According to some military analysts, the Middle East is on the verge of an explosive crisis, over a commodity that could become more precious than oil: water.
Policy-makers and analysts foresee critical water shortages in the near future in several countries in the Middle East, which register an average of three percent population growth annually. And, if the rate of growth continues undiminished then within the next three decades there will not be enough water to support the needs of a population of that magnitude.

From the Euphrates to the Nile-and especially in the Jordan River basin, where the intertwined water resources shared between Jordan, Israel and the Occupied West Bank-governments face growing water demands from growing populations, increased urbanization and rising demands on agricultural and industrial requirements.

To satisfy these ever growing needs, the hydro-geologists are racing to draw on the existing rivers shared by these countries, which have competing demands, and on underground water supplies that are being depleted at alarming rates.

Egypt imports half of its food from other countries, for the biggest constraint on expanding the existing agricultural production is water.

In recent times, the River Nile has occupied the center stage over a controversy created by Ethiopia, which was surveying dam sites to be built on the Blue Nile, a tributary of River Nile. There were swift Egyptian protests.

Egypt's proposal to construct canals in Sudan's southern swamps to reduce the loss of water by evaporation on the White Nile had to be shelved indefinitely because of Sudan's civil war.

In the Israeli-occupied Gaza strip, the underground water reservoirs have become salty from seawater seepage.

In the occupied West Bank, where Israeli-Palestinian interdependence on existing water resources may be the cause of a war in the region in the near future for Israel uses nearly 40% of the water from sources in the occupied territories. Israeli authorities severely restrict the Palestinian from drilling new wells to prevent the underground water resources from being drained and contaminated by seawater. This practice has brought Palestinian agricultural development to a standstill.

The Thawra Dam built on the River Euphrates in north-central Syria, which irrigated thousands of acres of farmland and supplied half of the nation's electrical power, had to reduce its operation to one-tenth of its normal volume for Turkey cut the flow of the Euphrates to begin filling its massive Attaturk Dam reservoir. Today, the residential water-taps in Damascus go dry everyday between 2 p.m until 6 in the next morning.

Israel's extensive use of water from the Jordan River near the Sea of Galilee has left the water south of the sea so polluted that Jordan cannot use it to meet the needs of its population.

In addition, Israel draws 100 million cubic meters of water annually from the Yarmuk River, which forms the border between Syria and Jordan; making it impossible for Jordan to use fully the Unity Dam it hopes to build with Syria on the Yarmuk.

The scope of the problem has alarmed political analysts and Middle East experts so much so that they warn of possible military conflicts in the region over water rights in the future.

And yet, the leaders of the Middle East have given little attention to the future water needs of the region. Experts say that there is very little concern about water research and its studies on the academic and national levels. The entire Middle Eastern region runs short of qualified specialists and water experts to advise the governments on long-range policies on shared water resources, and its conservation, its intelligent use, in order to meet the future needs of the ever growing population of the area.

However, some experts believe that there is enough water in the region for many of the countries, provided they come to some agreement on sharing it. And, they hasten to add that even if the countries of the Middle East were to develop such far-sighted policies at the national level, their mutual dependence on shared water resources requires far-reaching political cooperation, which is presently non-existent and may continue to remain elusive in the future.

Before rushing to develop far-sighted policies on water, it becomes absolutely necessary to understand the miracle of water. Water has been described variously as a chemical freak, an absolute necessity, a frightening phenomenon and a benevolent friend. It is abundant, yet frequently scarce. At a physical level, the universal solvent encompasses almost all of man's activities-politics, agriculture, industry, forestry, fishing, domestic tranquility and foreign affairs.

What most people know about water is that they are helpless without it. A person can go without food for a week, but he will die within three days without a drink of water. A city can survive patiently for twenty-four hours without electricity; yet if all the water, including that to hospitals, were cut off for twelve hours, there would be panic everywhere.

One can exaggerate the value of many things, but never the value of water. It is impossible to attach too much worth to the colorless liquid most people get by simply turning on the tap. And yet, there is not a plant or an animal or a pretty girl on earth can exist without it. The bodies of young people are made up of 90% water and this volume would slowly diminish to 75% as people age but it has to be continuously replaced.

Water is absolutely essential for household use. Billions of gallons of water are consumed across the globe everyday. However, potable water continues to be consumed more than it can be produced in several countries across the globe. Even so, people use 10% of the water supply directly on themselves. Human beings need only ten to twelve cups of water a day in order to survive and much of this can be absorbed in their regular food intake. There is little danger that people will die across the world for lack of water. The major share of water is taken up by industry and agriculture. That is where suffering could arise: humans will survive, but with a continuous shortage of clean water their comfort and happiness may be at stake.

