THE AMAZING FEATURES OF
THE CREATURES AROUND US
Did
you know that the living things that you see everyday have
very interesting features?
After creating earth, Allah created many
living things on it. One of these living things is the human
being. We told you earlier how the human being was created.
There are beings other than humans on this planet. These are
the animals and plants.
In this section, we will explain the amazing
features of some of these animals and plants. Some of these
could be animals that you see everyday when you are out for
a walk, playing in the backyard or sitting on the terrace.
You probably haven't given a lot of thought to their unique
features.
When
Allah creates people, He gives them some features to constantly
remind them of Him. For example, you can see the pictures
of a human and a mosquito on this page. The mosquito is thousands
of times smaller than the human. But, no matter what, the
human is totally defenceless against the mosquito while sleeping
in bed. Whatever she does, she will not be able to prevent
the mosquito from biting. Allah has given the mosquito many
special features, even though it is a lot smaller than the
human being. As a result of this, He wants humans to ponder.
He wants them to understand that humans can do nothing, even
against a mosquito, without His wish. In this way, human beings
should realise that they have absolutely no power in front
of Allah.
A mosquito at work! In the bottom
picture, can you see how the abdomen of the mosquito
reddens as a result of the blood that it sucks?
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Now, think about yourself. You go to bed
and hear a continuous buzz. This is the buzz of a mosquito.
As you can see in the picture the mosquito itself is tiny,
but its noise is very strong. This is due to a unique talent
that Allah gave it. However, do you know why the mosquito
is trying continuously to bite you? Come on now; let's tell
you about the interesting adventure of a mosquito.
THE AMAZING ADVENTURE OF THE MOSQUITO
Mosquitoes are creatures with which most
humans are familiar because of their visits to our homes during
the summer.
Did you ever get the chance to look at
a mosquito closely? If not, look at the picture on the previous
page and we can study it together. Do you know why the abdomen
of this mosquito is red? His abdomen is red because it is
filled with the blood of the person on whom the mosquito has
landed. Why do mosquitoes suck blood? Many people believe
that the mosquitoes feed on blood. In reality, mosquitoes
feed on flower nectar.
The female mosquito is the only one that
sucks blood, and that is for the sake of the eggs that she
carries.
After learning this, you will probably
view mosquitoes with different eyes. There are things about
mosquitoes that will surprise you even more. As you know mosquitoes
are creatures that live on land and that fly, but they grow
in water and after they mature, they come out of the water
without even getting wet. Did you ever hear of this incredible
story? If you did not, then read on and you will be quite
surprised.
The Adventure Begins…
The adventure of the small mosquito begins
when the mother mosquito leaves her eggs on ponds or wet leaves.
Yet, she doesn't leave her eggs at random. She aligns them
neatly side-by-side. The eggs resemble a raft. Do you know
why the mother mosquito arranges her eggs in this shape?
The mother mosquito links her
eggs in the shape of a raft to prevent them from sinking.
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She gives her eggs this shape because,
since they have been left on water, the eggs could easily
sink. If they are linked in this way, the risk of sinking
will no longer be there. The white eggs that the mother lines
up with care immediately begin to darken. Insects and birds
don't notice these eggs because their colour is dark. In this
way, the eggs are safe from being attacked by insects and
birds. So, from where does a tiny mosquito egg learn to change
its colour?
Obviously, this tiny egg couldn't have
this knowledge. The mosquito that is the mother of this egg
also can't know how to change its colour. Allah is the One
Who changes the colour of the eggs. Allah is ery merciful
and is the Protector of the living things He creates. He changes
the colour of the mosquito eggs to protect them.
Wait! The mosquito's adventure has only just begun. The little
ones inside the egg soon turn into wormlike creatures called
larvae. These larvae, as you can see on the next page, stay
in water with their heads upside down. How do you think these
larvae breathe when their heads are in water? Allah has created
them with an organ that allows them to breathe. Do you know
what this organ looks like? It looks like the diver's snorkel
the child in the next picture is using. This is a tube and
the top of it stays out of water. The air that goes through
this tube allows the tiny mosquito that is under water to
breathe.
However,
there is an important problem. This tube stays out of water
but even the slightest wave could cause water to enter it
and this would mean that the tiny mosquito would drown. This
doesn't happen. A sticky substance at the end of this tube
prevents water from entering it. Do you think that the larvae
you see in the picture could have said, "Let's put a sticky
substance at the end of our tube, so that water doesn't get
inside"? Could little mosquitoes have such intelligence and
talent? Obviously little mosquitoes cannot think of doing
such things. Allah is the One Who creates the tube so that
they can breathe and the sticky substance at the end of the
tube so that water doesn't enter.
