"Verily
in the creation of the heavens and the earth and (in) the
alternation of the night and the day there are signs (of his
sovereignty) for a man who possesses wisdom. Those who
remember Allah (swt),
standing and sitting and reclining on
their sides and think seriously in the creation of the
heavens and the earth. (saying):
O
our Lord! Thou hast not created all this is in vain! Glory is
to You!
Save then from the torment of the hell
fire”.
(3:190-191)
There
is not an animal that does not walk upon the earth, not a bird
that flies with its two wings, but they are communities the
like of you.
(6:38)
A
close study of the material universe inspires fear in the minds of
honest men. When one appreciates its amazing size and
difficulty, its orders, unity and rhythm, one realizes ones
own smallness and the unspeakable greatness of the One who
created it all. His image of Himself shrinks to insignificance
as he contemplates the depths of space and realizes that the
earth he stands on is less than a simple grain of sand by
comparison.
From
the very largest heavenly bodies to the very tiniest atomic
particles, we are confronted an order and design so marvellous
that many who study it have to admire as a university of
geology has said: (Light, Knowledge and Truth)
" We
live in a universe not of chance, but of law and order. Its
administration is completely rational and worthy of utmost
respect. Consider and marvellous mathematical scheme of nature
that permits us to give successive atomic numbers to every
element."
When
astronomers began mapping the heavens centuries ago, they
never dreamed of its size and difficulty. What at first
appeared through their telescope to be far-away stars, were
later found to be entire “islands and universes” of stars
called galaxies, where billions of stars were collected
together in an orderly system.
More
advanced and improved telescopes revealed thousands, millions,
billions of these galaxies. So colossal has the size of our
universe proved to be and so vast the distance within it, that
the most advanced scientific method has scratched the surface
in understanding it.
The
billions of galaxies each containing countless stars, planets,
and the other bodies, were also found to be in orderly
arrangement. For example, our galaxy, called the Milky Way,
containing about 100,000,000,000 stars, is associated with at
least another 17 galaxies in what might be called a galactic
group. Other galactic groups contain hundreds, or even
thousands, of galaxies.
Despite
the existence of so many heavenly bodies, there is a little
danger of impact, for the spaces in between them are vast.
.
"The
sun and the moon follow the prescribe timings.
And the herbs
and the trees do bow unto him”
(55:5-6)
.
Our
closest neighbour, the moon is over 238,000 miles away. But
since there about 100,000,000,000 stars in our own galaxies,
the Milky Way, are not the same close enough to cause danger
to the earth? No, because the nearest star is the sun, and it
is 93,000,000 miles away. The next closest star is about
270,000 times as far away from us as the sun is!
So
vast are distances in the universe that they are measured in "light years", the distance the light travels in one year at
its speed of over 186,000 miles per second. This amounts to
about 6,000,000,000,000 miles a year! The closest star other
than sun, one of the Alpha Centauri group, is over four light
years away, or about 25,000,000,000,000.
Our
Milky Way galaxy measures about 100,000 light years in
diameter, which helps explain why its scores of stars are in
little danger of colliding. Beyond that, the distance from our
Milky Way galaxy to the next closest galaxy like it, called
Andromeda, is about 1,400,000 light years. That means that if
you travel at the rate of 196,000 miles per second, it would
take you almost 1,400,000 years to reach this neighbour galaxy!
But have you the requisite means of travel and a span of age
to reach it? There are yet, trillions more stars and galaxies
in this unbelievable area of the heavens, lying millions of
light years apart, that have not been discovered so far. What
would be the vastness-edge to edge- one cannot even think? It
is this unbelievable area, so impossible by any creature with
any believable means of transportation and any believable span
of life to penetrate through, that the Qura'an challenges the
assembly of man and jinn.
O
you assembly of body of jinn and men, if you penetrate ten
bounds of the heavens and the earth, then do penetrate through
you;
but you cannot penetrate but with our authority by
absolute power.
(55:33).
The
stars that make up the bulk of these galaxies are self
enlightening bodies like our sun; each is a huge sphere
intensely glowing gas. Some are so dense that one cubic inch
of their material weighs several million pounds. The density
of the star most familiar to us, the sun, is only about one
and a half times that of liquid water.
