SCIENTIFIC FACTS IN THE HOLY QURAN
GIVING ALL CREATURES
THEIR DISTINCTIVE FORM
God the Most Exalted says in the Holy Quran:
"Our Lord is He Who gave all creatures their distinctive forms and then rightly guided them" (Taha: 50).
Allah the Most Exalted speakth the truth. This Holy Ayat explains that the greatness of the Creator is embodied in all His creations, whether living, as plants and animals. or non-living. All of Allah's creations were perfected in the best and most perfect form. Living things in particular were then given the instructions that would allow them to live and grow in the best possible way; whether regarding how they feed, how they reproduce or even how they move. All living things were thus, equipped with all that they need to live and reproduce.
This does not only include the smallest and most intricate creations but also the particles of which these creations are constituted, namely the atom and what it contains of tiny electrons which rotate around the nucleus at a speed of about 186 thousand miles per second which is very close to the speed of light. It also incorporated the very delicate compositions inside the nucleus from protons, neutrons to what lies inside these tiny parts that move in astonishing speeds. These particles are attached to each other with such a force that they could not be separated from each other even if an electric power of billions and billions of volts or electric devices with sizes comparable to the distance to the nearest galaxy are used, knowing that reaching the core is easier in the case of galaxies than in the case of atoms. In addition to this great strength that Allah, the Most Exalted, gave to this atom it is of an age that extends in time to billions of times the age of all the universe.
The connections and interactions (bonds) of these atoms as well as the movement of electrons between them gave each type of matter its distinctive characteristics, thus the 3 types of matter; solid; liquid or gas. As a consequence of such arrangements iron is solid, gold has its extravagant sparkle while different arrangements of carbon atoms could give rise to coal or, with some other configuration; diamonds; the very sparky and rigid material in comparison to coal's black color, fragility, and softness.
Let us take as an example the smallest living things that are larger than atoms, the viruses. These viruses are of astonishing complexity and delicacy of structure, but there is no wonder. For these are Allah's the Most Exalted creations. These small living things, visible only under an electron microscope, of about half a million times magnification power, have great abilities that they can attack and cause fatal diseases in the most developed and complex organisms, including humans. Examples of such viruses are the influenza viruses and the common cold viruses that result in catastrophic loss of lives, money and time in addition to many well known viruses that inflict dangerous diseases in plants.
The most virulent of viruses however, is one which has been dubbed the 20th century virus, the infamous AIDS virus responsible for immune deficiency in humans. This disease results in the fact that the affected person becomes vulnerable to all kinds of diseases and anomalies. unfortunately, modern medicine with its vast advances in technology has not been yet able, to find a definite cure to the AIDS epidemic.
God, the Most Exalted, has given these strange, unusual viruses different forms and divided them into many types. For there are shapes ranging from spherical, rod shaped, to those whose structure accomodates triangular edges the number of which can reach up to 20 different faces.
The most unusual and most complex of these viruses is the Bacteriophage which attacks bacteria. This virus is enveloped in an icosahedral capsule resembling the shape of a diamond crystal with many faces. Inside the capsule is the code of life, DNA. This virus has projections that look like, that of a rocket. In addition it has a special device (a contractile tail) that looks like a digging compressor. This device is used to penetrate the baterial cell wall. This having taken place, the contractile tail contracts and the virus's DNA is injected into the bacteria leaving the capsule tail and the other projections outside. Then, the great miracle starts unfolding whence the viral DNA, now inside, the bacteria, directs, bacterial metabolism towards the production of the contractile tail in addition to tens of new viral DNA copies that are afterwards packaged into the newly synthesized capsules. During this process the bacteria become crowded with hundreds of virions (young virus still not released from the bacteria). This goes on until the bacterial cell can no longer accomodate such a high number of virions then it bursts and releases hundreds of newly formed viruses which in turn search for new bacteria and the cycle is repeated.
Praise be to the Creator who created this very specific creature
and gave it such specificity in its parts and function of making out of the
bacteria an in cubator in which it could sustain and multiply itself anew, and
then be released to perform the cycle many times over. This process takes place
at a very high pace in which 200 new viruses are produced in a matter of 30
minutes, a period shorter than the period needed for the bacteria to multiply,
hence the bacterial cells are destroyed as fast as possible.
Bacteria itself is still another microorganism although larger than the
viruses. These microorganisms are very intricate and have different sizes
ranging fren 2OOnm to 13OOnm. These microorganisms multiply, live, and move and
have diverse shapes from spherical to rod shaped. Some live free in water and
soil and others are infectious and cause several microbial diseases in man and
almost all other living things. Still others live in the human enteric system
such as the E.Coli in a symbiotic type of life. In fact bacteria is found
anywhere life exists, and is the principal factor in decomposing living waste
material. Bacteria is also found in the coldest, hottest and the most salty
places on earth. It exists for example in salty residues of 20% salinity in
Comparison to 3% salinity in the sea. It is also found in the volcanic ponds
and streams where the temperature reaches 60c.God created bacteria
and perfected its creation with respect to its outer cell wall which protects
the bacterial inner parts like the DNA cytoplasm, sites of metabolism and other
parts. It accomadates more information than the largest libraries can ever can
ever contain in the form of books and volumes. Bacteria move with incredible
speed with respect to its size, a speed that outpasses that of humans or any
other living creature. For it moves 40 times its length in a second where as a
human being can only move 5 times his height per second . This speed is
accomplished with the help of certain projecetions that move with every high
speeds. And the Most Exalted God, has made these projections of only one
specific type in its very rigid structure, it is made up of a central disc
surrounded by 9 proteinaceous doublets. All these parts are connected to each
other like steel rods are in a cementblock thus giving these projections
rigidity, as well as freedom in movement. What is more astonishing is that
these projections attach to the bacterial cell wall freely and move as a freely
moving engine (motor and stator). With the exception of bacteria, such a live
engine with its complexity and structure is found in no other organism. It was
billions of years after the creation of bacteria that man came to know of a
method and technology to produce such an advanced and effecient engine. It is
also astonishing that this motor rotates the projections without any observed
connection be it electrical , or nerve, or wire like structures, and no source
of energy is till now known.
This projection rotates a hundred of times thus supplying the bacteria with a
driving force that moves the bacteria in the right direction.
May Allah (SWT) be praised, for he has given all creatures their distinctive
and perfect form, and then rightly guided them.
Dr. Abdul Wahab Al-Hakim