As you can see, Allah does not protect
just you, He also protects all other living creatures.
Don't think that the adventure is over.
It is still going on.
Meanwhile, the little mosquitoes change
their skins a couple of times. Finally, they take the shape
that you see on the left. It still doesn't look like a mosquito,
does it? This phase of the mosquito is called the pupal stage.
Inside the shell called the cocoon, the mosquito matures completely
and takes the true shape of a mosquito. He becomes ready to
fly with his antenna, mouth, feet, wings, and the eyes that
make up a large portion of its head. But first, he must get
out of the shell.
The Mosquito is Out for the First Time!
The mosquito that has come out
of its cocoon is standing on water! Allah protects the
mosquito from sinking with a sticky substance that He
created for its feet.
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The cocoon is first torn from the side of the
head. However, the mosquito faces a very important danger
before it is born. What if the cocoon fills with water? In
that case, the mosquito would drown. However, the head portion
of the cocoon is covered with a special sticky substance that
prevents the head of the mosquito from coming into contact
with water.
This is a very important moment, because the mosquito must
stand on water on the tips of its feet, and it must not wet
its wings. Even the slightest wind could cause the mosquito
to tip over in the water and die. The mosquito manages this
with great skill, because Allah created him with this talent.
How is the Mosquito Able to See You and
Sting You at Night?
Did you ever wonder? It is dark at night
and you are lying down on your bed. You are covered with your
quilt. Only a little part of your arm is exposed. Yet the
mosquito comes around in the darkness of night; it sees and
stings that small part of you. So, while you are unable to
see anything at night, how does the mosquito manage to see?
Mosquitoes are able to see the living
things around them with the heat that they radiate, which
is a kind of light invisible to us. Since this type of sight
is not reliant on visible light, they can find our blood vessels
even during the darkness of the night.
This is a unique talent. Due to this,
scientists were able to invent a camera that captures images
by means of heat. Even if it is dark, this camera images the
surroundings as if it were daylight. Can you imagine? People
copying a small mosquito! Could a mosquito possibly know more
than a human, especially could it know more than a scientist?
Of course not! Allah has given the mosquito extraordinary
abilities. People are in awe of these extraordinary talents
and try to copy them. They invented the aeroplane by copying
birds. People have copied many other things after seeing them
in nature. For now, let us continue the adventure of the mosquito.
The Mosquito at Work!
Mosquitoes see the living creatures
around them according to their heat patterns. This is
how a mosquito sees a group of people and then chooses
its target.
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The technique that the mosquito uses to
suck blood is so meticulous that it astonishes people.
First, the mosquito lands on a target.
For example, your arm… Then, with its needle-like tube, it
chooses a suitable spot for itself. The needle of a mosquito
resembles a syringe and it is protected with a special sheath.
During blood suction, the needle is released from this sheath.
Many people think that the mosquito pierces the skin by inserting
its needle into it, whereas the mosquito uses a different
method to do so. It moves its lower jaw back and forth, just
like a saw and, with the help of its lower jaw, cuts the skin.
It inserts its needle into this opening and when the needle
reaches the blood vessel, it starts to suck blood.
Doctor Mosquitoes!
You could ask, "Can mosquitoes become
doctors?" After reading this page you will say, "They really
are doctors!"
When you get a cut, after a while, your blood stops dripping
of its own accord. This is because blood can coagulate and
stop flowing. Allah has created blood with this unique quality
to protect human beings. If blood did not coagulate on its
own, the tiniest cut on our finger or a wound from a fall
while running could cause you to die since you wouldn't be
able to stop the bleeding.
This is quite a vital benefit for us.
However, mosquitoes might not be too happy about it. Why?
Because, just when the mosquito starts to suck our blood,
it would harden and not go up the mosquito's tube. If this
were so, the mosquito would not have existed, because none
of the mosquitoes would have been able to feed protein to
their eggs. Again, Allah has created mosquitoes with a unique
skill that is just right for this process. How? Before the
mosquito begins to suck blood, it secretes a special liquid,
given it by Allah, into the blood vessel of the person on
whom it has landed. In this way, the blood in that area doesn't
coagulate and so the mosquito is able to suck it.
This
liquid has another rare quality. While the mosquito does all
these things, you won't feel a thing, because this substance
numbs the area that the mosquito cuts. This liquid is just
like a anaesthetic the dentist or surgeon uses. Doctors administer
a certain drug so that you won't feel pain, and you don't.
You see, the mosquito works just like a doctor. First, it
anaesthetises and then it sucks.
