THE SEED'S FLAWLESS DESIGN
Whether
by means of the wind, or whether by means of other carriers, male pollens
which reach female flower organs have reached the end of their journey.
Everything is ready for the forming of the seed. The most important step
in sexual reproduction is seed formation. It will be useful to examine
this formation, starting right from the general structure of the flower.
In the center of most flowers are one or more carpels, the "female" reproductive
parts. The carpel has a swollen end, called the stigma, under which there
is a stalk, called the style, and at the bottom an ovary, which contains
the blueprint for the seeds.
Pollen coming from male organs lands on the stigma, the surface of which
is covered with a sticky liquid, and then reaches the ovary by means of
the style. This sticky liquid has a very important function. As long as
the pollen grains are unable to reach the ovary beneath the style, they
will not be able to fertilise the seeds. This liquid ensures that by making
them stick together the pollen does not go to waste. The seed is formed
only when male and female reproductive cells come together.
After landing on the stigma, each individual pollen, in other words,
each male reproductive cell, develops a thin tube downwards, and enters
the ovary through the style. There are two sperm cells in each one of
these pollen tubes. The tube grows down, and enters the ovary, and the
sperm cells come free. In this way the nucleus of one of the sperm cells
unites with the egg in the ovary. This fertilized egg cell develops into
the embryo, which will form the seek. The nucleus of the second sperm
cell unites with the two nuclei of the central cell and they form a specialized
tissue which surrounds and nourishes the embryo. This development is known
as fertilisation.
After fertilisation, the egg is wrapped up in a coat, and the embryo
enters upon a kind of rest period, and grows to become a seed with the
food sources stored around it.
In every seed which is formed by the joining of male and female sex cells,
there is an embryo plant and a supply of food. This is a very important
detail for the development of the seed, because, in the early stages,
when it is underground, the seed has no roots or leaves able to produce
nutrients, and it will need a food source to be able to grow during this
time.
The embryo and the food store surrounding it are actually what we call
fruit. These structures possess high levels of proteins and carbohydrates,
because their function is to feed the seeds. This being the case, they
form an indispensable source of nourishment for both human beings and
other living things. Every fruit possesses the best qualities for protecting
and nourishing the seeds it contains. The fleshy part, a quantity of water,
and the structure of the external skin have the most effective forms for
protecting the seed.
There is another important detail here. Each plant can fertilise only
another plant of the same species. If a plant's pollen lands on the stigma
of another species, the plant understands this and does not allow the
pollen to grow out a tube to reach to its ovary; as a result the seed
does not develop because there is no fertilisation.20
For instance, if pollen from wheat flowers is carried to an apple tree,
that tree will not produce apples. It will be useful at this point to
stop and reflect a little on the extraordinary nature of this. The flower
of one species of plant recognises the pollen coming from the flower of
a plant of the same species. If it is from its own species, it may start
the process of fertilisation. If the pollen is not from its own species,
the plant will not begin the fertilisation process. So how did the stigma
of the female flower, which can distinguish pollen from its own species
according to certain criteria, learn to carry out this identification?
How does it know that it has to close down its mechanism against foreign
pollen? There is no doubt that the intelligence which controls the plant's
every detail designed this mechanism in the flower in the most subtle
way so as to guarantee the perpetuation of the species from generation
to generation.
What kind of environment the embryo seed would develop in, what it would
require during the stages of its development, what it would find when
it emerged from the soil, what kind of protection it would need, and all
other exigencies were thought of in advance, and the seed was designed
with these needs in mind. The external layers protecting the seeds (seed
coats) are generally very hard. This structure protects the seed from
any external threats it will face and exhibits modifications according
to the environment in which it is found. For example, in the final stage
of the development of some seeds a resistant waxy substance forms on the
external surfaces, thanks to which the seeds become resistant to the effects
of water and gas.
And the flawless structures in a flower's life do not end here. The seed
coats may be covered with different substances according to the species
of the plant; for instance, a single bean will be covered in a thin membrane,
and a cherry seed will be protected by a hard, woody coat. The coats of
seeds which have to be resistant to water are harder and thicker than
others. Again, seeds have been given very different shapes and sizes according
to their species. The amount of nourishment is different between those
seeds which have to last for a long time before sprouting (for example
coconut seeds) and those which begin to sprout a short while after coming
into contact with water (melon, water melon, etc.).