While
the size of our sun is impressive, it is only average as stars
go. Its diameter of 864,000 miles seems very large compared to
earths diameter of about 8,000 miles, but one star in our
Milky Way, Antares has a diameter of about 350,000,000 miles
400 times that of our sun. If one edge of the Antares were
placed at our earth, it would reach the sun and nearly three
times beyond it.
Making
the entire arrangement even more overwhelming to our limited
minds is the fact that no end to these stars and star system
can be detected. Each time a more powerful instrument peers
into the universe, they are seen to stretch beyond that new
limit of vision.
The
entire extremely large mass is accurately arranged and
accurate in its movements. Day after day, year after year,
century after century, the stars and planets follow their
paths through the skies in such orderly fashion, and are so
regular in their orbits, that eclipses may be predicted
centuries in advance. Their movements can set even our finest
timepieces. So orderly are they that men bet their lives on
the law that govern their regularity when they use them as aid
to cross dark oceans by air and sea.
.
The
magnificent expanse shouts out the glory and power of its
Creator, of whom the Qura’an says:
.
3."O
people! Remember your god’s bounty on you; is there any
Creator, other than God, who provides you with sustenance from
the heaven and the earth? There is no God but Him; hence are
you turning away from the truth?
.
13.
He causes the night to enter in
the day to enter into the night, and hath made He submissive
unto you the sun and the moon; each travel to an appointed
time. This God, your Lord! His is the kingdom!;
.
14.
And
those whom you invoke beside him own not even a straw.
If you
call on them, they shall hear not your call; and even if they
hear they shall answer you not."
(35:3;
13-14).
This
is your Lord, God, the Creator of the universe to whom you
give sons and partners, who are just as helpless as you
yourselves. Could Jesus, Krishna, Azra, Zoroaster, Buddha, or any other man made god, create such a wonderful
world? Certainly could not. Why hanker
after them or drag them into a forbidden area which is not
theirs?
.
.
About
a century ago English physicist John Dalton’s experiment
showed that the various elements behaved as if they were
composed of tiny units. He called these units
atoms
and
thought they were invisible, solid particles.
Through
the century that followed, further experiments disclosed that
the atom was not the smallest unit. Step by step three basic
building blocks were discovered inside the atom: proton,
neutron and electrons. These three particles were found to
have the same order line as the rest of the universe. Like a
tiny solar system, electrons were discovered to be speeding
around the nucleus of proton in a law-abiding system.
How
big is an atom? Only a few billionths of an inch in diameter!
Most of its mass is concentrated in the nucleus of
proton and neutron. The size of this nucleus, however,
is 100,000, times smaller than the entire diameter of the atom
with its orbiting electrons. Unbelievably, as in the
arrangement of stars and galaxies, the atom consists mostly of
space between the nucleus and its orbiting electrons. Even
with 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms in one drop of
water,
there is far more space than matter.
Yet
this is not all, until recent years it was thought that the
protons, neutrons and electrons were the tiniest building
blocks of creation. However, modern researchers have brought
to light many other small particles inside the atom. Scientist
numbers them more than thirty. Some are thought to relate to
the mysterious force hiding the nucleus of the atom together
which, when split, produces the fantastic quantities of energy
see in atomic explosion. There is also some evidence now that
even the protons and neutrons themselves maybe minute systems,
with a central core or nucleus surrounded by clouds of smaller
particles.
So
whether we examine the universe or the atom we observe amazing
powers, order, unity or and difficulty far beyond our ability
to understand fully. What we can understand is the same order
and harmony in both, testify to their having the same Creator.
As
a professor of biology stated:
"From the drop of the water seed through the microscope to
the distant star observed through the telescope I wonder at
the exact neatness that I observe, so exact, that laws have
been formulated to express its steadiness. Somewhere back of
all this order must be a supreme being, for there can be no
order and no law without the supreme mind. (Light,
Knowledge and Truth)
Einstein
said (Light, Knowledge and Truth) he had "A
deep emotional
conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power,
which is revealed in the beyond your understanding universe.
From the large to the small, from the star to the atom, our
universe outstandingly demonstrates the power of harmony of
gods work.
.
.
What!
Made us not a wide expanse? And the mountains as bolts?
