Introduction

People are so immersed in the daily flow of their lives that they cannot realise the miraculous conditions on which their lives rest. However, for a man of understanding, the fact that he lives on a sphere spinning on its axis at a speed of 1670 kilometres an hour means a lot. Moreover, that this sphere is favoured with delicate balances to make life possible indicates that this flawless system is the product of an OBVIOUS act of creation, the creation of ALLAH THE ALMIGHTY. So don't pretend not to grasp this fact of which we remind you, and be grateful to our Creator since He created you and gave you a soul.

Everyday you wake up to a new day. Getting out of bed, you wash your face, prepare and, most probably, rush somewhere. Like everyone else, you, too, hasten not to be late to school or work and soon find yourself engrossed with everyday routines. In the rapid flow of the day, in school or at work, you struggle to learn something or to meet a deadline, and in the blink of an eye, you notice that it has almost become evening. When you arrive home in the evening, you do your daily housework. Sometimes, just for a change, you visit your friends, go to movies and then return home to sleep. The next morning you start the same vicious circle all over again.

During these daily routines, is it possible that you remain indifferent to other important things in life? In the daily rush of your life, is it possible that you forget, don't notice or pretend not to grasp some important things?

The answer of almost everyone should be "Yes". Because most of the people fail to think or wonder about many details pertaining to their lives. You can start by thinking the following:

While you are in your room reading this book, are you aware that some astonishing incidents are happening? For instance, have you ever thought that you are now moving at 1,670 kilometres an hour through space?

Alternatively, have you ever thought that the room you are in right now occupies a tiny space in the universe, just as if it were a dust particle?

Or, are you, as a human being – the only being endowed with the faculty of thinking – aware of the perfect order existing in the universe?

There are surely hundreds of similar questions you could ask yourself. The purpose in mentioning these questions is to unveil – albeit slightly – the covering over the human mind, which is already obscured by daily tasks, and help to expand its horizons. Our intention here is to reflect on some crucial issues.

Now, consider the following:

"What is the significance of these questions for my life? Is it really important to think about them while I have hundreds of things to accomplish? My final examinations… the meeting that will be held in late afternoon… don't they have priority?"

These thoughts reflect a common mistake some people make. No doubt, plans pertaining to one's education, home or future are important. Yet there are some issues which are more important. Primarily, a person should reflect on the purpose of his existence in this world, on what exists beyond this life, on how this magnificent planet on which he lives came into existence, and on Who is the Creator of all living things, including him.

If one thinks earnestly without pretending not to grasp the facts one comes across, one would arrive at a single conclusion:

In the immense universe, an astonishing variety of plants and animals, all beings – animate or inanimate – and more importantly man himself, are parts of the flawless creation of Allah, the Almighty. Man doesn't see the Creator, yet, pondering on the countless pieces of evidence surrounding him will make him comprehend Allah's existence and His attributes. In his efforts, his sincerity will provide him with a way to understanding our Creator's commandments and the ways to attaining His good pleasure. Allah relates in the Qur'an:

Eyesight cannot perceive Him but He perceives eyesight. He is the All-Penetrating, the All-Aware. Clear insights have come to you from your Lord. Whoever sees clearly, does so to his own benefit. Whoever is blind, it is to his own detriment. I am not here as your keeper. (Surat al-An'am: 103-104)

You also reflect on this fact and never pretend you don't grasp the superior creation of Allah.

From the moment man wakes in the morning, he has to involve himself in endless pursuits. However, in the middle of all these mundane incidents, he doesn't think much about a VERY IMPORTANT issue: man occupies an almost insignificant space in the whole universe, similar to the volume of a building a dust particle occupies. It may be astonishing to realise, yet, this is an OBVIOUS fact.

Never Plead Ignorance
about the Obvious Existence of Allah

From the moment man opens his eyes to this world a great order surrounds him. He needs oxygen to survive. It is interesting that the atmosphere of the planet on which he lives provides more than just the adequate amount of oxygen he needs. This way, he breathes without difficulty. For the existence of life on this planet, the existence of a source of heat is essential. In response to this need, the sun is located just at the right distance to emit just the exact amount of heat and energy man needs. Man needs nourishment to survive. Every corner of the world abounds in astonishingly diversified provisions. Likewise, man needs water. Surprisingly, three-fourths of the planet is covered with water. Man needs shelter, and in this world, there is land on which it is suitable to build and all sorts of materials to make shelters.