As we have seen, seeds have very intricate systems to enable them reproduce
easily and to endure without any breakdown. The intelligence to be seen
in each stage of the systems specially designed for plants to reproduce,
is a clear proof that these systems were created by God, the possessor
of superior knowledge.
  
Substances such as vitamins, proteins, and
carbohydrates in fruit both protect and feed the seed, and provide
an important source of food for other living things. There is an
unbelievable variety of fruit and vegetables, which all come from
the same dry soil and are watered with the same water. Furthermore,
their shapes, tastes, and scents are each a wonder of planning.
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Time to Spread: the Dispersal of Seeds
The methods employed by plants when spreading their seeds, each one of
which is most effective, vary with the structure of the seeds of each
plant. For example, seeds which are small and light enough to fly on a
very slight breeze, immediately fall off when stirred by the wind and
are fertilised without any difficulty. It is enough for some plants to
reproduce for their seeds simply to fall to the ground. Others disperse
their seeds by a natural catapult method, in other words, they fire their
seeds off. This is brought about by the release of the tension which forms
when the seed is growing inside its coat. The seed coats of some plants
split open after drying in the sun, and others open and disperse their
contents when affected by such external factors as the wind or animals.
   
The picture at the top left shows seeds flying
out of the poplar tree.In the other pictures, plants' fruits open
and split when they are ripe and thus reveal their seeds with their
silky hairs. These silky hairs have been specially designed to move
easily in the air.
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Plants Which Disperse Their Seeds by Bursting
The Mediterranean Squirting Cucumber
When we examine the methods employed in the dispersal process, which
is exceedingly important to the reproduction of plants, we see that they
are built upon the most sensitive of balances. For instance, some plants,
such as the Mediterranean squirting cucumber, use their own power to spread
their seeds. As Mediterranean squirting cucumbers begin to ripen, they
begin to fill with a slimy juice. Some time later the pressure exerted
by this liquid builds up to such an extent that the outer skin of the
cucumber cannot resist it and bursts off its stalk. When this happens,
the cucumber sprays the liquid inside it like the trail of a rocket being
fired into the air. Behind the cucumber comes a trail of slime and with
it, seeds.21
The mechanisms here are very sensitive; the seed-pods fill with liquid
when the cucumber begins to fully mature, and the explosion takes place
at the time when maturation is complete. If this system began to work
prematurely, the cucumber's bursting off its stalk before the seeds were
formed would serve no purpose. Such an eventuality would mean the end
of that species of plant. But no such risk presents itself, thanks to
its pre-planned perfect timing. The claim that these mechanisms, which
have each had to be present right from the start, evolved as the result
of a period of change lasting hundreds, thousands, and even millions of
years, is certainly not founded on intelligence, logic, or science.
The seed-pods, the liquid inside them, the seeds, the maturing of the
seeds-everything must come into existence at the same time. The uninterrupted
perpetuation of such a system, which has functioned perfectly right up
until today, shows that it emerged at the very outset in a complete and
flawless form. In other words, it was created by one Creator.
The Broom and the Hura Tree
The reproduction of the broom again takes place with the self-opening
method, but in a manner exactly opposite to that of the Mediterranean
squirting cucumber. The bursting of the seeds of the broom happens not
with an increase of liquid, but with its evaporation. As a pod warms on
a summer's day, the side facing the sun dries faster than that in the
shade. The pod splits suddenly into two halves as a result of the difference
in pressure between the two sides, and in this way the tiny black seeds
inside are dispersed in all directions.
One of the most successful plants which disperses its seeds by bursting
is the Brazilian tree known as the "Hura." When the tree dries out and
the time comes to disperse its seeds, it can hurl them up to a distance
of some 12 metres. This is a considerable distance for a tree.22
Helicopter Seeds
European maples and sycamores have a very interesting design. These seeds
are equipped with only a single wing which sprout from just one side.