After the mosquito bites you, you feel
a little itching and swelling. The reason for this itching
and swelling is this liquid.
You might think that all these things
take a long time. The mosquito, however, manages most of these
in a very short time. You feel the bite of the mosquito only
after it has finished its job and packed away its equipment.
You can see in this
picture, the course of action that a mosquito takes
when it bites a human being. The mosquito does not suck
blood to feed. It sucks blood only to feed its eggs.
Furthermore, you won't feel a thing while the mosquito
does these things, since the mosquito anaesthetises
the area that it cuts.
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The mother
mosquito feeds the eggs inside her with the blood that
it sucks.
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Now, let's think together. The mosquito
is as large as the tip of a pencil, but the jobs it manages
are very important and complex. Do you think that it is possible
for a mosquito to think all of these things through? To prevent
the flow of a human's blood, to anaesthetise the area that
it cuts so that it doesn't cause pain, to make an eye that
can see easily even at night, to arrange its eggs in the shape
of a raft so that they don't sink… It could not invent any
of these, right?
Allah has created every living being with
the features most suitable for it so that they can feed themselves,
protect themselves and survive. This shows just how caring,
merciful and protective Allah is. If a mosquito is able to
continue its life, for example, then this is because Allah
is protecting it. Allah neither misses anything, nor does
He forget. This is why everything that a mosquito needs is
complete. Nothing is missing.
THE FLY IS ONE OF THE BEST FLYING CREATURES
ON EARTH
We have so far mentioned the special features
of the mosquito. In reality, all the insects that we see around
us have interesting features. For example, flies are able
to fly superbly from the moment that they are born. We can
even say that, when it comes to flying, flies are the most
talented creatures.
A fly can flap its wings about 500 to
1000 times per second. Stop here and think for a moment. The
frame of time that we mention is not an hour and not a minute;
it is just a second. That is, it is about the same time as
the time in which you close and open your eyes. You see; the
fly has flapped its wings at least 500 times while you closed
and opened your eyes.
Now think about the following: What would
you do if you were asked to open and close your arms only
10 times and not 500 times? Without a doubt it is impossible
for you to manage this 500 times with the type of muscles
your body has. The fly, with its extraordinary body muscles,
manages this task that neither you nor mature adults can perform.
Moreover, flies do not feel any difficulty while flapping
their wings; their wing muscles do not wear out. This is because
Allah has created them with such a magnificent system.
If
you were to watch a fly closely, you would witness that it
experiences no difficulty while taking off; this may not have
seemed surprising to you and you may have taken this for granted.
However, this is a very important and difficult move.
You know quite a lot about helicopters
and aeroplanes. Well, do you know how long humans have been
able to use them? The machines that are able to fly today
were developed only during the last century. This means that
a hundred years ago, there were no aeroplanes or helicopters
like the ones that exist today. Engineers and technicians
researched for a very long time; they worked for many years
and developed this machinery only a short while ago. Look,
this is very important: Today, none of the machines that fly
have the complete ability to take off like flies do. This
feature exists in some helicopters to some extent. However,
even after all these lengthy efforts and the strong specially-developed
engines, these helicopters still do not have the ability to
fly as perfectly as flies.
When it comes to flying, even the helicopters that are
manufactured by humans with the most advanced technologies
are not as successful as flies.
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Now, examine the first fly that you come
upon. See what you notice: you will notice especially that
the fly doesn't fly in a straight line. The fly can take off
towards any destination it wants by making manoeuvres. It
can, for example, zigzag in the air, and make abrupt turns.
It can land on any surface, no matter how unsuitable. It can
even land on ceilings or vertical walls with ease.
No flying machine can manage all these
things. Try to imagine in your mind's eye the take-off of
an aeroplane and a fly, and decide which one is more successful.
Now, this question may have occurred to
you: Who teaches the fly all these moves? Again, what we see
here is the presence of Allah the Most Powerful. Allah is
the One Who has given the fly such mmaculate flying ability.
THE
TINY PRODIGIES THAT PRODUCE HONEY
Do you know who makes the honey on your
breakfast table?
You
will probably reply, "yes!" We all know that bees make honey.
However, do you know just how much these bees work to make
the honey from the moment they are born until the moment they
die, or just how giving and intelligent they are? Come on;
let's study together how Allah has created the bees…
In a beehive, there is one queen, a few
hundred male bees and a workforce of thousands of infertile
female bees, the worker bees. (The total number of bees in
the beehive can reach 80,000). The worker bees perform all
the activities inside the hive. Some duties of the worker
bees are as follows:
Building
the honeycomb, cleaning and protecting the hive, feeding the
queen bee and the male bees, caring for the bee larvae, and
feeding them with the royal jelly, honey and pollen, building
cells for the eggs to grow in, cleaning these rooms, maintaining
the heat and moisture inside the hive, collecting nectar,
pollen, water and resin, etc.
