Chapter 2
The Signs In The Heavens And On The Earth
Assume that you set up a big city by bringing millions of Legos together.
Let there be in this city skyscrapers, twisting roads, railway stations,
airports, shopping malls, subways and also rivers, lakes, forests and
a beach. Let there also be living in it thousands of people wandering
in its streets, sitting in their homes and working in their offices. Take
every detail into account. Even the traffic lights, box offices, and the
signboards at the bus stations.If someone came up to you and said that
all the Legos of this city, which you had founded by planning it right
down to the smallest detail, and each piece of which you had picked up
with great pains, had been brought together by coincidence to produce
this city, what would you think of the mental state of that person?
Now, go back to the city you have built and consider that the whole city
would be levelled to the ground if you had forgotten to put into place
even a single Lego, or changed its place. Can you imagine what great balance
and order you have had to establish?
Life in the world where we live is also made possible by the accumulation
of such a great number of details incomprehensible to the human mind.
The absence of even one of these details might mean the end of life on
the earth.
Everything, every detail from the atom, the smallest unit of matter,
to the galaxies harbouring billions of stars, from the moon, an inseparable
adjunct of the world, to the solar system, all work in a perfect harmony.
This well-organised system runs flawlessly, just like a watch. People
are so confident that this billions-of-years-old system will go on functioning
without leaving out even the smallest detail that they can freely make
plans about something they think will be realised in the next 10 years.
No one is worried about whether the sun will rise the next day. A great
majority of people do not think about ‘whether the world may ever chance
to break free from the gravitation of the sun and start to move towards
the unknown in the pitch-dark space’; or ask ‘What keeps this from happening?’
In the same manner, when people are about to sleep, they are very confident
that their hearts or respiratory systems will not relax as their brains
do. However, even a few seconds’ halt in any one of these two vital systems
may well cause results that will cost one's life.
When the ‘glasses of familiarity’ which surround the whole of life and
cause every event to be assessed as if ‘it is taking place in its natural
course’ are taken off, one is free to see that everything is made up of
such closely interdependent, meticulously planned systems that it is as
if we were hanging on to life by the skin of our teeth. You notice an
excellent order prevailing in every spot you turn your eyes on. Certainly,
there is a great power that creates such an order and harmony. The possessor
of this great power is Allah, Who created everything out of nothing. In
a verse of the Qur'an, it is said:
He Who has created seven heavens in full harmony
with one another: no incongruity will you see in the creation of the Most
Gracious. And turn your vision (upon it) once more: can you see any flaw?
Yea, turn your vision (upon it) again and yet again: (and every time)
your vision will fall back upon you, dazzled and truly defeated. (Surat
al-Mulk, 3-4)
When we look at the living beings in the heavens, on the earth and in all
that lies between them, we see that they all prove the existence of their
Creator in their own right. In this chapter, we are going to dwell on the
natural phenomena and living beings that every one sees, yet never thinks
about, and how they have come into being and continue their existence. If
we were to write down all the signs of Allah in the universe, they would
fill many thousands of volumes of encyclopaedias. Therefore, in this chapter,
we will only deal briefly with some subjects that deserve to be pondered
upon at length.
However, even these brief mentions will help the conscientious ‘men of
understanding’ to notice the most important fact of their lives or at
least will help them remember it once again.
For Allah Exists.
To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth and He is
known through reason.
THE MIRACLES IN OUR BODY
‘A Half-Developed Eye Cannot See’
What comes to your mind first when you hear the word ‘eye’? Are you aware
that one of the most crucial things in life for you is your ability to
see? Even if you are, have you ever thought what other signs your eye
bears?
The eye is one of the most manifest pieces of evidence that living creatures
are created. All sight organs, including animal eyes and the human eye,
are extremely striking examples of a perfect design. This exceptional
organ is so overwhelmingly complex that it surpasses even the most sophisticated
devices in the world.
In order for an eye to see, all of its parts have to co-exist and work
in harmony. For instance, if an eye happened to have lost its eyelid,
but still had all the other parts such as the cornea, conjunctiva, iris,
pupil, eye lenses, retina, choroid, eye muscles, and tear glands, it would
still be greatly damaged and soon lose its seeing function. In the same
manner, even if all its organelles were present, if the tear production
were stopped, the eye would soon dry out and become blind.