The weight of the seed and the length of the wing are so well balanced
that these seeds also spin. Sycamores often grow in relatively isolated
locations, and there the wind can give the seeds considerable assistance.
Spinning around themselves, helicopter seeds can travel great distances
in even a slight breeze.23
The seeds inside the pods of Bertholletia trees, which grow in South
America, stay where they are for a while after falling to the ground.
The reason for this is that they have no properties to attract animals'
attention. They have no smell, for instance, their exteriors are not striking
to look at, and furthermore they are very difficult to break. For this
tree to reproduce, the pods, containing the nuts, have to be taken out
of the shells and buried underground.
But none of these negative properties are a problem for the Bertholletia,
because there is a creature sharing the same environment with it that
can overcome all these shortcomings.
The agouti, a rodent which lives in South America, knows that there is
food for it under this thick, odourless shell. Thanks to the agouti's
chisel-sharp front teeth, it can easily cut through the tough pod shell
to get to the seed. There are about 20 nuts inside each shell. And this
is more than the agouti can eat at one go. The agouti therefore stuffs
the nuts in its cheek pouches and covers them up after burying them in
little holes it digs. Although it carries out this process in order to
find and eat the nuts later, fortunately, the agouti does not have a perfect
memory and the majority of the seeds are forgotten and left to germinate
into a new tree about a year later.24 This
harmony is not, of course, one which arose by chance. These living things
did not discover one another by chance. These living things were created.
This complementarity, of which there are countless examples in nature,
is the product of a superior wisdom. God, the Possessor of this superior
wisdom, creates both living things with all these characteristics and
their symbiotic connection.
Seeds Which Can Withstand All Conditions
As a rule, reproductive cells in living things die shortly after leaving
their own natural environments. But this does not apply to plants. Both
plant pollen and seeds can remain alive miles away from the parent plant.
And furthermore, it is not important how much time passes after leaving
the parent plant. There are seeds which remain viable after years, or
even hundreds of years.
If the seeds of the lupine sense that it is
not warm enough for them, they can wait under the soil for years
without sprouting.
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The lupine, found in the arctic tundra, is a fine example of plant seeds
being able to survive for long periods. The seeds of the plant feel the
need for the warm weather of certain times of the year in order to germinate.
When they feel that the heat is insufficient, even if all the other conditions
are met, the seeds do not burst, but wait in the frozen soil for the temperature
to rise. When the perfect environment is attained, they start to grow
and finally germinate, taking no account of the length of time that has
passed since they left the parent plant. Seeds have even been found in
the fissures between rocks that have lasted out for hundreds of years
without sprouting or spoiling.
This is a most interesting situation. What does it mean for a plant to
be aware of its external environment? Since the plant will not be able
to manage this by itself, let us consider what other possibilities there
might be. A mechanism inside the plant might inform it of the situation.
The plant may then suddenly arrest its development, as if an order had
been given. But in that case how did such a system develop? Did the plant
devise this system by thinking about it for itself? How did it produce
the technical necessities within itself?
Of course the plant did not construct this system itself. All this information
is always in the plant seed, hidden in the genetic code, right from when
the plant first emerged. The lupine in any case possesses a system which
can arrest its development when it comes across cold weather. It is impossible
for such a structure to come about on its own. No matter how long the
imaginary formation time which evolutionists call the "evolutionary period,"
and whatever coincidences take place during it, the formation of such
a system which informs plants about the weather situation is completely
impossible.
In the same way, seeds of Mimosa Glomerata were kept in dry storage in
a herbarium, and germinated at once when soaked in water. Another example
of a plant with highly resistant seeds is the Albizia Julibrissin. Its
seeds, kept in London's British Museum herbarium, germinated after no
less than 147 years, when became soaked during efforts to put out a fire
in the building during the Second World War.25
Because air temperatures are low in tundra regions, spoiling takes place
slowly. So much so that some seeds, taken from inside 10,000 year-old
glaciers, can return to life when taken to laboratories and given the
necessary amounts of heat and moisture.26
As we all know, the substance of the seed contains a certain quantity
of nutrition with an outer shell reminiscent of wood. The idea that it
could have a thermometer inside it, that it could have any way of exchanging
information with the outside world, and that it could have the ability
to decide on its actions, on the basis of the information it receives
as a result of its own capacities must be described as illogical, or even
"irrational." We are faced with an extraordinary substance, which looks
like a small piece of wood from the outside, with no link between the
enclosed place it is in and the outside world, yet which can measure air
temperatures and in later stages decide whether the heat is sufficient
for development. A piece of wood which possesses such perfect mechanisms
as to realise that unfavourable conditions will later damage its development
after germinating, which knows what it has to do to arrest its development
the moment it senses such unfavourable conditions, and to continue its
development from where it left off when temperatures rise to the necessary
level.