These are only a few among billions of details making life possible on earth. In brief, man lives on a planet perfectly designed for his survival. This is certainly a planet "created for human beings".

A person's interpretation of the world rests on "acquired methods of thought." That is, he thinks in the way he has been taught, or, less kindly, the way in which he is indoctrinated. Under this misguidance, he often dismisses all the aforementioned as "trivial realities." However, if he does not side-step the matter, and start questioning the conditions making our existence possible, he will surely step out of the boundaries of habitual thinking and start to think:

How does the atmosphere serve as a protective ceiling for the earth?

How does each one of the billions of cells in the human body know and perform its individual tasks?

How does this extraordinary ecological balance exist on earth?

A person seeking answers to these questions surely proceeds on the right path. He does not remain insensitive to things happening around him, and doesn't plead ignorance about the extraordinary nature of the world. A person who asks questions, who reflects on and gives answers to these questions will realise that on every inch of the planet, a plan and an order reigns:

How did the flawless order in the whole universe come into being?

Who provided the delicate balances in the world?

How did living beings, incredibly diversified in nature, emerge?

Keeping oneself occupied with relentless research to answer these questions results in a clear awareness that everything in the universe, its order, each living being and structure is a component of a plan, a product of design. Every detail, the excellent structure of an insect's wing, the system enabling a tree to carry tons of water to its topmost branches, the order of planets, and the ratio of gases in the atmosphere, are all unique examples of perfection.

In every detail of the infinitely varied world, man finds Allah. Allah, the owner of everything in the whole universe, introduces Himself to His servants through the flawless design of His creation. Everything surrounding us, the birds in flight, our beating hearts, the birth of a child or the existence of the sun in the sky, manifest the power of Allah and His creation. And what man must do is to understand this fact.

These purposes owe their existence to the fact that everything has been created. An intelligent person notices that plan, design and wisdom exist in every detail of the infinitely varied world. This draws him to recognition of the Creator.

So you never plead ignorance that all living beings, living or non-living, show the existence and greatness of Allah. Look at things around you and strive to show appreciation in the best manner for the eternal greatness of Allah.

The existence of Allah is OBVIOUS. Ignoring it would only be the beginning of the greatest damage we could ever do to ourselves. That is simply because Allah is in no need of anything. He is the One Who shows His greatness in all things and in all ways. Allah is the owner of everything, from the heavens to the earth. We learn the attributes of Allah from the Qur'an:

Allah! There is no god but Him, the Living, the Self-Sustaining. He is not subject to drowsiness or sleep. Everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him. Who can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them but they cannot grasp any of His knowledge save what He wills. His Footstool encompasses the heavens and the earth and their preservation does not tire Him. He is the Most High, the Magnificent. (Surat al-Baqarah: 255)

Never Plead Ignorance
that Evolution is a Deceit and Allah Creates Everything

Reluctant to acknowledge the existence of Allah, some people advanced a "theory of coincidences" about how life came into existence. This implausible theory, wholly contradicting scientific evidence, suggests that all living beings on earth came into existence as a result of random chance. However, an examination of these groundless claims reveals that this theory brings not one single rational explanation about "how life came into existence."

A close look at the flawless systems inherent in living beings eventually leads us to one obvious fact: all living beings are created. All evolutionist claims regarding the origin of life are wholly invalid. A process called evolution has never occurred on earth. The Creator created the universe in its unique form, and evolution is a hoax. These are the facts.

Despite the fact that all scientific and reasonable evidence pertaining to the origin of life obviously indicates its CREATION, some people still insistently advocate evolution. In this chapter, we will review how some people, claiming to be adherents of science, assert such irrational claims. We will also witness how this theory, to which people are blindly attached, has collapsed by means of the major breakthroughs in science made in the 20th century.

