah was nicknamed ‘Zubaydah Thani’ (Zubaydah the second).

[Ref: ‘Leading Ladies: who made a difference in the lives of others, approved by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, and Mufti Abdul Qadir, published by Idara Talifat e Ashrafia]