This extraordinary mechanism in seeds with this resistant structure cannot
be explained by means of chance as the evolutionists claim. In fact, seeds
were designed, or in other words created, in such a way as to resist difficult
conditions.
Without doubt God, the Lord of all the worlds, shows us evidence of His
creation and His own existence even in these little seeds.
It is He Who sends down water from the sky. Thus We bring
forth plants of every type with it; We produce green vegetation from it.
We produce close-growing grain from it and the palm trees laden with clusters
of dates close at hand produced from pollen, as well as orchards full
of grapes, olives and pomegranates, which are so similar and yet dissimilar.
Look at their fruit as He causes it to grow and ripen. In that there are
signs for people who believe. (Surat al-An'am: 99)
Seeds Which can Stay in Water for 80 Days
Sea beans, like coconuts, let the sea carry
their seeds.
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Alongside seeds which can resist cold weather conditions, others possess
structures which allow them to stay in water for a long time. There are
even seeds which can remain in water for as long as 80 days without germinating
or spoiling. The most famous of these is the coconut. For the coconut
seed to be transported in safety, it is placed within a very hard shell.
Everything needed for a long journey, a supply of rich food and a half-a-pint
or so of water, is ready inside it. On the outside, it is fitted with
a fibre float that keeps it on the surface of the water.
The sea bean is another plant which sends its seeds by water. Its seeds
are not as large as coconuts, and even after a year at sea, it can still
be viable.27
As soon as coconut palm seeds realize they
have reached land after their long journey on the water, they begin
to germinate. These seeds were created to be especially resistant
to water.
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As seen from these two examples, the most important property of plants
which multiply by using water as a vehicle is that the seeds germinate
only when they reach dry land. Actually, this is a most interesting and
exceptional situation, because as we know, plant seeds usually begin to
germinate as soon as they come into contact with water. But this does
not apply to these particular plants. Because of the particular structure
of their seeds, plants which disperse their seeds by water do not abide
by this rule. If these plants began to germinate as soon as they came
into contact with water, as other plants do, they would long since have
died out. Whereas these plants are able to survive by reason of general
mechanisms suited to the conditions in which they live.
All plants in the world possess the structures best suited to them. These
exceptional features bring to mind the question: "How is it that such
resistance should have come about in just those species of plants which
need it?" Let us take an example-the coconut is the answer to this question:
1. Palm seeds will need a resistant structure in order to be able to
spend a long time in water, and for this reason their shells are quite
hard. The shells also have water-resistant properties.
This is not a coincidence!
2. They will need more nourishment than normal on their long journeys,
and the exact quantity of food necessary is placed inside the coconut
seed-package.
This too is not the work of coincidence!
3. They open the moment they "know" they have arrived on dry land.
There is no way this is a coincidence!
As we have seen, these seeds, with their hard shells, their nutrition
stores, their sizes, and in short, all their special features, have been
designed to be resistant for long periods when necessary. If this finely
calculated structure, the shell thickness of which is exactly measured,
and the required store of nutrition had had to come about as the result
of coincidences, the seed would have germinated before it reached the
land, in other words, it would have died.
Of course, no such thing happens, thanks to the sensitive controls over
the germination of these seeds. There is absolutely no doubt that the
amount of food and water in the seeds, when they are to come to land,
and in short all the precautions taken, could not have come about by means
of any intelligence or abilities of the seeds themselves.
