Every second, while you are watching this film -
How many of these phenomena that take place inside and around you, every second, are you aware of?
In addition, do you realize that each and every one of these phenomena is an independent miracle?
Caught up in the rush of life on a daily basis, the great majority of people are unaware of the perfection of the systems that exist within their bodies but also around them .
People are unaware that their lives depend on thousands of different events all taking place with a specific sequence and amazing order.
The fact is that the survival of people and all the living or inanimate entities in the universe depend on a magnificent and flawless system that functions in a ceaseless manner.
Each one of the countless links in this magnificent system works in perfect harmony and interdependence with all the others.
The absence of a single link, or a problem with the way it functions, might lead to inconceivable disruptions.
A continual disruption could even lead to the complete disappearance of life on Earth.
Our world survives due to the constant maintenance of many highly delicate balances, both known and unknown. These balances include the rate of expansion and mass of the universe, and temperatures, densities, and the speeds of rotation of the galaxies and the stars and planets in them.
The Sun rises every morning and sets every evening. The four seasons follow one another with complete regularity every year.
Tons of water rises up into the air, before falling back in the form of rain. While human beings are totally unaware, Allah maintains the countless balances on Earth at every moment.
Every day, Allah causes billions of seeds to sprout from the soil, creates fruits and vegetables from them, while at the same time nourishing billions of living things all over the world and maintaining all the systems that permit us to survive within a specific order.
He controls the Earth and sky, and protects all the living things on Earth against known and unknown perils. Allah reveals in one verse how there is much to be learned for all thinking people in every one of these things:
In the Creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation of the night and day, and the ships which sail the seas to people’s benefit, and the water which Allah sends down from the sky – by which He brings the earth to life when it was dead and scatters about in it creatures of every kind – and the varying direction of the winds, and the clouds subservient between heaven and earth, there are Signs for people who use their intellect. (Surat Al-Baqara, 164)
MIRACLES THAT TAKE PLACE EVERY SECOND IN THE UNIVERSE
Let us go on a journey within the Solar System.
But, let us also remind ourselves that some of the things we see as we travel between the planets may be rather frightening.
There are temperatures as high as +475 degrees in some areas, pitch blackness in others, and an airless and waterless environment in yet other areas. Some regions are freezing cold to support life, while in other regions we will encounter storms and volcanoes.
In short, within eight of the nine planets and their 53 satellites in the Solar System, not one heavenly body is capable of supporting life.
Each is a dead and silent collection of matter. There is only one exception; apart from the rest, this one is -
The Earth…
A brightly lit planet in a pitch-black void, covered with blue oceans and clouds. It consists of light and moderate temperatures, and vegetation unlike anywhere else in space. All of whose features combine in perfect order and harmony for the existence of life.
The environment on the other planets is sufficient to show just how different everything would be in the absence of just one of the conditions existing on Earth.
Together, with all the measures, from its atmosphere to the nature of its surface, from the elements to its distance from the Sun, our Earth has been specially created for life.
Separate miracles take place at every point in the universe in order for this system to continue.
This flawless Creation of the Earth is a great blessing from Allah on mankind.
Allah reveals in many verses how He has specially created our Earth for the existence and benefit of living things:
It is He Who made the earth a cradle for you and threaded pathways for you through it and sent down water from the sky by which We have brought forth various different types of plants. Eat and pasture your cattle. Certainly there are Signs in that for people of sound intellect. (Surah Ta Ha, 53-54)
We placed firmly embedded mountains on the Earth, so it would not move under them, and We put broad valleys as roadways in it, so that perhaps they might be guided. (Surat Al-Anbiya’, 31)
He Who made the Earth a stable dwelling place and appointed rivers flowing through its midst and placed firmly embedded mountains on it and set a barrier between the two seas. Is there another god besides Allah? No indeed, but most of them do not know it! (Surat An-Naml, 61)
Did you know that as you watch this film, the upper layers of the atmosphere are being bombarded by meteorites?
Though we may be unaware of it, the fact is that, by way of the atmosphere surrounding our Earth, we are at all times protected against terrible disasters.
Earth-bound meteors entering the atmosphere at average speeds of 40 km a second begin burning up under the effect of friction.
These “cosmic bombs” are melted away before they reach us, by way ofthe atmosphere that works like a natural shield.
Statistics show that around 50,000meteors are neutralized in this way every year.
It is giant asteroids that pose a real threat, however.
Any one of these falling to Earth could have catastrophic consequences.