(78:6-7)
Earth
is, as desired by god, mans home, his only home, try as he
will, he cannot stay away from it in space for any length of
time. His life depends upon it. His needs for it inspire his
hunger for knowledge about it. What he had learned reveals
that life on the earth is no accident, but the earth was
especially designed for human habitation. There are ever so
many characteristics that, as far as is known, they are
peculiar to it and are very important to the life of man and
beasts.
First
of all, there is earth’s temperature. This depends primarily
upon its distance from the sun, some 93 million miles with a
variation of 3 miles in the course of a year. Were the earth
as far removed from the sun as are the planets Neptune and
Pluto, no life of the type found on earth would be possible.
The temperature would be far too cold; on the other hand, if
the earth were much closer to the sun, life likewise would be
impossible because of the extreme heat. The mariner (2) space
vehicle, shot into space within the past years, revealed that
the surface of Venus, a planet that is one third closer to the
sun melting than that of earth has a surface temperature of
2000. A temperature that is far above the melting point of
lead. Clearly, the earth’s distance from the sun is evidence
of design and wisdom of the creator.
And
so is the very speed of the earth as it rotates on it axis.
Were the earth to rotate on its axis only once a year, as is
the case with its sister planet mercury, one half of the earth
would be frozen sub zero waste and the other half a burning
heater.
.
Concerning the importance of temperature to the
maintenance of life upon earth, A.R. Wallace once well said:
.
"The essential features of the structure of organized beings
are, continuous growth and repair of tissues, nutrition by the
absorption of dead or living matter from without, and its
transformation into the various unstable compounds of which
their bodies are built up. For these purposes a double system
of circulation, gaseous and liquid has to be continuously in
operation, and this carried on by means of minute cellular
vessels, which infuse every part of the body. The wonderfully
complex and elegantly adjusted circulating systems are
entirely dependent on the continuous maintenance of very
narrow range of temperature somewhere between the extremes of
the boiling and the freezing points of water.
.
Only slightly less important than the right temperature
of the earth is its atmosphere, which gives no less striking
evidence for earth’s being designed for human habitation.
Therefore concerning the nature of earth’s atmosphere one
authority states:
.
"The single fact is that the rate of gases are present here is
only small amounts, much smaller than these known elsewhere in
the universe. At the same time, oxygen nitrogen….. And water
vapours are present in much greater abundance than elsewhere.
The relative distribution of elements in the universe has been
determined by spectroscopic analysis of meteorites. These show
that the rare gases are present here only in a few millions to
billions of their cosmic abundance. Now, since the solar
system and probably the known universe are generally assumed
to have been formed from reasonable proportionate share of
various elements."
.
But such is not the case. Why? And what is the origin
of atmospheric oxygen, which is found in such abundance in the
earth’s atmosphere (21%) and which is so essential to life?
Scientist cannot answer. They offer various hypotheses, but
there are objections to all of them.
Yes,
no other known planet has an atmosphere capable has an
atmosphere capable of sustaining human life. Was this a simple
accident, something that happened by chance?
That’s
not all. The atmosphere not only makes human life possible on
earth but it is most vital factor in preserving it. According
to the Larousse encyclopaedia of the earth, the atmosphere does
this by acting, first of all, "as an insulating blanket,
keeping temperatures in the middle and high attitudes from
dropping extremes during night and winter". Secondly,
according to the same authority, "the atmosphere serves, to
protect us from those of the sun’s rays which are harmful.
The ultraviolet end of the spectrum in particular, while
important and necessary for life, is nevertheless fatal below
certain wavelength."
What protects the earth from these raise is a thin
layer of ozone some 100,000 miles above the surface of the
earth. Who but the designer of the earth and creator of man
could have foreseen the vital need for such a shield? Nor are
the sun’s harmful rays the only ones against which the
earth’s atmosphere furnishes protection. When the earth
passed through the tail of Halley’s comet in 1910, it was
feared that harm would come to the human race because the tail
contained cyanogens, a deadly gas. But even the atmosphere
protects man from the sun’s harmful rays so it prevented
this gas from reaching the surface of the earth.
Acting
like a protecting covering, the atmosphere further protects
man from the multitudes of meteors that fall upon the earth.
