You have left home in a hurry to get somewhere. You are not entirely sure of the address you are going to, and the traffic is very busy. But you are not in the least bit concerned.
Before leaving home you press a small button, and your car moves away from where you had parked it and comes up to your front door.
As you approach, it uses a special scanning system to identify you, and the door opens. The seat belt fastens automatically as you sit down.
You tell the car where you are going.
Your car checks the traffic situation over the Internet and determines the fastest route to your destination.
At the same time, since your car is equipped with maximum safety features, the risk of accident is reduced to a minimum.
There can be no doubt that were such a car to exist, nobody would doubt the existence of people who had designed it.
Indeed, many people would be curious about the designer and manufacturing company, and would try to find out about them.
Large or small, everything that contains a detailed design and order must necessarily have a designer.
And what about the countless variety of living things we see all around us?
How can people who believe that this car has a designer account for the origin of living things, with their ever more complex structures?
Let us now have a look around us.
Whichever part of the universe we look at, from our own bodies to giant galaxies, from the living things in nature to cells too small to be seen with the naked eye, we find a flawless plan and order.
That stays the same wherever one goes in the world, whatever organisms one looks at.
Birds that endanger their own lives for the sake of their young,
Dam-building beavers,
Butterflies that conceal themselves by imitating other living things…
There is a flawless order in the entire universe.
And we witness the magnificence of this order in every thing we see.
Plants, animals, seas, mountains, human beings, and even all the living things in the microworld…
The magnificent features in each and every one reflect the infinite knowledge of God, their Creator.
There can be no doubt that it is God Who is worthy of all praise, Who creates all living things together with the abilities they possess.
At this point, it’s important to properly understand that in order to create God has no need to design. Whenever God wills a thing to come about, His command is just to say, "Be!"
Such examples in living things are signs, proof in other words, of the matchless artistry and the infinite nature of the might of God, Who created this extraordinary order.
The important thing is to be able to see these signs and appreciate the greatness and glory of God.
In the heavens and Earth there are certainly signs for the believers. And in your creation and all the creatures He has spread about there are signs for people with certainty. (Surat al-Jathiyya, 3-4)
THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK IN PLANTS
The ability to measure time may be thought to be limited to man.
But both plants and animals possess a time-measuring mechanism, or "biological clock."
Plants, in their endless variety, have known what to do, and when to do it, for millions of years. They do this without forgetting and without error, thanks to the program hidden in their seeds.
Leaves fall from the trees at exactly the right time every autumn, and re-appear every spring. Every function performed by plants, from a seed falling to earth and sprouting to the water absorbed from the soil and distributed to the furthest tips of giant trees, takes place with impeccable timing.
Under natural conditions, plants select certain times for certain activities. They do this in line with certain changes in the sunlight. Because their internal clocks are tuned to sunlight, they complete their rhythmic activities in 24 hours. No matter how long the rhythmic motions last, there is one point that does not change: These activities occur to ensure the life of the plant and the survival of the generations, and they always take place at the most appropriate time. And in order for them to function properly, several complicated processes have to be completed in a flawless manner.
For example, flowering is not an ordinary function that takes place of its own accord, because plants do not always give off pollen.
Moreover, in most plants flowers open at a particular time of year, because these times are the best suited to the flowering of the plant.
Plants' clocks, which regulate this time, also calculate the duration of sunlight falling on the leaves.
Every plant's biological clock calculates this period in accordance with the plant's particular features. No matter what the calculation, the flowers open at the most appropriate time.
One of the plants that sets its own timing in this way is the soybean. As a result of research into the regulation of time in the soybean, it was seen that, at whatever time these plants are sown, they open their flowers at the same time of year.
The poppy disperses its pollen to coincide with the days and hours when pollinators are most prevalent.
And these days and hours vary from plant to plant.
But in the end, with this time regulation, every plant disperses its pollen in a manner guaranteed to give the best results.
Poppies, for example, disperse their pollen in July and August between 05:30 and 10:00 in the morning.
That is the time when bees and other insects emerge to look for food. At this point the flower has to include in its calculation not just its own characteristics, but also those of other living things, down to the finest detail.
