A Scientific Approach to the Quran's View of the Health Role of Water in Human Life

Water is a reviving and nutritious fluid and a unique natural wealth. God invites the men of wisdom in the Qur'an to meditate on their revelations, one of which is water. The present study was an attempt to demonstrate the importance of creation of water from the perspective of the Holy Quran and to identify the biological and medical properties and features of natural waters.

This is a descriptive study conducted in two stages. In the first phase, special software of the Qur’an was used and verses were selected based on general keywords water and drink. Then, out of the selected verses, the ones with keywords of Tahour, Haye, Resgh, Forat (fresh water), Melh Ojaj (salty and bitter water), Alfolk (Ship), Ghosle (taking a shower), and Lahhme (meat), and the importance of water creation was examined from the Qur'an's perspective. In the second stage, scientific texts were used to investigate the biological and therapeutic properties of natural waters. In the present study, the authors reported no conflicts of interest.

The findings showed that God has mentioned the word ‘water’ in the Qur'an more than 65 times, and each time He provides wise descriptions for water. The Holy Quran describes water in eight different contexts including revival, purity, its healing power, creating attachment between the people, nutrition, freshness, commerce, and its controlling role in the Earth's environmental cycles categorizing it into three types: pure (Tahour) water, fresh water and salt water. According to scientific sources, natural waters have different physical, chemical, biological and therapeutic properties. These properties are due to the hydrogen bonds, the molecular structure of water and the type and amount of mineral compounds. Therefore, these agents provide different functions for natural water types.

The existence of water in the universe is essential and without it the universe is impossible. The importance of water is due to its molecular structure and its hydrogen bonds and inorganic constituents provide it with a very important role and mission in the universe such that it has influenced the political, economic, cultural, social, and environmental activities of the world, making it one of the great signs of creation.