All these fine calculations and measurements were flawlessly carried
out by God, who created the seeds, who knows all their needs and characteristics,
and who possesses infinite knowledge and intelligence.
Everything has its measure with Him. (Surah ar-Ra'd:
8)
As for the earth, We stretched it out and set upon it
immovable mountains and made everything grow in due proportion on it.
(Surat al-Hijr: 19)
The Ant - A Hired Porter
Some seeds have features which are structurally different from those
most widely known. The most surprising facts emerge when one examines
them. As an example, let us take a seed which is covered in an oily, edible
tissue. This oily tissue, which may look quite ordinary at first sight,
is actually a most important detail for the survival of that plant species.
For that is why ants show an interest in that particular plant. The multiplication
of these plants takes place by means of ants, unlike most plant species.
The plant, which is unable to place its seeds under the ground by itself,
has chosen to do so by having ants carry them. The oily tissue around
the seeds is a most attractive food for ants, which eagerly gather the
seeds up and carry them to their nests, where they bury them underground.
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The seeds in this picture
need ants to germinate. The ants' job is first to carry the
seed underground, then eat the external casing. As we see,
God has created a harmony between the way the ants feed and
the way the plants reproduce.
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It might be thought that the seeds' being food is the reason why the
ants make such a great effort, but that would be wrong. Despite all the
effort the ants make to carry the seeds to their nests, they eat only
the external casing, and leave the fleshy inside part. In this way, the
ants obtain something to eat, and that part of the seed which carries
out the reproduction of the plant is left buried in the soil.28
It would be scientifically completely unrealistic to
claim that ants do all this knowingly, or that the plant arranged its
seed to have certain features that would appeal to a particular species
of ant, or planned to live in the same environment as them.
There can be no argument that the consciousness which organized this
flawless reciprocity belongs neither to the plant, nor to the ant. It
belongs to a Creator, who knows all the properties of these two living
things, and made them for one another. In other words, it is God, their
Creator, who gave them that consciousness.
Everyone in the heavens and earth belongs to Him. All
are submissive to Him. (Surat ar-Rum: 26)
The Seed Becomes a Plant First stage: Germination
Seeds, which resemble little bits of dry wood, are actually bearers of
genetic codes which have thousands of pieces of information about plants
inside them. All the information about the plant the seed will later produce
is hidden inside it. Complete information about it, from the little hairs
on the end of its roots, to the tubes inside its stem, its flowers, and
the fruit it will bear, exists inside the seed, down to very last tiny
detail.
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Birds also help those parts
of the seed which will carry out the reproduction to reach
the soil by eating the seed's fleshy parts.
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After fertilization, the first stage in a seed's becoming a flower is
germination The seed, waiting under the ground, is only wakened into action
when factors such as warmth, moisture, and light come together. Before
that, it is dormant. When the time comes, it wakes up and starts to grow.
There are a number of stages in the germination process. In the first
place, the seed must taken in water so that the cells inside it become
hydrated and capable of metabolic activity. Once metabolic activity begins,
the root and the shoot begin to grow, and at this stage the cells start
to divide. In order for particular functions to be brought about by specialized
tissues, the cells have to differentiate. All these processes require
a great deal of energy.
For the seed to grow, it needs nourishment. But the seed needs a preliminary
source of food until it can obtain the required minerals from its roots.
So, where does the seed find the nutrients it needs to grow?
The answer to this question lies in the construction of the seed. The
seed's stored food reserves which forms together with it during the fertilization
process is used by the seed until it gives off a shoot and appears above
the ground. Seeds need the supplementary nutriments in their bodies until
they reach the stage of being able to produce their own food.
When all of the conditions are just right, germination begins. The seed
takes in water from the soil and the embryo cells start to divide. Later,
the seed coat opens. First tiny roots, the beginning of the root system,
appear and grow downwards in the soil. Following the development of the
tiny roots, the buds which will produce the stem and leaves develop.
Germination begins under the earth, then the new little plant heads up
towards the light and grows ever stronger. Once the first leaves have
opened, the plant can begin to produce its own nutrition by means of photosynthesis.
When the time comes, seeds wake
out of their sleep and emerge from the soil, brooking no obstacles.