Never make the mistake that these people did, who are making furious efforts to reject the existence of Allah. Never plead ignorance of the fact that everything is the creation of Allah and that a process called evolution never occurred on earth.

• Evolutionists claim that living beings evolve through two main mechanisms: "Mutation" and "Natural Selection".

According to evolutionists, a reason for evolutionary change is random mutations occurring in the genetic structure of living beings. They claim that consecutive little mutations create new species. Yet, mutations only cause damage to the DNA, the structure in which all the information pertaining to the cell is coded. The effects of mutations are always harmful and it is implausible that mutation leads to the formation of a new species. All the mutations that we know of that take place in humans result in physical deformities, in infirmities such as mongolism, albinism, dwarfism or cancer. The people exposed to the radiation of the nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the recent past are concrete examples of the mutations occurring in living beings due to radiation.

Natural selection holds that those living things that are more suited to the natural conditions of their habitats will prevail by having offspring that will survive, whereas those that are unfit will disappear. However, this claim has no relation to evolution. Natural selection only weeds out the weak individuals of a species and accordingly lead to a society made up of strong individuals. In other words, natural selection cannot produce new species.

Evolutionists are also aware of this fact. Colin Patterson, senior palaeontologist of the Museum of Natural History in England, stresses that natural selection has never been observed to have the power to make things evolve:

No one has ever produced a species by mechanisms of natural selection. No one has ever got near it and most of the current argument in neo-Darwinism is about this question.

So, never plead ignorance that neither of the mechanisms, behind which evolutionists hide, are magic wands that transform living organisms into more advanced and perfect forms gradually by chance.

• According to the theory of evolution, every living species has sprung from a predecessor. Yet, if this was the case, then numerous intermediary species should have existed and lived within this long period of transformation. In other words, some half-fish, half-reptile creatures should have lived in the past, exhibiting some reptilian traits in addition to the fish traits they already had. Evolutionists refer to these imaginary creatures, which they believe to have lived in the past, as "transitional forms."

If such animals had really existed, there should have been millions and even billions of them. More importantly, the remains of these strange creatures should be present in the fossil record. Yet, to our surprise, extensive research concluded that in the fossil records these "transitional links" were missing. Fossil records pertaining to other living beings are quite rich whereas not a single fossil of these imaginary beings is present.

So, never plead ignorance that the absence of transitional forms invalidates evolutionist claims.

• According to the imaginary scenario of evolutionists, some fish felt the necessity to pass from sea to land for various reasons. Upon this need (!), some changes occurred in the fish, transforming them in time into amphibians. This is a brief summary of the evolutionary scenario arguing the transition from water to land. Now, let's consider this for a moment. What happens if fish one day decide to pass on to the land? Do fish, gradually approaching the coast, and finally reaching the sand, have a chance of survival? The answer is clear: fish moving on to the land would soon die. Other fish attempting to do the same would also die. The result would still be the same if billions of fish tried to do the same for millions of years: each fish reaching the land would die before having the opportunity to do anything. This is an OBVIOUS fact.

Besides, today it is scientifically shown that it is unlikely for these living beings, differing greatly from each other anatomically and physiologically, to have evolved from each other. There are a number of obvious facts that render such a transition impossible.

The drawing above, the so-called transformation of starfish into fish, is a mere figment of imagination. There are numerous fossils both of the starfish and fish seen in this arrangement, yet, the imaginary creature that is half starfishv, half fish is only a drawing. These drawings of alleged transitional forms have no evidence in the fossil record.

1. Carrying weight: land-dwelling creatures consume 40% of their energy just carrying their bodies around. Sea-dwelling creatures, however, have no problem in carrying their own weights. Land-dwelling and sea-dwelling creatures have completely different muscular and skeletal systems and hence are perfectly adapted to their environments.

2. Retention of heat: land-dwelling creatures have bodily mechanisms that can withstand great temperature fluctuations on land. However, in the sea, the temperature changes slowly and the change does not occur within such a wide range. That is why the metabolisms of land-dwelling and sea-dwelling creatures differ greatly. The chance that such a significant transition occurs coincidentally is truly unlikely.