The plant must have accurate knowledge of the time when the creatures which will fertilize it emerge, the length of the journey they will undertake, and the times they feed.
In such a situation the following question comes to mind:
Where in the plant is the clock that possesses all this "information," does all the necessary calculations, analyses the features of other creatures, and works in a way reminiscent of a computer center?
This clearly indicates a superior intelligence and power which establishes and controls the timing of all plants' different activities.
The biological clock in plants is just one of the countless miracles of creation.
It is He Who sends down water from the sky. From it you drink and from it come the shrubs among which you graze your herds. And by it He makes crops grow for you and olives and dates and grapes and fruit of every kind. There is certainly a sign in that for people who reflect. (Surat an-Nahl, 10-11)
SHARKS ARE SENSITIVE TO ELECTRICAL CURRENTS
Sharks’ respiratory systems, and the magnetic receptors that enable them to find their way, and ability to swim very rapidly are all miracles of creation.
As with all living things, God has created sharks flawlessly.
White sharks, that rely heavily on vision to catch their prey, experience no difficulty when swimming off warm coral reef waters.
They can easily see their prey.
In cold ocean waters, however, it might be expected that their vision would be impaired by the cold, because chemical reactions slow down under the influence of the cold water. Therefore, the animal’s eyes should not be able to track a fast-moving prey; yet white sharks never encounter such difficulties because their eyes are not cold-blooded like their bodies.
In this species of shark the heat from their body's muscles is directed straight to the eyes.
Thus, they can catch the fastest swimming fish and even seals.
Yet how do other shark species whose vision is too weak in cold waters to track their prey manage to find food?
The answer to this question introduces us to the perfect creation in sharks.
All living things give off electricity in addition to heat. Those creatures that live on land find it hard to perceive these currents because the air serves as an insulator. But things are different in water.
Water is a natural conductor of electricity, therefore, a living thing capable of perceiving that electricity possesses a very effective sense.
Sharks have this advantage to such an extent that they can perceive all the vibrations, changes in temperature and salinity levels in water, and especially the minute changes in electrical fields produced by moving creatures.
A shark's body contains a large number of gel-filled vesicles.
These vesicles are particularly concentrated at the head, from where they extend right through the animal’s body.
Known as the "ampullae of Lorenzini," these magnificent electro-receptors are used by both sharks and rays to find their prey.
These organs have a direct opening to the surface through pores in the animal's head and snout.
And as electro-receptors, they are exceedingly sensitive.
In this way, sharks perceive currents as weak as half a billionth of a volt.
This is an extraordinary ability.
Think of the flashlight batteries in your home. If you plant electrodes 2000 miles apart on the ocean floor and power them with a 1.5-volt battery, sharks in between can detect the electric field produced.
What we have seen so far shows that sharks have extraordinarily complex physical systems.
There is evidence, like these features found in sharks, that shows us the sublime knowledge of our Almighty Lord everywhere in the universe. This evidence is a means whereby we can properly appreciate His matchless knowledge, reflect on it and give thanks to Him. God reveals this in the Qur’an:
Among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and Earth and all the creatures He has spread about in them... (Surat ash-Shura, 29)
HIBERNATING BEARS ARE A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR NEW DISCOVERIES IN MEDICINE
The first animals one thinks of whenever the word “hibernation” is mentioned is without doubt bears.
Scientists have recently been researching how it is that bears can remain healthy over the long months of hibernation, and are looking for ways to make use of bears’ physiological characteristics in the field of medicine. For example, the objective behind one piece of research being carried out at the Michigan Technological University is to find a cure for osteoporosis by studying the bone metabolism of bears.
Our bones are constantly being renewed throughout our lives. Yet if bone breakdown increases for reasons such as old age or immobility, and if renewal declines, then the bone tissue weakens. This is something that applies to human beings. Yet, although the American Black Bear remains almost totally immobile during the months it spends in hibernation, it suffers no loss in bone density. It is thought that if a human being were to remain in bed for a similar length of time his bones would grow very brittle and break easily.