For example, an asteroid estimated to have been 60 km in diameter that fell on Tunguska in Siberia in the early 20th century destroyed a 2000-square-kilometer area of forest and caused an explosion 1000 times greater than that at Hiroshima.
It is not difficult, therefore, to imagine the damage that an even larger asteroid might cause.
However, Allah in His mercy protects us from such perils.
More than 10,000 tons of asteroids hurtling towards our Earth are melted away under the effect of friction and thus, do not represent a lethal threat to life on Earth.
This, there is no doubt, is a manifestation of Allah’s attributes of “Ar-Rahman” and “Ar-Rahim.”
We made the sky a preserved and protected roof yet still they turn away from Our Signs. (Surat Al-Anbiya’, 32)
Temperatures rise by 30°C for every meter one descends towards the centre of the Earth. The temperature at its core reaches an amazing 4500°C.
Bearing in mind that just 1 km beneath the surface the temperature is nearly 60°C, the scale of the potential danger is obvious.
And yet, all living things survive in complete safety, unaware of the boiling magma beneath them.
It is clear that Allah has created a perfect order, ideally suited to life on the surface of the Earth, which nevertheless contains a huge ball of fire at its centre.
Everyone who believes in Allah and the Day of Judgment must realize that life on Earth, and the heavens and earth, are maintained only at the desire and through the mercy of Allah.
Allah reveals in the Qur’an how all things survive only by His will:
Allah keeps a firm hold on the heavens and earth, preventing them from vanishing away. And if they vanished no one could then keep hold of them. Certainly He is Most Forbearing, Ever-Forgiving.” (Surah Fatir, 41)
The Hidden Equilibrium That Is Constantly Maintained
When we examine the structure of the Solar System we encounter the most delicate balances and arrangements in every single detail.
For example, the factor preventing the planets from spinning off into the freezing cold of outer space is the balance between the “gravitational attraction” of the Sun and the planets’ own “centrifugal force.”
Due to its huge gravitational attraction the Sun draws all the planets towards it.
They escape this attraction thanks to the centrifugal force imparted by their orbits.
Were the planets to orbit the Sun, just a little slower, then they would quickly be pulled into it and swallowed up in a huge fireball.
The exact opposite could also be possible.
If the planets orbited the Sun any faster, its gravitational attraction would be insufficient to maintain its pull on them, and the planets would spin off into outer space.
Yet, this highly delicate equilibrium functions in a flawless manner every single second.
It is also noteworthy that the order in question has been established independently for each and every planet.
This is because the planets are all at very different distances from the Sun.
Their masses are also very different.
That means that they all revolve at different speeds.
Yet, none of these details lead to any impairment of the immaculate order in question.
Isaac Newton, who made very important discoveries about the structure of the Solar System and is widely regarded as “the greatest scientist who ever lived,” wrote:
This most elegant system of suns, planets, and comets could arise from the purpose and sovereignty of an intelligent and mighty being…He rules them all, not as a soul but as a sovereign Lord of all things, and because of His sovereignty He is commonly called "Lord God Almighty." (Michael A. Corey, God and the New Cosmology: The Anthropic Design Argument, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1993, p. 259)
The location of the Earth within the Solar System also reveals a flawless creation.
Every planet and every system has its own complementary function.
The latest astronomical data, for instance, have shown that the existence of the other planets in the system is of great importance to the Earth’s security and orbit.
The position of the planet Jupiter is one example.
Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System, and its presence ensures the Earth’s own equilibrium.
Astrophysical calculations have revealed that the orbit of the planet Jupiter keeps the orbits of the other planets, as well as the Earth, stable.
A second way in which Jupiter protects the Earth is described by the planetologist, George Wetherill, in an article titled, “How Special Is Jupiter?”
Without a large planet positioned precisely where Jupiter is, the earth would have been struck a thousand times more frequently in the past by comets and meteors and other interplanetary debris. If it were not for Jupiter, we wouldn't be around to study the origin of the solar system. (How Special Is Jupiter?, Nature, Vol. 373, 1995, p. 470)
The Earth has an atmosphere with a specific temperature through which complex life forms, human beings in particular, can breathe and survive in.
The range of temperatures in which we can live is a very narrow one within the entire temperature spectrum of the universe as a whole.
And, that narrow range is exactly the one present on the Earth.
A great many factors are involved in the establishment of this ideal temperature. One of them is the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
If, the Earth were as close to the Sun as Venus, or as far away as Jupiter, then the temperatures on it would not be capable of sustaining life.
The maintenance of this temperature range is closely related to the thermal energy emitted by the Sun as well as to the distance between it and the Earth.