‘The chain of coincidences’ posited by evolutionists loses all its meaning
against the complex structure of the eye. It is not possible to explain
the existence of the eye other than as a matter of special creation. The
eye has a multi-sectioned complex system and, as discussed above, all
of these individual sections had to come into existence at the same time.
It is impossible for a half-developed eye to function at ‘half capacity’.
In such a circumstance, the act of seeing can by no means take place.
An evolutionist scientist admits to this truth:
The common trait of the eyes and the wings
is that they can only function if they are fully developed. In other words,
a halfway-developed eye cannot see; a bird with half-formed wings cannot
fly.13
In this case, we again face that very important question: who created all
of the components of the eye all at once?
The owner of the eyes is obviously not the one who makes the decision
about their formation. For it is impossible for a being devoid of the
knowledge of what seeing is like, to desire to have a seeing organ and
have it attached to his body. So we have to accept the existence of a
Possessor of superior Wisdom Who has created living beings with senses
such as seeing, hearing, and so on. Another claim is that unconscious
cells gained consciousness-requiring functions such as seeing and hearing
by their own desire and effort. It is very clear that this is impossible.
In the Qur'an, it is stated that seeing has been bestowed upon living
beings by Allah:
Say: He it is Who brought you into being and made
for you the ears and the eyes and the hearts: little is it that you give
thanks. (Surat al-Mulk, 23)
The Army Inside Man
Every day, a war is fought in the innermost parts of your body unperceived
by you. On the one side are viruses and bacteria that aim to intrude into
your body and take it under control and on the other are the immunity
cells that protect the body against these enemies.
The enemies wait in an offensive state to make their way into the area
they aim at and they head towards the target area at the first opportunity.
However, the strong, organised and disciplined soldiers of the target
area do not easily give in to the enemies. First, the soldiers who swallow
and neutralise the enemy soldiers (phagocytes) arrive at the battleground.
However, sometimes the fight is tougher than these soldiers can handle.
On such occasions, other soldiers (macrophages) are summoned up. Their
involvement causes alarm in the target area and other soldiers (auxiliary
T cells) are also called to battle.
These soldiers are very familiar with the local populace. They quickly
distinguish their own army from that of the enemy. They immediately activate
the soldiers assigned to weapon production (B cells). These soldiers have
extraordinary abilities. Although they never see the enemy, they can produce
weapons which will render the enemy ineffectual. In addition, they carry
the weapons they produce as far as they should be taken. During this journey,
they succeed in the difficult task of not causing any harm either to themselves
or to their allies. Later, the striker teams cut in (killer T cells).
These discharge the poisonous material they carry on themselves at the
most vital spot of the enemy. In case of victory, another group of soldiers
arrives at the battleground (oppressive T cells) and sends all the warriors
back to their camp. The soldiers who arrive at the battleground last (memory
cells) record all relevant information about the enemy, so that it can
be used in the event of a similar invasion in the future.
A B cell is seen as it is disjoined.
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A B cell covered with bacteria.
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The excellent army discussed above is the immunity system in the human body.
Everything explained above is done by microscopic cells unobservable to
the naked eye. (For more information please see For Men of Understanding:
The Signs in the Heavens and the Earth by Harun Yahya)
How many people are aware that they have such an organised, disciplined
and perfect army inside their bodies? How many of them are aware that
they are surrounded on all sides by microbes that, if unimpeded, would
cause them to catch serious illnesses or even die? Indeed, there are many
dangerous microbes in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food
we eat, and the surfaces we touch. While one is unaware of all that is
going on, the cells in one’s body make strenuous efforts to save one from
an illness that may even bring about one’s death.
The ability of all immunity cells to distinguish enemy cells from body
cells, the ability of B cells to prepare a weapon to neutralise the enemy
that they have never seen, their ability to carry these weapons as far
as they have to be taken without adversely affecting any body cells, the
signal-receiving cells' fulfilling their duty completely without making
any objections, each of them knowing what to do, their returning to their
places without any problem as soon as they are finished with their work,
and the abilities of the memory cells are only some of the distinctive
characteristics of this system.