An article on the subject by the research team, led by Seth Donahue of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, was published in The Journal of Experimental Biology in 2003. It describes how there is an increase in bone breakdown as the bear hibernates, but bone production remains constant. Immobile human beings suffer damage because breakdown increases while bone production declines rather than remaining constant. As the animal wakens from hibernation and begins to move again, production reaches its highest level, and the bones are thus able to return rapidly to their former state. Yet a human being immobilized for a long period of time due to injury or sickness suffers bone loss and may never fully return to his former condition.
The Black Bear does not feed during hibernation. That may give rise to the following question: From where does it obtain the calcium necessary for bone production? Donahue thinks that the calcium released by bone loss is re-absorbed by the body and recycled in bone production. One of the reasons why he believes this is because the Black Bear has no excretory or urinary activity during hibernation. Seth Donahue sets out his thoughts in these terms:
"We're most interested in how bears recycle calcium… That's most likely regulated by specific hormones." (Seth Donahue, Michigan Technological University)
Osteoporosis begins with weakening of the bone tissue, and can lead to fractures and breakage-related deaths in the advanced stages. Ageing is a major risk factor in the development of osteoporosis. Bone tissue is constantly being renewed; however, bone production is only maintained at a high level until the age of 30-35. After 45, bone breakdown starts to increase. Many people today suffer from this disease. Scientists studying bear bones in terms of resistance, permeability and mineral density obtained a very surprising finding. According to the results of the study, age has no effect on bear bones. In addition, as the bear grows older the resistance and mineral density of its bones actually increase significantly!
The research team particularly focused on the parathormone secreted by the parathyroid gland. They were surprised to observe that the structure of this hormone differs from that of the parathormone in the human body. Scientists are now trying to identify the origin of the difference between the two hormones and to produce a synthetic version that mimics the function of the bear hormone. Success may lead to the production of a new drug for osteoporosis sufferers.
All this research may change the methods used by doctors in the treatment of osteoporosis and play a significant role in reducing bone problems not only in the bed-ridden and elderly people suffering bone wastage, but also in astronauts who spend long periods of time in space.
Most people feel very fit when they take regular exercise. Yet the Black Bear is equally “fit” when it wakes from its months of hibernation. According to a study published in Nature magazine in 2001, Black Bears that remain almost totally immobile for months during hibernation suffer no significant loss in muscle strength and tissues.
Henry Harlow, from University of Wyoming, and his research team established that Black Bears experience a 22% loss in muscle strength during hibernation, and a protein loss of 10 to and 15%. In fact, these findings are quite astonishing, because humans would lose 85% of their strength and 90% of their protein over a similar period. Several years ago the physiologist Edgar Folk discovered that urea, a toxic substance expelled from the body under normal circumstances, was re-absorbed through the bear’s bladder during hibernation. The nitrogen in urea is made available for re-cycling in the body and in the manufacture of protein. There is no such system in human beings, however. If a human being’s urinary system fails to function for even a short time the result is death from an accumulation of toxic urea in the blood. Harlow thinks that urea meets part of the bear’s protein requirements, and that protein is also obtained from other sources. According to Harlow, like some species of snake that digest their own small intestines in the event of an urgent need for protein, bears may also draw on such labile protein reserves as visceral smooth muscle.
Based on figures obtained from small thermometers they implanted on bear’s bodies, the scientists concluded that Black Bears shiver on a regular basis during hibernation. They believe that regular shivering is a factor that protects muscle strength. According to the research team, understanding the system that protects the bear’s muscles during hibernation can lead to a new conception in the treatment of muscle diseases linked to immobility in human beings. In fact, a hibernating bear is a potential source of inspiration for medical science in a number of respects. Drugs produced on the basis of substances produced in the bear’s body may lead to new treatments for such diseases as kidney failure, diabetes and obesity.
As we have seen, with the features of their bodies bears are shedding light on medical research. The qualities of bears understood by scientists only as the result of long years of work in the laboratory have existed in these animals from the moment of their birth.
It is Almighty God Who creates bears together with their perfect mechanisms, endows them with these mechanisms to take care of them over the long months of hibernation, Who inspires their every action, and Who rules over all living things in the Earth and heavens. Our Lord has created these magnificent features in animals as evidence for human beings to reflect on. He reveals this in the Qur’an:
And in your creation and all the creatures He has spread about there are signs for people with certainty. (Surat al-Jathiyya, 4)
NIGHT-HUNTING OWLS
All living things on Earth have been created with miraculous characteristics and amazing abilities.