We had mentioned earlier the life story
of a mosquito. Now, let's take a look together at what type
of life the worker bee leads.
A worker bee lives between 4 to 6 weeks.
For 3 weeks after its birth it lives inside the hive. Its
first job is to take care of the growing bees. It feeds the
baby bees with the honey and pollen it takes from storage.
When the worker bee becomes 12 days old,
suddenly, beeswax starts to be produced in its body. The beeswax
is extremely important for bees, because the bees build their
honeycombs with beeswax. You will see the picture of a honeycomb
when you turn the page.
Isn't it neat? Could you have made such
neat hexagons side by side without a ruler? Furthermore, take
a blank piece of paper and start to draw hexagons from one
end of the paper while a friend starts to draw from the other.
Were you able to come up with a neat honeycomb shape, right
in the middle of the paper, without leaving any spaces? You
weren't able to, right? This is something that even adults
are unable to manage. Your teachers, parents, even your grandparents
would not be able to achieve such a task. To be able to do
this, you would need some instruments and you would have to
do very complicated calculations. However, the tiny bee, even
when it is just 12 days old, can make such a perfect honeycomb.
What's more, it does this without using any instruments.
It is impossible to form a perfectly
hand-drawn honeycomb.
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All the bees start making hexagonal honeycombs
from the corners, and meet in the middle. You might have noticed
that the honeycombs are the same height. How can a bee manage
such tasks that even humans are not able to carry out and
with such excellence? You see Allah is the One Who lets the
bee do these things. Allah has created the bee with this talent.
The responsibilities of the worker bee
are not just these. Among its duties, until it is 3 weeks
old, are storing royal jelly and pollen in the honeycombs,
keeping the beehive clean and throwing dead bees and garbage
outside the beehive. During the last stage of its 3-week duty,
it starts its last task of serving as a security guard and
protecting the beehive from enemies. When the three weeks
are over, the bee becomes skilled enough to collect royal
jelly, pollen and water.
The worker bee becomes exhausted after
working non-stop for another 2 to 3 weeks and dies.
During their brief lives, the bees work
non-stop. In addition, no one teaches them the work that they
are supposed to do. They start to work straight after birth.
Just think, if a new-born baby were to get out of its bed,
first make its bed, wash up, and then begin to take care of
the other babies; wash them, feed them, dress them. Isn't
this just impossible? Yet, bees manage such an impossible
task, because Allah has created them with the capabilities
to do so.
The Honey Bees that Dance
Bees dance by making movements
resembling the figure "8". Their dance has
a purpose: To show their co-workers the location of
a food source.
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Did anyone ever tell you that bees have
a dance? Some bees look for a food source outside the beehive.
After flying about all day long, they find their own source
and take with them as much royal jelly as they can, and then
they return to their hive. There is still a lot more royal
jelly left at the source but the bee cannot collect it all
without the help of the other bees. The scout bee keeps the
location of the food source in mind and quickly returns to
the hive to gather its friends. It starts to make moves that
resemble the number 8 on the honeycomb. The numbers of times
the bee turns or shakes its abdomen are signals that indicate
the distance of the food source from the hive. By the end
of the dance, the other bees have understood the location
of the food source and they quickly leave for the flowers
that are their new food source.
Where do you think tiny bees have learnt
how to communicate by dancing? Of course, the One Who has
given them this knowledge is their Creator and Protector,
Allah.
Did You Know that Bees Make Honey for Us
as Well?
Bees can produce much more honey than
they need. As you know, bees make honey in their abdomens.
Their tiny bodies make enough honey for themselves as well
as for people.
The bee stores honey in the
cells it builds so perfectly. Here is the amazing honeycomb
of the bee!
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But why are the bees so giving? Why don't
they just make honey for themselves rather than thinking of
our needs as well? Honey is very nutritious for people. This
is the reason why Allah has created bees with the ability
to make honey and has ordered them to make it in great quantities.
Allah says in a verse in the Qur'an:
Your Lord revealed to the bees: "Build
dwellings in the mountains and the trees, and also in the
structures which men erect. Then eat from every kind of fruit
and travel the paths of your Lord, which have been made easy
for you to follow." From inside them comes a drink of varying
colours, containing healing for mankind. There is certainly
a Sign in that for people who reflect. (Surat an-Nahl: 68-69)
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