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Immunity cells (yellow)
are seen in a fight with cancer cells.
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For all these reasons, the story of the formation of the immunity system
is never taken up by any evolutionist writer.
It is extremely difficult for a person without an immunity system or
with an ill-functioning one to survive, since he would be exposed to all
the microbes and viruses in the outside world. Today, such people can
exist only in special enclosures with no direct contact with anyone or
anything outside. Therefore, it is impossible for a person without an
immunity system to survive in a primitive environment. This leads us to
the fact that an extremely complex system such as the immunity system
could only have been created all at once and with all of its elements.
A System Planned in its Every Detail
Breathing, eating, walking, etc, are very natural human functions. But
most people do not think how these basic actions take place. For example,
when you eat a fruit, you do not think how it will be made useful to your
body. The only thing on your mind is eating a healthy meal; at the same
time, your body is involved in extremely detailed processes unimaginable
to you in order to make this meal a health-giving thing.
The digestive system where these detailed processes take place starts
to function as soon as a piece of food is taken into the mouth. Being
involved in the system right at the outset, the saliva wets the food and
helps it to be ground by the teeth and slide down the oesophagus.
The oesophagus helps the food be transported to the stomach where a perfect
balance is at work. Here, the food is digested by the hydrochloric acid
present in the stomach. This acid is so strong that it has the capacity
to dissolve not only the food but also the stomach walls. Of course, such
a flaw is not permitted in this perfect system. A secretion called mucus
which is secreted during digestion covers all the walls of the stomach
and provides a perfect protection against the destructive effect of the
hydrochloric acid. Thus the stomach is prevented from destroying
itself.
The rest of the digestive system is likewise planned. The useful food
pieces broken down by the digestive system are absorbed by the small intestine
walls and enter the blood stream. The inner surface of the small intestine
is covered with tiny tendrils called ‘villus’. On top of the cells over
the villus are microscopic extensions called the microvillus. These extensions
function as pumps to absorb the nutrition. This way the nutrition absorbed
by these pumps is delivered all around the body by the circulatory system.
The point that deserves attention here is that evolution can by no means
explain the system briefly summarised earlier. Evolution maintains that
today's complex organisms have evolved from primitive beings by the gradual
accumulation of small structural changes. However, as stated clearly,
the system in the stomach could in no way have been formed step by step.
The absence of even one factor would bring about the death of the organism.
When food is received into the stomach, the gastric juices acquire the
ability to break down food as a result of a series of chemical changes.
Now, imagine a living being in the so-called evolutionary process in whose
body such a planned chemical transformation is not possible. This living
being, unable to acquire this ability, would not be able to digest
the food it ate and would starve to death with an undigested mass of food
in its stomach.
In addition, during the secretion of this dissolving acid, the stomach
walls simultaneously have to produce the secretion called mucus. Otherwise,
the acid in the stomach would destroy the stomach. Therefore, in order
for life to continue, the stomach must secrete both fluids (acid and mucus)
at the same time. This shows that not a step-by-step coincidental evolution
but a conscious creation with all its systems must, in effect, have been
at work.
What all this shows is that the human body resembles a huge factory made
up of many small machines that work together in perfect harmony. Just
as all factories have a designer, an engineer and a planner, the human
body has an Exalted Creator.
ANIMALS AND PLANTS
Millions of plant and animal types present in the world stand out as
evidence that prove the existence and might of our Creator.
All of these living beings, a limited number of which will be described
as examples here, deserve to be examined individually. They all have different
body systems, diverse defence tactics, unique ways of feeding, and interesting
reproduction methods. Unfortunately, it is not possible to describe all
living beings with all their features in a single book. Encyclopaedias
of many volumes would not be enough for this task.
However, even the few examples we will discuss here will be sufficient
to prove that life on earth can in no way be explained by coincidences
or accidental happenings.
From Caterpillar to Butterfly
If you had 450-500 eggs and if you had to preserve them outside, what
would you do? The wisest course for you would be to take precautions to
prevent them from being scattered around, say, by the wind, or other environmental
factors. Being one of the animals that lay the most eggs at one time (450-500),
the silkworms use a very intelligent way to protect their eggs: they unite
the eggs with a viscous substance (thread) they secrete to prevent them
from being scattered around.