3. Use of Water: essential to metabolism, water and moisture need to be used restrictively due to scarce sources of water on land. For instance, the skin is designed to permit loss of water to a certain extent while also preventing excessive evaporation. Land-dwelling creatures have a sense of thirst, something that sea-dwelling organisms do not have. Besides, the skins of sea-creatures are not suitable for a non-aquatic habitat.

4. Kidneys: sea-creatures can easily discharge waste materials in their bodies by filtering them, since there is plenty of water in their habitat. However, on land water has to be used economically. This is why land creatures have a kidney system. It is improbable that the kidney, a complex structure, comes into existence coincidentally.

What happens to a fish if one day it crosses on to the land? This is surely something that is imagined by people without giving it thought. Claiming that a fish remained on land for decades without dying and one day decided to live as a reptile is surely unreasonable and unscientific.

5. Respiratory System: fish breathe by taking in oxygen dissolved in water that they pass through their gills. Land-dwelling animals, on the other hand, have a complete lung system.

Fish have always been fish and reptiles have always been reptiles. So, never plead ignorance of the fact that fish can never evolve into snakes or lizards, and that such a scenario can only be narrated in stories.

• Unable to explain how the perfect structure of bird feathers occurred, evolutionists claim that birds evolved from reptiles. This is surely a groundless claim. The fossil record reveals that birds have always been birds and reptiles have always been reptiles.

Due to several physiological and anatomical differences, such a transition is implausible. To cite a few examples;

- Birds have a totally different lung structure from reptiles.

- Their skeletal structure is totally different from reptiles; for instance the bones of birds are lighter than the bones of reptiles.

- Birds have feathers, whereas reptiles are covered with scales that have totally different structures.

In brief, the scenarios that the forelegs of a reptile transformed into wings and that then they started flying has no scientific basis whatsoever. Never plead ignorance of the fact that a reptile can never transform into a bird.

An imaginary drawing: dinosaurs that suddenly took wing while trying to catch flies.

Another fact invalidates the theory of evolution. Evolutionists fail to bring an explanation of how life originated on earth.

All living beings are made up of cells. For instance, there are 100 trillion cells in a human organism. Proteins are the basic building blocks of the cell. The formation, under natural conditions, of but one single protein, out of the thousands of complex protein molecules making up the cell, is not possible.

Proteins are giant molecules consisting of smaller units called "amino-acids", the simplest of which is composed of 50 amino acids, but there are some that are composed of thousands of amino acids. The crucial point is that the absence, addition, or replacement of a single amino in the structure of a protein would transform it into a useless molecular heap. Every amino acid has to be at the right place and in the right order.

The fact that the functional structure of proteins absolutely cannot come about by chance can easily be understood even from simple probability calculations that anybody can understand.

An average sized protein molecule is composed of 288 amino acids of which there are twelve different types. These can be arranged in 10*300 different ways. In other words, the probability of the formation of only one protein molecule is "1 out of 10300 ". The probability of this "1" to occur is therefore practically impossible.

So, never plead ignorance of the fact that it is implausible for proteins, the building blocks of the cell, to occur through chance and that consequently life could not have originated as alleged by evolutionists.

• If the coincidental formation of even one of these proteins is impossible, it is billions of times more impossible for about one million of those proteins to come together properly by chance and make up a complete human cell.

Robert Shapiro, professor of chemistry at New York University and a DNA expert, calculated the probability of the coincidental formation of the 200 types of proteins found in single bacteria. (There are 200,000 different types of proteins in a human cell) The number that was found was 1 over 1040.000. 1

A professor of applied mathematics and astronomy from University College (Cardiff, Wales), Chandra Wickramasinghe, comments on this incredible probability:

The likelihood of the spontaneous formation of life from inanimate matter is one to a number with 40.000 noughts after it… it is big enough to bury Darwin and the whole theory of evolution. There was no primeval soup, either on this planet or on any other, and if the beginning of life was not by chance, it must therefore have been the creation of purposeful intelligence.2

So, never plead ignorance of the fact that even a single bacteria could not have come into existence coincidentally or by accident. That implies the collapse of the theory of evolution.