We can come across a wide variety of these creatures wherever we may live and we can see these astonishingly different qualities in all species.
There are some 10,000 species of birds—one class of the flawless living things on Earth—each of which possesses its own miraculous features.
One amazing member of the bird kingdom is the owl.
Most owls are nocturnal.
Night is a time of concealment and sleep for most living things but it is a time for hunting for the owl.
All their qualities have been created to allow these creatures to move with ease through the darkness.
First and foremost, a creature that hunts by night has to be able to move silently.
But most birds make a noise when they fly.
The noise made by the wings of a flying swan, for instance, can be heard from a long distance.
The wings of many large birds make a noise as they fly.
Noisy wings are a major disadvantage in that intended prey becomes aware of an impending attack.
But this problem has been resolved in the nocturnal owl through the special structure of its feathers. The owl’s feathers are soft, and the edges of their powerful wing feathers have a tasseled structure that enables them to fly.
The velvet-soft surface of the wing feathers effectively drowns out noise and allows the owl to fly in silence.
Another of owls’ most striking characteristics is the structure of their eyes.
The owl’s eyes are rather large and located towards the front of their heads.
In some owl species, the eyes may constitute 5% of the bird’s total body weight.
This is a large proportion.
If the same proportion were applied to us, our eyes would be the size of a large grapefruit.
The fact that its eyes are located towards the front of its head gives the owl a wide-angle, stereoscopic vision. This means that it can see an object with both eyes at the same time. Thanks to this kind of vision the owl is able to determine distance very accurately by seeing objects in three dimensions.
Some species of owl are able to widen their field of vision by rotating their heads 180 degrees and to see what is behind them.
This not only protects the owl against predators, but also enables it to accurately locate its prey.
The flawless creation of owls can also be seen in their ability to rotate their necks.
The bird’s neck is almost invisible, hidden in its long and flexible neck feathers.
There are 14 vertebrae in the owl’s neck, which is double the number in the necks of human beings.
This enables the owl to rotate its head by 270 degrees.
The characteristics briefly summarized here are clear evidence of creation.
Almighty God has created owls together with all their perfect characteristics. Every living thing in nature gives us proof of our Lord’s creative artistry and matchless knowledge.
It is God Who created the seven heavens and of the earth the same number, the Command descending down through all of them, so that you might know that God has power over all things and that God encompasses all things in His knowledge. (Surat at-Talaq, 12)
BUTTERFLIES WITH OPTICAL KNOWLEDGE
There are three basic laws of light-ray optics used by physicists:
1) The closer the sun’s rays strike it to a right angle, the more a surface warms up.
2) If sunlight strikes two surfaces at the same angle, the darker of the two will warm up more.
3) A reflective surface reflects light at the same angle at which the light strikes it.
Students of physics are aware of these laws, but many people today may be unaware that these laws even exist.
They are unaware of how these laws affect their daily lives or the purpose they serve.
But there are also other living things that know these laws very well:
Butterflies.
Butterflies make use of the laws of optics in their day-to-day lives.
Everyone likes butterflies.
These creatures with their bright colors and delicate flight patterns are among the beauties created for us by God.
However, there is more to butterflies than just their attractive external appearance.
Sometimes these short-lived creatures must make the most expert calculations.
The Colias butterfly, for example, is unable to fly if its body temperature falls below 28 degrees Centigrade.
In that event, it immediately extends its wings and turns its back to the Sun to receive its rays perpendicularly.
When the butterfly has warmed up enough and its body temperature has risen to 40 degrees Centigrade, it turns 90 degrees around its own axis.
The Sun’s rays now strike it horizontally.
This minimizes the warming effect of the Sun’s rays.
The butterfly’s body temperature now starts to fall.
In addition, some species of butterfly have large, dark scaly spots on those parts of their wings closest to their bodies.
According to their color, these scales are able to adjust the temperature to the maximum or minimum level.
