Magnificence Everywhere (12/15)

Variety in Animal Eyes

The structure of the eyes of fish enables them to see clearly underwater, while the eyes of birds make it possible for them to see through the air as they fly. The structures of the eyes of other creatures are likewise designed according to their needs. It is obvious that an organ like an eye which has a complex structure cannot acquire its features on it own, features that are different in every creature. Any person who examines the examples of this with wisdom and conscience will immediately see the fact that all creatures have been created by Allah. The examples given below constitute a way to reflect upon this fact.

Birds have a sharper sense of sight than humans, and they can scan a broader area in detail. A bird can see a number of images that a man only perceives by seeing in parts, but for a bird they are as a whole at a single glance. For birds, this is a great advantage for hunting. When compared to humans, some birds can see a distance six times farther than our sight.

For man, the momentary loss of sight that occurs during the split-second blinking of an eye is not very important. However, this could very well cause a problem for a bird flying very fast at an altitude of hundreds of meters. For this reason, when birds blink their eyes, there are no interruptions whatsoever in their seeing for birds have a third eyelid called a nictitating membrane. This membrane is transparent and it moves from one side of the eye to the other. Thus, birds can wink their eyes without completely closing them. In addition, birds that dive into water use this membrane as diving glasses and so protect their eyes from harm.

BAs another example, the eyes of the camel also have features that provide protection exactly as needed. The hard bones around the eyes protect them from sunlight and against blows. Even the strongest sandstorms do not hurt the eyes of a camel because its eyelashes have an interlocked structure and the eyes close automatically at the moment of danger. Thus, even a small bit of dust cannot enter the animal's eyes.

Fishes' eyes look at the world from behind a transparent screen. This curtain resembles divers' "goggles." Their firm, spherical eye lenses are adjusted to see nearby objects. Another reason for a fish's lenses being spherical is that light refracts when passing through water. Since their eyes are filled with a fluid that is almost at the same density as water, when the images formed outside are reflected in the eye, refraction does not occur. As a result of this, the lens focuses the image of the outside object on the retina perfectly and, unlike humans, the fish can see very clearly under water.

The Special Cooling Systems in Gazelles' Bodies

People have recently invented mechanical cooling systems and, with technological advancements, can bring them up to today's modern conditions. Yet, we were not the first to discover cooling systems. Every warm-blooded creature on Earth already has the necessary mechanisms in its body for heat control and was created in possession of this design. We can give the speedy gazelles of Africa as an example of this. The gazelle has to run away from its enemies in order to survive, because it has no another defense method. This burst of speed causes a sharp increase in the body temperature of the gazelle. However, in order to survive, the gazelle needs to keep its brain cooler than its body.

The gazelle has a unique cooling system in its brain. Gazelles and similar animals have hundreds of small arteries that divide and pass through a large pool of blood lying next to their breathing passages. The air they inhale cools this nasal pool, so the blood passing through the tiny arteries in it is cooled, too. Then the tiny arteries come together in a single blood vessel that carries blood to the brain.42

The interesting point here is that this flawless system cannot come into being by itself, since the non-existence of such a necessary cooling system would spell the end of the gazelle when it makes its very first run.

As is seen in the example of the gazelles' cooling systems, the design of creatures has such complexity that it cannot be explained by the "gradual development" claim of evolutionists. In other words, it is impossible for a creature's bodily structures and organs to come into being, over time, through small changes. The bodies of living things are full of structures, similar to that of the gazelles' cooling system, which will be of no use whatsoever if even a single part is missing. This proves that creatures have not come into being over time, through chance but, on the contrary, have been created perfectly by Allah. This is an obvious fact for people of intelligence as also stated in the Qur'an:

He said, "The Lord of the East and the West and everything between them if you used your intellect." (Surat ash-Shu'ara: 28)

Magnificence in The Creation of Man

All the people around you have come to their present state after months spent in their mothers' wombs. For each of them the same perfect system was prepared in their mothers' body, and each of them passed through the same stages.