The caterpillars that pop out of their eggs firstly
find a safe branch for themselves and then get tied to this branch with
the same thread. Later, to promote their own development, they start to
spin a cocoon for themselves with the thread they secrete. It takes 3-4
days for a caterpillar that has opened its eyes very recently to life
to complete this process. During this period, the caterpillar makes thousands
of turns and produces a thread an average of 900-1,500 metres long.14
At the end of this process, it starts a new task through which it undergoes
a metamorphosis to become an elegant butterfly.
A silkworm caterpillar in its cocoon which it has spun with a silk
thread.
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Neither the action taken by the mother silkworm to protect its eggs,
nor the behaviour of a tiny caterpillar devoid of any awareness, education
or knowledge can be explained by evolution. First of all, the ability
of the mother to produce the thread it uses to secure its eggs is miraculous.
The newly-born caterpillar's knowing the most suitable environment for
itself, its spinning a cocoon in accordance with it, its undergoing a
metamorphosis, and its coming through this metamorphosis without any problem
are beyond human comprehension. Hence, we can simply say that each caterpillar
is born into the world with a foreknowledge of what to do, which means
that it was 'taught' all of these things before it was born.
Let us explain this with an example. What would you think if you saw
a new-born baby standing up a few hours after his birth, getting together
the things he needs to make his bed (like quilt, pillow, mattress), and
later putting all these together neatly, making his bed and lying down
on it? After you recover from the shock of the event, you would probably
think that the baby must have been taught in an extraordinary way in his
mother's womb to perform such a process. The case of the caterpillars
is no different from the baby in this example.
This again leads us to the same conclusions: these living creatures come
into life, behave and live in the way determined by Allah Who has created
them. The Qur'anic verse stating that Allah has inspired the honeybee
and commanded it to make honey (Surat an-Nahl, 68-69) provides an
example of the great secret of the world of living beings. This secret
is that all living beings have bowed to Allah's will and follow the fate
determined by Him. This is why the honeybee makes honey and the silkworm
produces silk.
The Symmetry in Wings
When we look at the butterfly wings in the pictures, we see a perfect symmetry
prevailing over them. These lace-like wings are so adorned with patterns,
spots and colours that each of them is like a work of art.
When you look at the wings of these butterflies, you notice that the
patterns and colours on both sides are fully identical, no matter how
intricate they may seem. Even the smallest dot is present on both wings,
thereby introducing a flawless order and symmetry.
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He is Allah, the Creator, the Shaper out of naught,
the Bestower of forms (or colours). To Him belong the Most Beautiful
Names: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, declares His Praises
and Glory: and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. (Surat
al-Hashr, 24)
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In addition, none of the colours on these thin wings mixes with the other,
each being sharply set apart from the other. Actually, these colours are
formed by the amassing of tiny scales clustered one on top of another.
Isn't it a wonder how these small scales that are easily dispersed with
your hand's slightest touch can be arranged in both wings without any
mistake in their disposal so as to produce exactly the same pattern. Even
the replacement of a single scale would destroy the symmetry in the wings
and impair their aesthetics. However, you never see any muddle in the
wings of any butterfly on the earth. They are as neat and elegant as if
made by an artist. And they are indeed made by an Exalted Creator.
The Animal with the Longest Neck: The Giraffe
Giraffes have many amazing characteristics. One
of these is that their neck stands on 7 vertebrae, just like that of all
other mammals, even though it is so long. Another amazing fact about giraffes
is that they do not have any problem pumping blood up to their brain on
top of their long neck. A little thinking would make one notice how difficult
it must be to have the blood pumped so high. But giraffes do not have
any problem about this, because their hearts are equipped with features
to pump blood as high as necessary. This enables them to carry on with
their lives effortlessly.
Yet they still face another problem while they drink water. Essentially,
giraffes should have died of high blood pressure every time they bent
down to drink water. However, the perfect system in their necks completely
eliminates this risk. When they bend down, the valves in their neck vessels
are shut down and they prevent excess blood from flowing to the brain.