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What has been explained so far is actually common knowledge, having frequently
come under observation. Plants emerging from seeds under the soil is something
which everyone is perfectly familiar with. But while the seedling is growing,
a true miracle takes place. Seedlings, which weigh only a matter of grams,
have no difficulty in making a hole through what may be some kilograms
of earth on top of them. The seedling's only aim is to emerge from the
soil and reach the light. Plants which have begun to germinate move their
slender trunks as if in empty space and slowly head for the daylight,
as if there were no heavy weight on top of them. They emerge from the
soil in the face of the force of gravity, ignoring in other words all
the physical laws which apply to them.
The tiny seed and its roots just half a millimetre wide come to no harm
from the soil, which normally tends to rot things and destroy them. Quite
the contrary, they rapidly grow and develop.
Experiments were carried out to stop seedlings reaching the daylight
by closing off the escape route on top of them by various methods. The
results were very surprising. The seedlings put out shoots long enough
to get around any obstacle on top of them, or else created pressure where
they lay and again succeeded in reaching daylight. While plants are growing
they can create considerable pressure where they are. For example, a seedling
growing in the cracks of a newly built road can actually open the cracks
up still further. In short, they brook no obstacles as they head toward
the daylight.
Shoots always grow vertically as they emerge from the soil. As they do
this, they oppose the force of gravity. The roots, on the other hand,
obey the force of gravity as they head downwards. This raises the question:
"How is it that two organs formed on the same plant should start growing
in different directions?" In order to answer this, let us have a look
at some of the mechanisms in plants.
1. Primary root
2. Lateral root
3. Stem
4. Cotyledon
5. Seed coat
6. First two leaves
7. The last bud enables the branch to grow
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When seeds begin to germinate, nothing
prevents them from emerging from the soil and reaching the
sunlight, neither the weight of the soil on top of them,
nor any other obstacle. A seed which begins to germinate
will soon begin to produce its own food by photosynthesis.
As it grows, the seed slowly turns into a copy of the parent
plant. While the shoots grow towards the surface, the roots
spread into the depths of the soil to gather the raw materials
for photosynthesis.
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Two factors govern the growth of plants: light and gravity. The first
root and shoot which emerge from the seed possess systems which are very
sensitive to these two factors.
There are cells in the root of a germinating plant which can sense gravitational
signals. In the shoot, which heads upwards, there are other, light-sensitive,
cells. This sensitivity of the cells to light and gravity governs the
different parts of the plant's heading in the correct direction. These
two stimuli also enable the direction of growth of the root and shoot
to be corrected if they are not entirely vertical.29
If we have another look at what we have already established, it will
be seen that we are in the face of an extraordinary situation here. The
cells which make up the plant are beginning to grow different from one
another, and are changing shape to form the different parts of the plant.
Furthermore, as we have seen, the shoot and the root are growing in opposite
directions.
Let us now consider the root's heading down into the depth of the soil
with the force of gravity, together with the shoot's heading up towards
the surface. The movement of these structures, which present an image
of being quite powerless, as they split the soil, will bring many questions
to mind. In particular, there is an important moment of decision at this
point. Who, or what, is it which establishes the moment, in other words
the time the cells begin to divide, and which shows them what direction
to go in? How is it that every cells acts with the knowledge of which
region it is to take its place in? How is it that no confusion arises,
for example, how is it that the root cells never start to head upwards?
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Plants have a great
variety of coats. The coat of the hazelnut is formed of a rather
hard, difficult-to-break, shell-like substance. When the time
comes, the seed inside the casing breaks that hard material
and emerges, brooking no obstacles. |
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There is basically only one answer to all questions of this sort. It
is clearly not the plant itself which takes and implements this decision,
or sets up the necessary systems so that no confusion arises and forms
them within its own body. Neither is it possible for these systems to
have come about through the intervention of any other living thing. And
the cells which make up the plant cannot do it. All these factors show
us that plants are all directed and governed by another force. In other
words, there must exist a higher intelligence which created all the structures
they possess, leading the cells to make their decisions and showing them
which way to go in order to perform their functions. There is no doubt
that this superior wisdom belongs to God, the Lord of all the Worlds.