This is not quite bad as it sounds because water is not suddenly disappearing for it is indestructible. There is as much water now in the world as there has ever been. Water gets used and reused many times on its way to the sea. The trouble is that with a static amount available, only so much rain can be expected to fall. As we wait for the rains to appear, consumption across the globe by individuals, farms and factories increases.

Two scientists, Antoine Lavoisier and Henry Cavendish, discovered in 1781 that water is made up of two atoms of Hydrogen and one atom of Oxygen at the molecular level to make water. In recent years the concept had to be revised with the discovery that both Hydrogen and Oxygen have isotopes, which are alike in all respects except their weight in atoms. One such isotope has been called as deuterium. Twice the atomic weight of Hydrogen, it combines with oxygen into "heavy water," which became crucial in the development of the first atomic bomb. Today, it is believed that there are sixteen possible formulae for the chemistry of water.

Absolutely pure water is a laboratory curiosity. In any state water always contains traces of other elements. In the open sea it contains and average of 3.5% of sodium chloride along with other trace elements that there are in the world. Today, the accepted explanation for the chemical composition of the sea that its salt content, and all its other mineral elements, have been washed away from the land by rain over a billion of years. This alteration of the chemistry of the sea had extremely important consequences for man. The oceans and the seas occupy nearly three-quarters of the earth's surface and modern man does not have a drop to drink from it!

At the biological level, water also dissolves food eaten by animals and human beings. It forms the medium through which food is transported to different cells of the body and from one cell to another. And, once the nutrients reach their destination, they are magically separated from water. If it had not been for water, the cells of the body would have simply not functioned.

Water has unique properties. In its solid state in the form of snow it is made up of countless trillions of icy particles that never exactly repeat the same pattern. Another solid form of water is ice and it is the only substance in the world that expands when it freezes. If frozen water did not expand, however, it would not float in liquid water, and the world would have been long ago become a gigantic ball of ice. Water also behaves curiously in relation to heat. Compounds very similar in chemical structure boil at 100 degrees below zero, whereas, water at sea level continues to absorb heat without boiling until a temperature of 212 degrees above zero has been reached. If water would have been composed a little differently, all the liquid on earth would have long since have boiled away into space.

Another unusual ability of water is its surface tension, its ability to adhere to itself or to another substance. It causes water from a faucet to form drops rather than a spray. Water readily adheres to solid substances like rocks and soil, and this is the principle behind the formation of ground water. A remarkable property of water is its ability to dissolve other substances. It is the nearest thing there is to a universal solvent. Therefore, water in lakes, river, and oceans is really a solution of various substances that have come into contact with it. Its ability to dissolve and decompose organic wastes is the reason why water is used in disposing them.

Water moves from one state to another with perfect ease. During the process of passing through from a solid state to a liquid and then to the gaseous state and back to the solid, it does not change chemically by all the things it carries. It also has the ability to purify itself. During its gaseous state-during evaporation-it sheds most impurities, such as salt, silt and bacteria. If it did not do this, then water would have been permanently dirty, and life on earth would have become impossible long ago. What is not taken care of immediately, is transported into the sea, the final depository of water to start once again all the purification processes that took place on land.

The sea covers almost three-quarters of the earth's surface and is 7% of the earth's total mass. Such an amount of water is crucial in the constant flow of water around the earth known as the Hydrologic cycle. Since, as a compound, water is essentially indestructible, always existing in one form or the other in nature, carried by the self-perpetuating system that takes the water from the earth's surface into the atmosphere, circulating it by means of all variables of weather, and then returns to the earth in some form of precipitation, where the whole cycle starts once again.
The Hydrologic cycle is continually changing the face of the earth. As peaceful rain, it nourishes the green farms and forests. During the violence of a hurricane, it will smash and destroy everything man has built, Unobtrusively and incessantly, it eats away into the continents reducing them at its outer edges. The greatest mountains are slowly being ground into hills by little drops of water and the great grinding glaciers. Apart from this, half of the topsoil present on the earth's surface is washed out into the sea by rain because of poor farming methods employed in several countries across the globe.

For a long time now, great scientists with orderly minds have tried to fit water and its varieties into neat compartments known as sciences. One of these compartments is geology, which attempts to explain how water originally formed on earth. Leading scientists believe that there was no water on our planet when it was formed, but the chemicals to make it were present. And, how the hydrogen and oxygen got together to form such large quantities is the subject for many theories, though not one theory claims that anything has been proved.