We have all seen butterflies opening and closing their wings in the sun, as if they were trying to keep them at a particular angle.
The black spots on these insects’ bodies help them to absorb the Sun’s rays.
By adjusting the opening and closing motion of its wings to the direction of the sun’s rays, a butterfly can increase its body heat.
Human beings use concave mirrors and lenses to focus rays on a particular point.
Similarly, Pieris butterflies set their wings at an angle—like a lens—that allows them to focus the sun’s rays on the areas that need the most heat.
This behavior requires the knowledge of optics.
These butterflies do not have any training in physics or optics. They are not even aware of the laws of physics, or of the angle that will most efficiently receive the sun’s rays.
Like all creatures in the universe, God has created butterflies with all the complex systems they need to survive.
It is God, Who protects and watches over all things; it is He Who inspires in these creatures the knowledge of what they need to do to warm their bodies most efficiently.
Everything in the heavens and everything in the Earth belongs to Him. God is the Rich Beyond Need, the Praiseworthy. (Surah Saba’, 64)
PROOFS OF GOD’S EXISTENCE ARE EVERYWHERE
Whatever plant or animal we examine, the final result of our search will always point to the reality of a flawless creation.
All living things have countless undiscovered aspects, and each one of these is created for its own particular purpose.
Every living thing contains the proof of its creation. It is the duty of every rational individual to reflect on God’s creation and to praise and glorify our Lord at all times.
SCREEN TEXTS
00.21-00.31
The Signs in Living Things
05.03-05.17
In the heavens and Earth there are certainly signs for the believers. And in your creation and all the creatures He has spread about there are signs for people with certainty. (Surat al-Jathiyya, 3-4)
05.21-05.27
The Biological Clock in Plants
10.20-10.42
It is He Who sends down water from the sky. From it you drink and from it come the shrubs among which you graze your herds. And by it He makes crops grow for you and olives and dates and grapes and fruit of every kind. There is certainly a sign in that for people who reflect. (Surat an-Nahl, 10-11)
10.46-10.52
SHARKS ARE SENSITIVE TO ELECTRICAL CURRENTS
14.39-14.45
-
1,5V
+
15.23-15.38
Among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and Earth and all the creatures He has spread about in them... (Surat ash-Shura, 29)
15.42-15.48
HIBERNATING BEARS ARE A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR NEW DISCOVERIES IN MEDICINE
17.18-18.06
Seth Donahue
17.21-18.07
The Journal of Experimental Biology
18.19-18.40
Seth Donahue
18.23-18.32
Ca
18.42-18.53
"We're most interested in how bears recycle calcium… That's most likely regulated by specific hormones." (Seth Donahue, Michigan Technological University)
21.08-21.20
Henry Harlow
21.11-21.15
22
21.16-21.19
10-15%
21.26-21.30
85%
21.31-21.34
90%
21.36-21.50
G. Edgar Folk
21.46-21.50
N2
22.05-22.24
Henry Harlow
24.07-24.16
And in your creation and all the creatures He has spread about there are signs for people with certainty. (Surat al-Jathiyya, 4)
24.20-24.26
Night-hunting Owls
29.07-29.26
It is God Who created the seven heavens and of the earth the same number, the Command descending down through all of them, so that you might know that God has power over all things and that God encompasses all things in His knowledge. (Surat at-Talaq, 12)
29.29-29.38
BUTTERFLIES WITH OPTICAL KNOWLEDGE
29.42-29.50
1) The closer the sun’s rays strike it to a right angle, the more a surface warms up.
29.50-29.56
2) If sunlight strikes two surfaces at the same angle, the darker of the two will warm up more.
29.57-30.04
3) A reflective surface reflects light at the same angle at which the light strikes it.
33.37-33.45
Everything in the heavens and everything in the Earth belongs to Him. God is the Rich Beyond Need, the Praiseworthy. (Surah Saba’, 64)
33.50-33.57
PROOFS OF GOD'S EXISTENCE ARE EVERYWHERE
35.05-35.19
That is God, your Lord. There is no deity but Him, the Creator of everything. So worship Him. He is responsible for everything. (Surat al-An‘am, 102)