Shoots Which Brook No Obstacles
A shoot which emerges from the soil may not always find itself in a suitable
environment. It may, for instance, find itself under the shadow of a rock
or a large plant. In such a situation, if it continues to grow, it will
find it difficult to carry out photosynthesis, because it cannot receive
direct sunlight. If the shoot does find itself in such a situation when
it emerges, it changes its direction of growth towards the source of light.
This process, known as phototropism, shows that shoots have a light-sensitive
orientation system. When we compare them to animals and human beings,
plants are in a more advantageous position as regards light perception,
because human beings, for example, can perceive light only with their
eyes. Whereas plants have at least three quite distinct photo-receptor
mechanisms. For this reason they never confuse direction. Thanks to their
flawless orientation systems, based on light and the force of gravity,
they easily find their way.
Alongside light-sensitive systems, within plants, there are also localized
areas of cell division. These areas, known as meristems, are generally
found at the tips of the growing roots and stems. If the cells in the
growth areas always grow in the same way during germination, this leads
the stem to grow straight. Every plant takes shape according to the growth
direction of the plant cells in the meristems of roots and shoots. If
the growth of these cells is more on one side and less on the other, then
the stem of the plant will grow at an angle. If conditions are appropriate,
plant growth starts at the same moment in all areas. The sprouting plant
directs its stem straight to the light which it badly needs. On the other
hand, the roots, which will provide the necessary water and minerals for
the plant from the soil, grow in the most appropriate way thanks to their
gravity-sensitive direction systems. At first sight it might be thought
that roots spread under ground at random. Whereas actually, thanks to
this sensitive system, the root extensions progress like rockets, locked
on to their targets in a controlled manner.
The growth controlled by these mechanisms is different from plant to
plant, because the growth of every plant takes place in conformity with
its own genetic information. For this reason, maximum growth rates are
different for every plant. For example, the lupine attains its maximum
growth rate at about ten days of age, the cornstalk in its sixth week,
the beech tree after a quarter-century.30
Germination is the first stage in a tiny body's becoming a plant several
metres long and weighing tons. While the roots of slow-growing plants
head down, and the branches up, the systems inside them (food transport
systems, reproductive systems, hormones which control the upward and sideways
growth of the plant and then make it stop) all emerge together, and there
is no delay or imperfection in the emergence of any of them. This is most
important. For instance, while a plant's reproductive mechanisms are developing
on the one hand, the transport tubes (for water and food) develop on the
other. Otherwise, bark or wood tubes would have no importance for a plant
whose reproductive mechanism had not developed. There would be no point
in roots emerging. Since such a plant could not produce subsequent generations,
the subsidiary mechanisms would serve no purpose.
As we have seen, there is a plan in this harmonious design for plant
interdependence which definitely could not have come about by chance.
Development by stages, as claimed by evolutionist scientists, is completely
out of the question.
Let us demonstrate this with a simple experiment that anyone can do.
Let us take one seed and together with this something containing a mixture
of all the molecules in the seed, of the same size and weight, bury them
both at the same depth, and wait for a while. Once a period of time has
passed which will differ according to the species, we shall see that the
seed we planted has split the soil and has come to the surface. But no
matter how long we wait, the other substance will never come to the surface.
The result will be the same no matter if we wait a hundred or a thousand
years. The reason for the difference is obviously the special design in
the seed. Plant genes are encoded with the necessary information for this
process. All the systems in plants reveal the existence of conscious choice.
All the details show that plants cannot have come about by random events,
on the contrary, they show that there was a conscious intervention in
the emergence of plants.
Of course this perfect design is proof of the existence of a Creator
who knows and brings about everything, down to the finest detail. Just
the first stage of the life of plants, the emergence of the seed, clearly
reveals to us the unique nature of the creation of God, the Possessor
of superior power. God draws our attention to this truth in the Qur'an:
Have you thought about what you cultivate? Is it you
who make it germinate or are We the Germinator? If We wished We could
have made it broken stubble. You would then be left devoid of crops, distraught.
(Surat al-Waqi'a: 63-65)
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