The theory most generally accepted today is that our planet when it was formed had an atmosphere that was made up of carbon dioxide and ammonia. And, Ammonia was a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen. Water is thought to have first appeared on the surface as steam from molten lava-so much steam that torrential rains poured down from the sky for thousands of years. This theory appeared plausible to many for it is known that steam rising from a volcano, or a geyser; whereas, there are others who dispute this point for they say that steam is merely overheated ground water. Like the question of the origin of the earth, the problem of how water got here first promises to keep the scientists happily puzzled for a long time to come.

The Holy Qur'an is quite specific that the origins of water lie elsewhere. Its origins are described in a verse from the Holy Qur'an as follows: "And We sent down (in heavy quantities), from the heaven water, blessed, and brought out thereby gardens and the harvest-grain." (50:9). Here, the verse not only details the heavenly origins of water, but also tells us that it is a blessing from Allah the Almighty. Elsewhere in the Holy Qur'an the blessings of water is specified along with the other blessings of Allah. In verse 78:6-14, we read: "Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, and the mountains as pegs? And (have We not) created you in pairs, and made your sleep for rest? And (have We not) made the night as a covering, and made the day as a means of subsistence? And (have We not) built over you the seven firmaments, and placed (therein) a light of splendor? And have We not sent down from the clouds water in abundance?"

Again it is stressed in the Holy Qur'an, "Strike for them the example of the life of the world: Like water that We sent down from heaven. Then the vegetation of the earth mingled with it (and grew up). Then it became dry and broken which the winds scatter about. And Allah has Power over everything." (18:45), leaving us in no doubt that the origins of water is not a happy cosmic accident as the scientists wish us to believe, but is a elixir of life sent from above, essential to sustain life on earth as we know it.

There are numerous traditions of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) that prohibit Muslims from polluting the water resources. In a hadith we learn that is totally prohibited to urinate or defecate anywhere, which is considered a source of water. It is said, "Guard against the three practices which invite people's curses: evacuating one's bowels near water sources, by the roadside and in the shade" (related by Abu Dawood). According to various ahadith it is forbidden to waste water. Ibn Majah reports that the Holy Prophet came upon a man who was wasting water while performing his ablutions, and he was using too much water. The Prophet (pbuh) came upon him and said, "What is this waste?" The man said, "Is there a waste in Wudhu also, O Messenger of Allah?" The Prophet -peace be upon him- said, "Yes, even if you were near a flowing river."

The Religion of Islam has laid down clear-cut rules regarding the distribution of water. In general terms its rules are based on the principle of benefiting all people who share its watercourse. It is related in Sahih al-Bukhari the Holy Prophet (pbuh) instructed his followers to share water among themselves and others.

It is narrated Abu Huraira that Allah's Apostle said, "Do not withhold the superfluous water, for that will prevent people from grazing their cattle."

In another hadith narrated by Urwa in Sahih al-Bukhari, that a man from the Ansar quarreled with AzZubair, the Prophet said, "O Zubair! Irrigate (your land) first and then let the water flow (to the land of the others)." "On that the Ansari said, (to the Prophet), "It is because he is your aunt's son"? On that the Prophet said, "O Zubair! Irrigate till the water reaches the walls between the pits around the trees and then stop (i.e. let the water go to the other's land)."

It is also related by Abu Huraira the Holy Prophet (saws) as having said that here are three types of people whom Allah will neither talk to, nor look at, on the Day of Resurrection. (They are):

1. A man who takes an oath falsely that he has been offered for his goods so much more than what he is given,

2. A man who takes a false oath after the 'Asr prayer in order to grab a Muslim's property.

3. A man who withholds his superfluous water. Allah will say to him, "Today I will with-hold My Grace from you as you withheld the superfluity of what you had not created."

Before it is too late, people will have to start thinking far ahead into the future, ten, twenty, thirty years from now. It is also important to understand the elementary fact that there is a defnite limit to the amount of water available, and people would have to stop thinking of water as something free and take urgent steps for the conservation of water. It should also not be doubted that there will also be tremendous difficulties in sharing water resources, because of the rights of many people involved along with the legal and politcal problems that go with it. But it can be done! Modern technology exists in the world to turn a river backward or make it run uphill at a tolerable price. Exporting clean drinking water to other countries is also an option. Where there is a will, there is a way and answers can be found if human beings overcome their national interests, selfishness and greed.