It has been calculated that a 10% reduction in the energy reaching the Earth from the Sun would result in the earth being covered in a layer of ice many metres thick.
A slight rise in that level of energy would mean all living things burning to death.
Yet, neither of these things actually happens.
The Earth’s temperature remains stable in such a way as to support life.
The high speed at which the Earth revolves around its own axis helps this heat to be evenly distributed.
The Earth revolves around its own axis once every 24 hours, thanks to which its days and nights are very short.
This means that the temperature difference between day and night is very small.
The importance of this can be seen when compared with the planet Mercury, a day on which lasts more than a year, for which reason the temperature difference between day and night is 1000°C.
………
What you are now watching on the screen has been extracted from a film that has been the subject of great interest in cinemas all over the world, and one that has provoked a huge response – “The Day after Tomorrow.”
This film portrays the impairment of the magnificent balances in nature, to the accompaniment of striking images showing the impact of this on human life.
“The Day after Tomorrow” is based on true facts, a depiction of “global disaster,” and the subject of intense debate.
The film deals with what happens when predictions made by a climatologist who researches global warming suddenly comes true. Rather than being a mere movie, it reveals the terrible consequences that would result from even the slightest damage to the sensitive balances in the universe.
In this film, the ice caps that melt due to global warming change the warm water currents and cause the air to become unbelievably cold.
Snow falls non-stop for 24 hours, human beings freeze to death, huge lumps of ice fall from the sky, and tornadoes wreak devastation on all sides…
The Earth turns into a planet on which it is impossible to survive.
These images are an excellent depiction of the kind of disaster, just as described in the film, awaiting mankind and all living things in the event that the equilibrium protecting all the delicate balances on Earth is impaired.
Allah has created the world we live in and the entire universe in such a way as to support life. This is one of His blessings and mercies on His servants:
Do you not see that Allah has made everything on the Earth subservient to you and the ships running upon the sea by His command? He holds back the heaven, preventing it from falling to the Earth – except by His permission. Allah is All-Compassionate to mankind, Most Merciful. (Surat Al-Hajj, 65)
What we have seen so far is just one part of the balances essential for life on Earth.
As we continue with our examination, we shall encounter a much longer and almost endless list.
A LIST OF BALANCES ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE:
The Effect of the Attraction between the Moon and the Earth:
The Earth’s Magnetic Field;
The Size of the Earth
The Thickness of the Ozone Layer
Seismic Activity (Earthquake)
The list goes on…
Millions or billions of measures and balances like those shown in the above list all operate at every moment for the benefit of human beings by way of Allah’s creative artistry.
Allah is He Who creates the heavens and earth and brings forth many products as a mercy by causing rain to fall from the sky. And by His command He makes the sea suitable for boats to sail upon it. And He places the rivers at your disposal. He places the Sun and Moon at your service in their motions, and places the day and night at your disposal. (Surah Ibrahim, 32-33)
MIRACLES THAT TAKE PLACE EVERY SECOND IN OUR BODIES
Before you even opened your eyes into the world, you began living in an order that was specially prepared for you.
Your body was specially and perfectly prepared for you when you were born.
For example, a perfect pair of eyes had been created so that you might clearly see the world around you.
Although you had yet to come in contact with the air outside, a respiratory system enabling you to breathe periodically appeared while you were still in your mother’s womb.
You came into the world with a digestive system capable of digesting all kinds of foods, with hands and fingers with their unique prints, eyelids to protect your eyes against foreign bodies, and many other such organs and systems.
It is the flawless functioning of this perfect system that has allowed you to survive so far.
And these miraculous systems have been continuing to function in your body ever since you began watching this film.
In short, everything that happens inside the human body over the course of 24 hours throughout a person’s life does so by the will of Allah, and is the subject of His protection and infinite compassion.
Your heart, for instance, which beats an average of 70 times a minute throughout the course of your life and began doing so while you were still in your mother’s womb, is a miracle.
We also breathe all our lives.
We breathe approximately 21,600 times a day. This means that a human being breathes an average of 591,300,000 during the course of his or her life.
Our bodily systems have been so arranged that there is no need for us to even think about breathing.
It constantly calculates how much we need to breathe as we walk, run, read, or even sleep, and causes our lungs to work accordingly.
We breathe so often that we imagine this process to be a very ordinary one.
The fact is, however, that the way we breathe, the way our hearts beat and the functioning of all the other organs in the body takes place as the result of the workings of a highly complex system.
The 100 trillion cells in the human body act just as if they were acquainted with one another.