There is no doubt that the giraffes did not acquire these traits by planning
them in accordance with their needs. It is even more implausible to say
that all these vital features were shaped over time through a gradual
evolutionary process. In order for a giraffe to stay alive, it is vital
for it to have a pumping system to transmit blood to the brain and a valve
system to prevent high blood pressure the minute it bends down. If any
one of these characteristics did not exist or did not function properly,
then it would be impossible for the giraffe to go on living.
The conclusion to be derived from all this is that the giraffe species
was born into the world with all the characteristics vital for its living.
It is impossible for a non-existent being to master its body and acquire
essential traits consciously. So, giraffes unquestionably prove that they
are created by a conscious creation, that is by Allah.
Sea Turtles
Sea turtles living in the oceans surge in crowds towards
the beach when it is time for them to reproduce. This is no ordinary beach
though. The beach they arrive at to reproduce has to be the one where
they were born.15 Sometimes sea turtles have
to travel as far as 800 kilometres to arrive there. But a long and tough
journey does not change the situation. They arrive at the beach where
they were born to give birth to their offspring, no matter what.
It is quite unaccountable how a living being can find
its way back to the very same beach 20-25 years after its departure from
there.16 It is all the more extraordinary
that it can find the direction of its birthplace in the depths of the
ocean where so little light penetrates, and then spot it from among numerous
similar beaches.
Finally,
thousands of travellers with no compass meet on the same beach at the
same time. Initially a mystery, the reasons underlying this insistent
meeting came as a great surprise when finally revealed. Since turtles
know that their offspring cannot survive in sea conditions, they bury
their eggs under the sand on the beach. But why do all of them meet on
the same beach, at the same time? Would not the hatchlings survive if
they did the same thing at different times and on different beaches?
Those who did research on this topic were faced with a very interesting
situation. Thousands of offspring under the sand have to overcome a number
of formidable obstacles after breaking their eggs with the hard lump on
their head. The hatchlings of an average of 31 grams cannot dig
the earth layer above them on their own and they all help each other.
When thousands of hatchlings on the beach start to dig the earth, they
make it to the sand surface in a few days. Yet before they appear on the
surface, they wait for a while for nightfall. For in the day time, there
is the danger of falling a prey to predators. In addition, it would be
quite difficult for them to proceed by crawling on sands scorched by the
sunlight. When night falls, they go up to the surface after completing
the digging process. Although it is dark, they rush to the sea and depart
from the beach to return there as much as 20-25 years later.
It is impossible for these hatchlings to know that they have to dig their
way up after they pop out of their eggs and wait for a while at a certain
distance from the sea. It is by no means possible for them to know, when
they are still buried in the earth, whether it is day or night, that predators
exist outside and that they could fall a prey to them, that the sand is
scorching because of the sun, that this could harm them, and that they
must rush to the sea. So, how does this conscious conduct come about?
The only answer to this question is that these hatchlings have been somehow
'programmed' to behave in this way, which means that their Creator has
inspired in them the instinct that helps them protect their lives.
Bombardier Beetle
The bombardier beetle is an insect on which an enormous amount of research
has been done. The trait that renders this insect so popular is that it
uses chemical methods to protect itself from its enemies.
In
moments of danger, the insect squirts hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone
stored in its body towards the enemy to protect itself. Prior to battle,
specialised structures called secretory lobes make a very concentrated
mixture of these two chemicals. The mixture is stored in a separate compartment
called the storage chamber. This compartment is connected to a second
one called the explosion chamber. The two compartments are kept separate
from one another by a sphincter muscle. The moment the insect senses danger,
it squeezes the muscles surrounding the storage chamber while simultaneously
relaxing the sphincter muscle, and the chemical in the storage chamber
is transferred to the explosion chamber. A large quantity of heat is released
and a vaporisation occurs. The released vapour and the oxygen gas exert
pressure on the walls of the explosion chamber and this chemical is squirted
at the enemy through a channel leading outward from the beetle's body.17
It is still a great mystery to researchers how an insect can harbour
inside itself a powerful system potent enough to trigger a chemical reaction
that could easily cause it harm while also isolating itself from the effects
of that system. No doubt, the existence and working of this system is
too complicated to be attributed to the insect itself. It is still a matter
of discussion how the bombardier beetle makes such a system work within
its tiny body measuring about 2 cm in length, when human experts can
perform it only in laboratories.