Is it probable that all the information compiled in thousands of books in a library is written by chance? The answer is "No". So, it is evident that DNA, the molecule in which all the information of a living being is stored, cannot come into existence by chance.

• The molecule called DNA, which is found in the nucleus of each of the 100 trillion cells in our body, contains the complete construction plan of the human body. Information regarding all characteristics of a person, from physical appearance to the structure of the internal organs, is encoded in the DNA by means of a special system. If we were to write down the information encoded in DNA, then we would need to compile a giant library consisting of 900 encyclopædic volumes of 500 pages each.

This incredibly voluminous information is encoded in the components of DNA called "genes". At this point, there is an important detail that deserves attention. An error in the sequence of nucleotides making up a gene would render the gene completely useless. When we consider that there are 200 thousand genes in the human body, it becomes more evident how impossible it is for the millions of nucleotides making up these genes to be formed in the right sequence by coincidence.

So, never plead ignorance of the fact that this complex structure of DNA is a special design. This is concrete evidence that Allah creates DNA.

• Evolutionists assert that all living beings evolved from the primitive forms to the advanced. According to this groundless assertion, human beings, too, evolved from half-man, half-ape beings called "primitive human beings". However, today we know that there is not a concept of "primitive man." Men have always been men and apes have always been apes. This is a fact that has been proved. Fossils, alleged to be the ancestors of men, belong to human races that lived until very recently – about 10,000 years ago – and then disappeared. Moreover, many human communities currently living have the same physical appearance and characteristics as these extinct human races, which the evolutionists claim to be pre-human ancestors of men.

There are numerous anatomical differences between apes and men and none of them are of the kind to come into existence through an evolutionary process. This is an OBVIOUS fact.

What Happens to a Car Left in the Desert for a Decade? The Second Law of Thermodynamics, which is accepted as one of the basic laws of physics, holds that under normal conditions, all systems left on their own will tend to become disordered, dispersed, and corrupted to an extent that is in direct relation to the amount of time that passes. In our daily lives, we also observe that everything, animate or inanimate, wears out, deteriorates, decays, disintegrates, and is destroyed. For instance, if we leave a car in the desert and then check up on it after months, we would hardly expect to find it in a better condition. On the contrary, we would find that its tyres were flat, its windows broken, its chassis rusted and its motor non-functional. The theory of evolution, however, says that disordered, dispersed, and inorganic atoms and molecules spontaneously come together in time in a certain order and plan to form extremely complex structures. This is another contradictory and unscientific point of view of evolutionary theory.

A few examples indicating this are the following:

In 1995, an 800 thousand-year-old human face fossil was found in Atapuerca, Spain. This fossil is important in the sense that it is no different from modern man. This reveals an undeniable fact: the human beings who lived 800,000 years ago and modern man are the same.

- An item published in New Scientist on March 14th 1998 tells us that humans called by evolutionists Homo Erectus were practising seamanship 700 thousand years ago. These humans who had enough knowledge and technology to build a vessel and possess a culture that made use of sea transport, can hardly be called primitive.

- Near Lake Turkana, Kenya, a fossil of a child with an upright skeletal structure has been found which is no different from that of modern man. Concerning this fossil of a Homo Erectus specimen, paleoanthropologists share a common view. American paleontologist Alan Walker stated that he doubted that "the average pathologist could tell the difference between the fossil skeleton and that of a modern human."3

- Neanderthals were a human race yet evolutionists present them as "a primitive species." Nevertheless, all findings, including a sewing needle fossil dated 26 thousand years belonging to this race testify that Neanderthals, ten thousands of years ago, had knowledge of clothing.

An item published in the New Scientist on March 14th 1998 tells us that the species called by evolutionists Homo Erectus were practising seamanship 700 thousand years ago.

Never plead ignorance of the fact that these men, who lived hundreds of thousands of years ago, practised seamanship and had knowledge of clothing, and had a skeletal structure no different from modern man, are presented as "primitive men" and that these efforts are vain.