Birth is a great miracle. The baby who develops in its specially protected chamber prepared in the mother's womb, comes into the world after a certain period of time. The details of this miraculous event will lead every man who ponders it to very important conclusions. Let us reach this conclusion together by looking at a detail that is important for a baby's development:

The placenta is a flesh tissue formed by the woman's body in order to attach the fertilized egg to the uterus wall. It contains a soft structure of blood vessels destined to serve the developing baby. These vessels are like the branches of a tree. In the placenta, the mother's and baby's blood vessels intertwine and exchange materials. The two bloods never mix, but nutrients and oxygen cross from the mother's blood into the baby's blood while wastes move out of the baby's blood, ultimately to be excreted by the mother.43 This function of the placenta is very important because this tissue must both meet all the needs of the baby and also be selective in order to protect it. What makes this exchange possible for the placenta is a thin membrane called the "chorion." This membrane separates the baby's blood circulation from that of the mother. By virtue of this membrane, the blood of the mother cannot enter the baby's vessels. The baby receives only oxygen and nutrition through this membrane.

The nutrition a baby needs in its first months is different from what he needs in the eighth and ninth months, on the verge of birth. The placenta must also adjust for this in the consumption of nutrients. As a matter of fact, the placenta carries out all these functions in a flawless way. It is always sensitive to how much it should take from what in a selective and careful way. Here, there are some questions which should be asked and points to be remembered.

First of all, there is the question of how a placenta that is a tissue consisting of cells can make these computations. Also, the question of how the placenta is aware of the needs of the baby needs an answer too. A person with intelligence will immediately see that a piece of flesh called a placenta cannot do these things on its own and could not have acquired such features by chance. In this case, the fact we come across is again very obvious: Allah created the placenta with characteristics that meet the needs of the baby in the mother's womb. The miracle of birth is another example that displays the magnificence of Allah's artistry in creation. We are reminded of this fact in the Qur'an:

O man! What has deluded you in respect of your Noble Lord? He Who created you and formed you and proportioned you and assembled you in whatever way He willed. (Surat al-Infitar: 6-8)

An Advanced Air-Conditioner, a Perfect Perceiver: Skin

At the moment, you can easily turn the pages of this book because your hands do not create any problems in grasping the texture of the pages. In a similar way, you can also hold and carry objects with smooth surfaces like a glass, for example. You can feel softness when you touch a feather and hardness when you hold a stone. Perceiving all this and sending necessary signals to your brain, your skin has the characteristics that enable you to visualize the objects in your brain.

A great number of nerves exist in the fingertips. This provides you with facility in movement and does not cause any inconvenience. On the other hand, in "less important" regions, on a man's back for example, there are fewer nerve endings present. This is a very important advantage. Now, let's assume the opposite: Let's assume that our fingertips are quite insensitive while nerves are arranged in greater numbers at the back of our bodies. This, undoubtedly, would be very troublesome. In such a situation while we could not use our hands properly, we would feel the slightest object touching our back, the folding of our clothing, for example.

Human skin is a complex organ consisting of many layers, containing nerves for perception, circulation canals, airing systems and heat and moisture regulators which protect the body like a shield against the rays of the sun. Because of this, a man can be in great danger if a part of his skin is damaged. Under the skin is a layer consisting of fat. This layer of fat serves as insulation against heat. Over this layer is another one, most of which consists of proteins that give the skin elasticity.

If we were to lift the skin and look just one centimeter (0.4 inches) below it, the sight greeting us would be an unaesthetic, even frightful sight, where fats and proteins and various blood vessels exist. By means of the feature that enables it to cover these structures, the skin both provides a very important aesthetic contribution and also enables us to protect ourselves from outside factors. It will be sufficient to remark upon a couple of the functions of the skin that makes it vital for us and to ponder on them in order to understand the importance of its existence.

Human skin prevents the disturbance of the water balance of the body, is strong and elastic, can repair itself, protect the body from harmful rays, maintains contact with the outside world, and protect the temperature of the body in cold or hot weather.

Human skin, which functions as a sensitive detector and an advanced air-conditioner meeting all kinds of needs, is a blessing that has been created by Allah, with the beauty it provides visually and the features it has to protect man. The skin, about which many pages of books have been written, once again displays Allah's magnificence in creation to us.