At times thousands fall at one night. They could cause great
harm and damage to the earth and its inhabitants if they were
not burned up by the friction due to the earth’s atmosphere.
The condition on the moon highlights this fact. Therefore we
are told:
.
"The
utter contrast between the surface of the moon and the
earth, who’s environments in space are so similar, is
practically striking. The moon’s surface is dry and
without air. On it are no continents, no long ranges of
mountains, and no active volcanoes, but instead a
multitude of meteorite craters of all sizes, which are
almost lacking on the earth.
(Light, Knowledge and Truth)
Not
to be overlooked is the role that the atmosphere plays in the
earth’s water cycle. The waters drawn from the ocean by the
rays of the sun from clouds that float or are driven by winds
in the atmosphere over the land areas, where they fall as
rain. Without such rainfall, man could not live. Surely these
varying and vitals roles that the atmosphere plays making
human life possible upon the surface of the earth could not be
the result of blind chance but, rather, argue expressively in favour
of the earth’s being designed for human habitation by A.M
Aster, Designer as "The best of the
Creators."
.
In addition to the water cycle there are also the
phosphorus, nitrogen and oxygen cycles, all essential to life
of man and beasts and giving further expressive proof that the
earth was indeed designed for human habitation. For instance,
if there is any truly mineral element more important to life
than any other it is phosphorus. It is comparatively rare and
fleeting, being easily lost by being combined with other
elements. Man and beast get it especially by eating grains,
which take it from the soil. It is returned to the soil by
manure and decaying bodies. Because of man’s carelessness
much precious phosphorus is washed into the sea, depriving the
land.
.
However, this phosphorus is not lost entirely, for the
sea had its own phosphorus cycle. Plankton absorbs
phosphorous, zooplankton eats plankton, small fish eat the
zooplankton, and large fish eat the small fish. When sea
plants and animals die they sink to the bottom of the ocean to
build up reserves of phosphorous, to which is added that which
comes into the sea by soil erosion and sewage. Unbalanced
climates and cloud weather cause an inversion of the upper and
lower of water, therefore bringing the phosphorous up so it
can be eaten by the plankton. This stars the cycle all over
again. Large numbers of the human race on fish for protein,
and the abundance of fish in the ocean largely depend upon
this inversion of the upper and the lower layers, this
phosphorous cycle of the sea. Likewise essential to human is
the oxygen cycle.
.
There is no question about oxygen being vital to
man’s habitation to the earth. It is kept in equilibrium by
the oxygen cycle. Plant maintain this cycle by taking
carbon-dioxide out if their air and realizing oxygen. Man and
beast, in turn take oxygen and release carbon-dioxide.
.
Still another cycle essential to man’s earthly
existence is that of nitrogen, a gas that comprises 78% of the
earth’s atmosphere. Nitrogen is moderately still gas that
man does not readily mix with other elements. If it did, the
oceans would all be a weak solution of nitric acid, making
life in earth impossible. In the nitrogen-cycle the
thunderstorms as well as bacteria found on the roots of such
plants as peas, beans and clover, introduce nitrogen into the
soil in to form of nitrates that can be absorbed by plants. As
plants and animal matter decay they release nitrogen to the
atmosphere, thereby completing the cycle. Another valuable
purpose served be nitrogen is that of a dilute of air’s
oxygen so that there is just right amount of free oxygen to
support life and for the burning of combustible materials.
Surely all these cycles, so vital to life on earth, could not
possibly be the product of blind chance but forcefully argue
that the earth was indeed designed for human by the most
merciful eternal originator of the universe.
.
Among other factors that argue in behalf of the
earth’s being designed for human habitation are the size and
location of the moon. Were the moon twice its present size, it
would cause such-tides and stuffed in the earth’s crust that
man and beast could not exist upon the earth, that is, upon
the land. The same is true if the moon were half distance from
the earth that it currently is.
.
The lowly, humble dust particle furnishes still another
proof of design. Dust enters the earth’s atmosphere by means
of meteors, volcanoes and desert winds. Without dust, life
would not be possible on the earth.
.
Intelligent design is also evident in the tilt of the
earth axis at an angle of 13 degrees; consider what Morrison,
one time of president of the New York academy of sciences and
a life member of royal institute of Great Britain, says:
.
