Islamic soft drinks

For some reason I've remembered just this evening that my friend Clayton and I got to talking about Arab soda while trying to cross Tappan Square in a foot and a half of snow about a week ago. That afternoon Clayton asked me excitedly if "Zamzam Cola" was popular in Tunisia. I'd never heard of the stuff but the name "Zamzam" sure range a bell. In fact, I wrote a short paper for my Intro to the Qur'an course last spring about "Kumm" and related Saudi Arabian place names and couldn't avoid bringing up the much more liturgically significant well just outside of Mecca, Zamzam, that had startling capacity to “water and feed the pilgrims” and a became a “means of subsistence for the people" (Ibn Ishaq in The Life of Muhammad, 65). Since Muhammad's time, the well of Zamzam has been a stop along the Hajj, the chiefly important Islamic pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. It seems appropriate then that, according to Wikipedia, Zamzam cola was "officially dubbed the soft drink of the Hajj" in 2002 following Suadi Arabias boycott of Coca-Cola.


Well, I've done a bit of research since my walk with Clayton and while I have yet to find out if Zamzam is sold in Tunis (I guess I'll have to wait and see), I have discovered a wealth of knowledge on Wikipedia regarding a variety of "Islmic sodas." Zamzam Cola, originally an outreach of Pepsi founded in 1954, became its own independent enterprise in 1979 following the Islamic revolution in Iran. Parsi cola, deriving its name from the same root as "Farsi" is also an Iranian drink and Zamzam's main competitor. Both brands still circulate their product in re-usable glass bottles. Parsi has certainly got a nice ring to it and rolls off the tongue as easily as "Pepsi;" is it juts a coincidence that they sound so alike? Boycotts of Western brands Coke and Pepsi are widespread throughout the Gulf and seemingly across the Arab world. I can't say if the same is true in Tunisia; first hand observation will tell soon enough.

Soft drink names like "Zamzam" and "Mecca Cola," a recent French spin-off of the original Zamzam, make a clear statement about what they should and shouldn't be used for. Mecca Cola encourages you to "Shake your conscience" on the side of the bottle and reminds all consumers that the soda should not be mixed with any alcoholic beverages. Drinking is taboo in most Islamic countries and is explicitly forbidden in the Qur'an.
Mecca Cola has pledged that 10% of their proceeds will go to funding schools in Palestine and another 10% will go to charities within the countries where the product is sold. According to website, charities who receive funds from Mecca Cola are the types of "associations who work towards peace in the world and especially for peace in the conflict between Palestinians and fascist Zionist Apartheid." Quite a statement in a soft drink.

I have never thought so profoundly about the religious ethics and political agenda behind what I drink. American corporate big-business boycotts somehow seems to pale in comparison at this point.