They discharge the special responsibilities bestowed on them right to the very end, with no interruption or neglect.
This process takes place all the time, without us ever being aware of them.
This activity in our bodies even continues while we are asleep.
One of these systems that are in constant activity and never ceases working for a single moment is the body’s defense system.
This system, under the skin, protects the body, day and night, against invaders of all kinds with all its might, just like a well-equipped army.
Most people are not aware of how important the defense system is to their living healthy lives. However, with this perfect system created by Him, Allah protects human beings at every moment against the hostile forces surrounding them on all sides.
The slightest impairment to this system gives rise to serious diseases that are very difficult to treat.
Many people live under very difficult conditions due to their having impaired defense systems. Allah creates such impairments as a means for people to become aware of and give thanks for the blessings bestowed on them.
All these details taking place at every moment in the human body are proofs of Allah’s sublime creative artistry.
…Say, “All favor is in Allah’s Hand and He gives it to whoever He wills. Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing. He picks out for His mercy whoever He wills. Allah’s favor is indeed immense”. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 73-74)
THE MIRACLES TAKING PLACE AROUND US EVERY SECOND
The Sun is the main source of energy of life on Earth.
However, human beings and animals are unable to make direct use of solar energy, since their bodies lack the systems to use that energy in its original state.
However, at this stage, plants enter the equation together with another miraculous system.
Plants turn solar energy into chemical energy by establishing an unbelievable energy conversion centre in their own bodies.
All the raw energy sources used by our cells are actually solar energy bestowed on us by means of plants.
When we drink anything, for example, we are actually swallowing solar energy.
The strength in our muscles is, in fact, nothing more than a different form of solar energy.
Plants store solar energy in their bodies by carrying out highly complex chemical processes.
Using carbon dioxide, a toxic gas, they create the food that provides the energy needed by human beings.
The formula for these very special processes lies in their structures.
In their entirety, these processes are referred to as photosynthesis.
In order for photosynthesis to continue, a separate enzyme needs to discharge its own function at every stage of the phenomenon.
Many highly specialized enzymes come together inside the cell. They permit the phenomenon of solar energy being stored in nutrients to be carried out in full.
The only reason why the plant cell carries out this task is to convert solar energy into a state that can be used by living cells.
As a result of thousands of chemical processes, not all of which are as yet fully understood, solar energy sets out on a journey that begins in the plant and ends in living cells.
Solar energy assumes many different forms during the course of this journey, at the end of which it becomes the source of a vitality that functions in a person’s muscles, heart, kidneys, and even eyes.
This chemical reaction, which takes place in the grass we walk on and the trees we pass beneath, is one of the basic conditions for life.
And, it has never been possible to reproduce it in any laboratory.
Through this flawless order, the complexity of which exceeds all human intelligence and strength, Allah reveals His infinite compassion.
Everything necessary for human comfort, well-being, health and, most important of all, life, is flawlessly planned, considered, and calculated.
By reason of our Lord’s blessing, this system continues uninterrupted at all times.
A Sign for them is the dead land which We bring to life and from which We bring forth grain of which they eat. We place in it gardens of dates and grapes, and cause springs to gush out in it, so they may eat its fruits – they did not do it themselves. So will they not be thankful? (Surah Ya Sin, 33-35)
GIVING THANKS FOR OUR BLESSINGS AT EVERY MOMENT AND EVERY SECOND
Throughout the course of this film, we have witnessed the miracles taking place inside our bodies and all around us at every moment and every second.
Reflecting on just one of any of these is enough for one to see Allah’s infinite care, affection, and compassion for human beings.
All the systems in the skies and on the Earth and everywhere between operate non-stop and flawlessly in order to serve human beings.
And, at every moment and every second, there is a miraculous harmony and order in both the human body and every corner of the universe.
Allah has opened the doors of His mercy to us to their fullest extent, and has adorned them with the finest blessings.
The duty of anyone who comprehends these miracles going on around them, at every moment, is to give constant thanks to Allah for these blessings and this beauty.
Because, as we are informed in the Qur’an, on the Day of Judgment, everyone will be called to account regarding the blessings that had been placed at their disposal.
For people who are capable of using their consciences and grasping the order existing in the universe, that universe is filled with reasons that will further increase their love and fear of Allah.
For that reason, people must turn to Allah at all moments, give thanks to our Lord, to Whom all things belong, and bind themselves to Him with a most powerful love.“He has given you everything you have asked Him for. If you tried to number Allah’s blessings, you could never count them. Man is indeed wrongdoing, ungrateful.” (Surah Ibrahim, 34)