"The earth is tilted at an angle of twenty three degrees. This
gives us our seasons. If it had not be tilted, the poles would
move north and south, piling up the continents of ice and
leaving possibly a desert between the equator and the ice. Icy
rivers would erode and roar through canyons into the
salt-covered bed of ocean to form temporary pools of brine,
the weight of the unbelievingly vast mass of ice would depress
the poles, causing our equator to erupt or at least show the
need of a waistlines belt. The lowering of the ocean would
expose vast new areas and diminish the rainfall in all parts
of the world, with fearful results."
.
Much more evidence could be adduced, would space
permit, but the fore going should be enough to prove that the
earth was designed for human habitation. Such an amazing
number of conditions and balances could not by any means have
come about by chance. Only because of design are men of
science able to regard it:
.
"Mans home-the surface of the earth-is a small and temperate
shelter in a vast and alien universe……. Well much mankind
glory in its fertile plains, its snow-capped pinnacles, its
mighty oceans, for they are rare examples of moderation in a
universe where extremes of heat and cold prevail……..on the
earth the greatest miracle is life, but the combination of
circumstances which have made life possible is hardly less
remarkable."
.
Yes, it is not less true that man was designed for
earthly habitation. The Qura’an makes it clear:
.
God
is he who created sevens heavens, and of the earth, the like
unto them;
the decree continues the descend among
Them;
that you may know that god has power over all things and that
god indeed encompasses all things in (his) knowledge. (65:12).
Mans
arm, legs and hands are ideally suited for him to move about
on this earth, to provide for himself food, clothing and
shelter. The earth abounds with sounds; man’s ear is
constructed so as to pick up the greatest possible number of
sounds useful and enjoyable to him. The earth also abounds in
colours, and man has colour vision. More than all this, man
has intellect, a brain, making it possible for him to
appreciate beauty, so that all this beauty is not wasted on
him.
Man
has been given a set of teeth and the earth abound with all
manners of fruits, vegetables, cereals, on which to use his
teeth, as well as such sweets as syrups and honey to delight
his sense of taste. Water in essential to man’s existence,
and what an abundance of it there is upon earth! There was a
time when scientists casually wondered that some day man would
content himself with a few concentrated pellets. But he knows
better, for both bulk and taste are essential for proper
digestion and elimination, and the food being pleasing to the
eye also aids in digestion.
Earth
designed for human habitation and man designed for earthly
habitation-by whom? By the Creator, Allah the most beneficent,
the best of Creators.
.
.
Although
this planet is called earth, seas cover 71% of its surface.
The volume of water that they contain is so great that, if the
earth were bulldozed smooth, seawater will overwhelm it to a
depth of over two miles. But far from being a wasteland, the
seas swarm with life. In fact, the first living thing
creatures on this planet were so designed as to live
comfortably in the seas.
.
Those
that have explored the ocean depths are amazed at the beauty of
the design and the mobility of these countless sea creatures.
There seems to be no end to their variety, and each one is so
equipped as to live in its particular habitat; whether that is
at the seashore, in warm surface waters, or in the near
freezing depths of undersea valleys beneath more than six
miles of water.
.
Although
one may be inspired by the majestic waves pounding a rocky
shore, a careful examination of the many living creatures that
make their home along the shore can be equally rewarding. Many
of the animals have remarkable behaviour cycles that are
repeated with the outgoing tide and flow of the tides. The
regular changing of the colour of the common fiddler crab is a
good example. A scientific journal reported the following
interesting results of some experiments conducted on these
creatures in April 1954:
.
-
sometimes
the crab is darkest in the morning, sometimes at noon and
occasionally both early morning and early evening. The
time greatest darkness to occur about 50 minutes later
each successive day. Now it is common knowledge that high
and low tides in any given locality also occur about 50
later each day. We found that the maximum darkening of the
crabs in our laboratory came at about the time of day when
the tide was low in the place where they had been
collected. In other words, at the very same time that
crabs on the beach were taking the darkest shade as
protection from sunlight and predators, their captured
relatives in the laboratory, who had been kept in a
darkroom for a long as a month, also were becoming the
darkest. *
How
marvellously these creatures are designed for their protection!