The only apparent truth here is that this insect is a concrete example
completely refuting the theory of evolution, because it is impossible
for this complex chemical system to have been shaped by a series of coincidental
variations and passed on to future generations. Even a minor deficiency
or 'defect' in a single piece of the system would leave the animal defenceless,
so that it would soon be killed or it would cause it to blow itself up.
Therefore, the only explanation is that the chemical weapon in the insect's
body had come into being with all its parts all at once and without any
defect.
Termite Nests
No one can help feeling surprised at the sight of a termite nest erected
on the ground by termites. These nests are architectural wonders, rising
as high as 5 or 6 metres.
When
you compare the size of a termite and its nest, you will see that the
termite has successfully completed an architectural project about 300
times bigger than itself. But what is even more astonishing is that the
termites are blind.
A person who has never seen the huge nests built by blind termites would
probably think that they are made up of sand piles heaped upon each other.
However, a termite nest proves to be of a marvellous design incomprehensible
to the human mind: inside there are intersecting tunnels, corridors, ventilation
systems, special fungus production yards and safety exits.
If you assemble thousands of blind people and give them all kinds of
technical tools, you can never make them set up a nest similar to the
one made by the termite colony. So, just think:
- How could a termite measuring 1-2 cm. in length have learnt the architectural
and engineering information needed to make such a subtle design?
- How could thousands of blind termites manage to work in harmony to
build this construction which is an artistic wonder?
-If you divide a termite nest into two during the first stages of its
construction, and then reunite it, you will see that all passage-ways,
canals and roads fit each other. How can this miraculous event be explained?
The conclusion to be derived from this example is that Allah has created
all living beings uniquely and without any prior example. Even one termite
nest is enough for a person to comprehend Allah and believe that He is
the One Who created all.
The Woodpecker
As
we all know, woodpeckers build their nests by boring holes in tree trunks
with their beaks. This may sound familiar to most people. But the point
many people fail to examine is why woodpeckers suffer no brain haemorrhage
when they beat a tattoo so vigorously with their heads. What the woodpecker
does is in a way similar to a human being driving a nail into the wall
with his head. If a man ventured to do something like that, he would probably
undergo a brain shock followed by a brain haemorrhage. However, a woodpecker
can peck a hard tree trunk 38-43 times in just two or three seconds and
nothing happens to it.18
Nothing happens because the head structure of woodpeckers
is ideally created for such a task. The skull of the woodpecker has a
remarkable suspension system that absorbs the force of the blows. Its
forehead and some skull muscles adjoined to its beak and the jaw joint
are so robust that they help lessen the effect of the forceful strokes
during pecking.19
Design and planning do not end here. Preferring primarily pine trees,
woodpeckers check the age of the trees before boring a hole in them and
pick those older than 100 years, because pine trees older than 100 years
suffer an illness that causes the hard and thick bark to soften. This
was only recently discovered by science and perhaps you may be reading
of it here for the first time in your life; woodpeckers have known it
for centuries.
This is not the only reason why woodpeckers prefer pine trees. Woodpeckers
dig cavities around their nests, the function of which was not originally
understood. These cavities were later understood to protect them from
a great danger. Over time, the sticky resin that leaks from the pine trees
fills up the cavities and the outpost of the woodpecker's nest is thus
filled with a pool whereby woodpeckers can be protected from snakes, their
greatest enemies.
Another interesting feature of woodpeckers is that their
tongues are thin enough to penetrate even ants' nests in the trees. Their
tongues are also sticky, which allows them to collect the ants that live
there. The perfection in their creation is further revealed by the fact
that their tongues have a structure which prevents them from being harmed
by the acid in the bodies of the ants.20
Woodpeckers, each of whose characteristics is discussed in a different
paragraph above, prove with all their detailed features that they are
'created'. If woodpeckers had evolved coincidentally as the theory of
evolution claims, they would have died before they acquired such extraordinarily
consistent traits and they would be extinct. However, as they were created
by Allah with a special 'design' adapted to their life, they started their
lives by bearing all the vital characteristics.
