Settlement patterns in the Hejaz region were shaped by the availability of water for consumation, ritual practice (ablution), and agricultural economy. Early Islamic sources emphasise that when the Muhājirūn settled in Yathrib/Madīnah, fresh water was scarce and certain wells were privately held and monetised. The purchase and endowment of a freshwater well therefore had immediate social impact: it removed a bottleneck in daily life and provided a long-term charitable revenue model (the land and date-groves associated with the well were later used as waqf property to fund pilgrims, mosque maintenance and alms). Because waqf doctrine became a central institutional mechanism for Islamic social provision, the literary tradition of Bir Rūma is often cited in legal and juridical discussions as an early example of an endowed public water resource.

The Well of Rumah is securely attested in Islamic textual tradition as a significant freshwater source associated with ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān and as a historically continuous waqf property. Documentary sources (hadith compilations, medieval Madīnah chronicles, modern waqf records) and surviving built traces support a narrative of long-term use and endowment. However, the site lacks a published archaeological monograph and hydrogeological study that could robustly verify the physical continuity claimed in the textual tradition.

circa 640 CE

Samhoudi notes that, during the time of the prophet Muhammad, it was located in an open area where a tall stone residential building stood as well. According to Ibn Najjar this building was the house of a Medinan Jew, surrounded by open agricultural land and other watering holes.

Some assert that this was the only fresh water source in Medina at the time, when the Prophet Muhammad arrived in the city. The water-well was the property of a local man from the tribe of Banu Ghiffar tribe, named Rumah, or according to some traditions it was a Jew named, Mazni or from the region or area called Mazni [see N2]. This water-well was subsequently purchased by Uthman ibn Affan (according to some traditions he paid some 38,000 or 12,000 or 40,000 or 35,000 dirhams and some mention that he paid upwards of 100 camels or cows (Baqarah).

According to Islamic tradition the well which originally belonged to a man named Rumah, a Jewish Medinan, who used to sell the water for profits. And at that time it was quite difficult for Muslims, who were already struggling financially, to pay for the water they needed. Seeing this, on the request of prophet Muhammad, Uthman ibn Affan purchased [see N3] the well from its Jewish owner and made a waqf for all, Muslims and non-muslims. This well is still active and the Waqf tradition is still on-going.

According to a local tradition, when abu Kard beseiged Medina in 495 CE, he was relieved of sickness by drinking water from this well.

Qadi Iyad bin Musa (lived 1083-1149 CE) in his book Mashariq al-Anwar `ala Sahih al-Athar (which is based on al-Muwatta of Malik ibn Anas, Sahih al-Bukhari of Imam Bukhari and Sahih Muslim by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj) notes that there are two wells named Bir Rumah, but Samhoudi along with other historians has declined the authenticity of this view. At the time (circa 1200 CE) the well was neglected and its structure was in ruins, and its water had become salty.

It was later rebuilt by the then Qadhi of Mecca Shahab ul-Din Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Muhhib Tibri in year 1349/1350 CE (750 Hijri).

The original water well hole is situated near the northern edge of the date farm, while the modern and larger water well is located near the southern end north of the mosque of Bir Uthman.

circa 640 CE

Islamic literary tradition places its transition from private-commercial to public use in the Prophet’s lifetime or shortly after, when ʿUthmān purchased and endowed it as a waqf. The site has continued as an endowed property through the medieval period into the modern Saudi state; its archaeological footprint survives in the form of ruined wellheads, date-grove plots and later reservoirs.

The well of Uthman is part of an Islamic Waqf even today, revenues from which are used to help the poor and pilgrims to the Haramain. The Waqf complex includes the historic water well, date farms, remains of an Ottoman era water reservoir, a mosque, modern water hole, reservoirs and a water tower.