To emphasize how remarkably precise is the mechanism that
triggers this change colour, * fiddler crabs from woods hole
were kept in the darkroom side by side with crabs from Martha
Vineyard, where low tide comes from hour later in the day. The
vineyard crabs turned their darkest just four hours later than
the wood hole crabs. * where do sea creatures get the
wonderful timing mechanism that is triggered by the outgoing
tide and flow of the tides? Evading the answer that God is
responsible, scientist say that:
Another
wonderful creature that is found attached to rocks or in tide
pools along the shore of sea is the sea-anemone. How
beautifully coloured they are! Some are olive green, other are
flesh coloured of orange, while still other are pink or
crimson. Slight rolling tentacles arranged around a central
disc give them appearance of lovely flowers. But let tiny
shrimps in the surrounding area beware! Those colourful
tentacles posses "lasso threads" that dart out and
paralyse unsuspecting victims with poison. The petal-like tentacles
then reach out and pull the stunned prey into its centre,
where it vanishes into the mouth of the anemone.
Therefore
the beautiful, helpless-looking anemone is wonderfully
designed for survival. But perhaps even more marvellous is the
way that it contributes to the support and well-being of the daddy longlegs
of the shore creatures, known as the sea spider.
After the anemone has finished dining, this eight-legged
spider-like creatures emerges from some secret lair among the
weeds and pebbles and confidently crawl over the anemone’s
colourful tentacles. Surprisingly, no poisonous threads dart
out to strike him. Instead the sea spider proceeds unmolested
to the centre of the anemone, where it inserts its long snout
in the anemone’s mouth, and calmly sucks up the contents of
the latter’s stomach!
Why
does the sea anemone allow this robbery? That is no more
puzzling than why certain fish and shrimp make their home in
anemone’s stomach and never digested, while similar little
creatures are consumed. In tropical waters sea anemones grow
to huge sizes, having tentacles two feet in length. Amazingly,
they allow brightly coloured coral fish to dart in and out
their stomachs, even though their everyday food consists of
similar fish.
An
article in scientific American (August 1951), suggests that
sea anemones may, in some way, benefit from the probing into
its intestines by other sea creatures. The magazine that
studies have revealed that a large number of marine organisms
either live by cleaning other fish or benefit from being
cleaned by them. Cleaner fish, which are now known to include
26 species, are specially equipped for their work with pointed
snouts and tweezers like teeth. Since other fish do not
interfere with them, they are generally brightly coloured and
stand out in their environment. Host fish of many kinds travel
long distances in order to receive treatment at these
hospitals and beauty parlours of the underworld.
"Even a small cleaning station," this scientific
journal reported, "may process a large number of fish in the
course of a day. I saw up to 300 fish cleaned at one station
in the Bahamas during one 6 hour daylight period. Some of the
fishes pass from station to station and return many times
during the day; those could be identified by day at regular
time intervals." This amazing behaviour called
"cleaning symbiosis" is recognized as an important activity that occurs
throughout the marine world.
.
But scientists wonder
" what mechanism prevents ordinarily hungry fishes
from consuming the little cleaners?" Clearly, it is all part of
God’s marvellous design, which
design becomes too evident when one explores his wonderful work
in the depths.
.
Consider, for instance, fishes that inhabit cold
northern waters. Recently, scientists took some from the Hebron
Fjord in Labrador, where both the water and the fish were a
few degrees below freezing. The fish, however, were protected
by a built in supply of anti-freeze.
Sea birds and turtles are able to drink salty water, which
dehydrate and turn the stomach of their land-dwelling cousins.
How is this possible? Recent studies reported in the January
1959 issue of the scientific American show that, in addition
to their kidneys, sea birds have "a special gland in the head
which disposes of salt more rapidly than any kidney does".
Similar experiments with sea turtle revealed that their tears
come from a large gland behind their eyeball, which produces a
liquid about the same as that of the salt gland secretion of
the sea bird.
The
more man learns about the creatures of the sea, the more he is
impressed with the wonderful way they are made to live in their
environment. Fish gills, for instance, are designed to extract oxygen from the water and
throw out
carbon dioxide. The scientists are studying the possibility of | 