Camouflage
One of the defence strategies of animals is camouflage. Some animals
have the special protection of a body structure and coloration which are
totally adapted to their habitat. The bodies of these living beings are
so harmonious with their environment that when you look at their pictures,
you cannot tell if they are plants or animals, or distinguish them from
their surroundings.
As will be seen in the following pages, the incredible similarity of
an insect to a leaf helps it escape the notice of its enemies. It is obvious
that this tiny animal has not made its body look like a leaf. Maybe it
is not even aware that it is being protected because it looks like a leaf.
However, the camouflage is so deft that it readily impinges as a defence
tactic planned specially and 'created'.

Some insects disguise themselves as dead leaves. It is quite difficult
to distinguish the Panama moth from withered leaves. |
In the picture is a snake hiding among the bushes. |
When you look carefully, you will see that what you take to be a
tree branch is in fact an insect. |
This chameleon, known as gecko can assume the colour of its surroundings
in 20 minutes. |
False Eyes
There are some incredible and unimaginably interesting defence methods
in the animal world. One of these is false eyes. With such false eyes,
various butterfly, caterpillar and fish species convince their enemies
that they are 'dangerous'.
The butterflies seen below open their wings as soon as they sense a danger
and display a pair of eyes on each of their wings which appear quite threatening
to their enemies.
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FALSE EYES BEWILDER!
When some butterflies open their wings, we encounter a pair
of eyes. These eyes convince their enemies that they are not butterflies.
Particularly, the false faces of some butterfly species such as
the Shonling butterfly seen above are so perfect with their shiny
eyes, facial features, frowning eyebrows, mouth and nose that
the overall picture is quite discouraging for many of its enemies.
A tenacious person on denying Allah may try to bolster his extraordinary
view with the evolutionist explanation of 'an interesting coincidence'.
Or he can claim that 'the butterfly brought about this pattern on
its body by thinking that it would be useful to it'.
If someone makes such a claim and asserts that these patterns
that surpass in beauty even the paintings of artists have come about
by coincidence, then there is nothing left to say on the part of
"the men of understanding". For such a claim is completely incompatible
with reason and common sense.
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Let us take our time and think: can these extremely convincing eyes
be the result of a coincidence? How does the butterfly know that a pair
of scary eyes appear when it opens its wings and that this view would
frighten its enemy? Has the butterfly happened to see the pattern on
its wings and decided that this pattern was frightening and that it
could use it in a moment of danger?
Such a convincing pattern can be the result only of a conscious design,
not of coincidences. Moreover, it is by no means possible to think that
the butterfly is aware of the patterns on its wings and discovered this
as a defence tactic by itself. It is obvious that Allah, Who created the
butterfly, bestowed on its body such a pattern and inspired in the animal
the instinct to use it in moments of danger.
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On the left are the real head and eyes of the thornback
ray fish. On the right, the fish swims into its nest and leaves
out its tail on which there is a pair of 'eyes'. Other fish around
it dare not to come close to it as the false eyes in the tail make
them think that it is awake. |
Water Lilies
Little flowers on the earth are mostly considered commonplace by people,
notwithstanding their overall perfection. What prevents people from grasping
the creation miracles in these flowers is the familiarity brought about
by seeing them everywhere and every day. Therefore, flowers that grow
in a totally different place, under totally different conditions and in
totally different sizes will be assessed without the 'glasses of familiarity'
and thus help us grasp the existence of Allah.
Amazon water lilies that grow in the sticky mud covering the bottom of
the Amazon River are interesting enough to remove the 'glasses of familiarity'
from people, because they continue their lives not in the way people are
accustomed to and witness everyday, but with a very different struggle.
These plants start to grow in the mud at the bottom of the Amazon River,
and then reach out towards the river surface. Their goal is to reach the
sunlight which is vital to their existence. When they finally reach the
water's surface, they stop growing and develop thorny, round buds. The
buds develop into gigantic leaves with a reach of 2 metres in as short
a time as a couple of hours. 'Knowing' that the more they cover the river
surface with abundant leaves, the more will they be able to make use of
sunlight, these water lilies make ample use of daylight to perform photosynthesis.
They 'know' that otherwise they will not be able to survive at the bottom
of the river due to the scarcity of light. It is certainly quite inspiring
for a plant to employ such an 'intelligent' tactic.
However, sunlight alone does not suffice for the Amazon
water lilies. They also need oxygen equally, yet it is obvious that
this oxygen does not exist in the muddy ground in which their roots
are located. This is why water lilies stretch out stems developing from
their roots upwards towards the water surface where their leaves float.
Sometimes these stems grow as tall as 11 metres; they are tied to the
leaves and function as oxygen-carriers between the leaves and the root.21
How can a bud in its initial stages in life in the depths of a river
know that it needs oxygen and sunlight to survive, that it would not be
able to live in their absence, and that everything it needs is present
on the water surface? A being recently introduced to life is aware neither
of the fact that this water has an ending point, nor of the existence
of the sun or oxygen.
Therefore, if the whole event is assessed from the standpoint of evolutionists,
these plants should long before have been defeated by environmental conditions
and become extinct. Nevertheless, water lilies are still present today
in all their perfection.
The unbelievable life struggle of water lilies continues well after they
reach light and oxygen on the water surface, where they curl the brims
of their huge leaves upward to prevent them from sinking.
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Water lilies can only make use of daylight once
they have made their way from the depths of swamps to the water
surface by extending upwards as high as 2 metres. However, the roots
of these flowers also need oxygen. In the left picture are the stems
that stretch out from the roots of the plant to the water surface
and carry the oxygen it obtains to the roots. |
They can continue their lives with all these precautions, yet they also
know that these are not enough for their reproduction. They need a living
being that will carry their pollen to another water lily, and this living
being is a beetle (coleopterans) which has been created with a special
weakness for white colour. They prefer these white water lilies out of
all the attractive flowers of the Amazon River. When Amazon water lilies
are visited by creatures which will continue their species, they close
all their leaves, imprison them, and offer them ample pollen. They let
them free after keeping them for one night, and then change their colour
so that they do not bring the same pollen back to them. The once pure
white, glorious water lilies will now go on adorning the Amazon river
in pink.
Could such flawless and finely calculated plans be the work of a bud
unaware of everything? Of course not. They are the work of the wisdom
of Allah, Who created all things. All the details summarised here show
that plants, like all other living beings in the universe, came into existence
already furnished with the most convenient systems, and this was thanks
to their Creator.
CONCLUSION
Can the wind form an airplane by coincidence?
The famous physicist Sir Fred Hoyle makes a very striking observation
about the origin of life. In his book The Intelligent Universe
he writes:
The chance that higher life forms might have
emerged in this way (by coincidence) is comparable with the chance that
a tornado sweeping through a junk-yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from
the materials therein.22
This comparison of Hoyle's is quite inspiring. The examples that we have
discussed above also reveal that both the existence of life and the perfection
of its present systems force us to look for the great power making these
come into being. Just as a hurricane cannot produce an airplane as a result
of coincidences, neither is it possible for the universe to have come into
being as a result of unanticipated happenings and moreover to harbour extremely
complex structures therein. In truth, the universe is furnished with myriad
systems of an infinitely greater complexity than those of an airplane
Everything we have said in this chapter confronts us with the evidence
of the flawless planning not only in our immediate surroundings but also
in the depths of space. One who assesses these signs which are so evident
as to be undeniable by both reason and conscience can come to only one
conclusion: there is no room for coincidence in the universe; the universe
was CREATED with all the minutiae contained in it.
And Allah, the Creator of this flawless system, is He Who has infinite
might and knowledge.
13. Bilim ve Teknik magazine, vol.
203, p. 25 
14. Larousse Dictionary and Encyclopaedia, Vol. II, p. 5734 
15. Maurice Burton, C.B.P.C. Publishing Limited, Encyclopaedia of Animals,
Reptiles, p. 120 
16. Ibid, p. 120 
17. Michael J. Behe, Darwin’s Black Box, New York: Free Press, 1996, p.
232-233 
18. Grzimeks Tierleben Vögel 3, Deutscher Taschen Buch Verlag, Oktober
1993, p. 92 
19. Ibid, p. 89 
20. Ibid, p. 87-88 
21. David Attenborough, The Private Life of Plants, Princeton University
Press, 1995, p. 29 
22. Nature, 12 November, 1981. 
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