• About the origin of man, evolutionists arrange ape-like "transitional forms" and call the resulting sequence "the imaginary family tree of man." According to evolutionists, the origin of man was from an ape who later acquired the traits of man.

This family tree of man is completely imaginary. To have a better understanding of the imaginary nature of this arrangement, it is sufficient to examine evolutionists' alleged basis for this story.

"Turkana Boy" fossil that belongs to the Homo Erectus race. Almost no different from modern man.

Sometimes a skull, jaw-bone or single tooth has been the spark of inspiration for evolutionists to arrange these "transitional forms." Relying on a bone, it is nevertheless not possible to picture the physical appearance of a living being, and certainly not the family tree of the same living being. That is however exactly what evolutionists dare to do. Relying on a single bone, they put forth imaginary yet quite detailed scenarios about living beings and from them form family trees.

Apart from these imaginary family trees, evolutionists develop incomprehensible scenarios from a single bone. For instance, pictures of ape-like men with their ape-like spouses and children sitting next to a fire have been published in various publications for decades. These publications are all products of evolutionists' subjective interpretation. This is the way to indoctrinate people into believing the existence of half-ape, half-human creatures in history. Detailed pictures depicting these imaginary creatures walking with their families, hunting, or in other moments of their daily lives are surely figments of the imagination and have no counterpart in the fossil record.

So far, we have examined that the theory of evolution has no scientific ground. Yet, there is another fact that is more obvious than the rest. This OBVIOUS fact is the following:

The living being we call "the human being" is a composition of atoms of phosphate, magnesium, carbon and calcium, among others. These atoms have no individual will or conscience. Yet, to our surprise, these inanimate atoms come together to form a living human being. Moreover, this "composition of atoms" decided to attend a university, make a career and become, say, a professor. This professor, made up of atoms, decided to be an expert on microbiology and examine his own cell structure under the electron microscope. He may have decided to become an expert on medicine and treat diseases caused by viruses, also made up of atoms.

This is what evolutionists assert. They know exactly that the atom has no consciousness, yet, they further claim that atoms are assembled into beings which have feelings and which think.

Man is a being who has will and consciousness. He takes decisions, speaks and arrives at conclusions. All these features and functions of the "soul" make man different.

Never PLEAD IGNORANCE of the fact that even if all the parts making up a person could come together coincidentally, such a heap of atoms would not form the "spirit".

Footnotes

1. Robert Shapiro, Origins: A Sceptics Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth, New York: Summit Books, 1086, p. 127

2. Fred Hoyle, Chandra Wickramasinghe, Evolution from Space, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984, p. 148

3. Boyce Rensberger, The Washington Post, 19 November 1984

Never Plead Ignorance
about The Miraculous Features of Living Beings Surrounding You

As is dealt with in depth in the previous sections of this book, it is evident that it is not possible to say that even a single cell came into existence by coincidence. Let's consider the following then: since even a single cell could not have come into existence by chance, is it possible to say that a variety of living beings came into existence by coincidence? The answer is certainly "No." Have you ever thought about the variety of living beings surrounding you? Let's think about all the plants we see in books, or in documentary series on television, all the carnations, roses, daisies, water lilies, giant tropical plants, pineapples, acacia trees. Let's remember their individual leaf structures, tastes, colours, scents, the methods of photosynthesis they employ, and all other details pertaining to them.

Let's also consider animals; let's think about giraffes, antelopes, elephants, chickens, all types of fish, sparrows, peacocks, ostriches, rabbits, butterflies, and various insects. Let's think about their mechanisms, their habitats, and the way they hunt or reproduce.

Even such brief reflection would make us realise the variety of living beings on the earth on which we live.

There are 200 thousand butterfly species on earth. Furthermore, naturalists have found that these species embody 1 million types of butterflies, all having highly complex and remarkable individual systems which employ amazing camouflage techniques. Some, for instance, imitate a leaf to protect themselves from their enemies. Others, on the other hand, have eye-shaped patterns on their wings for the same purpose.

Consider the variety of these remarkable designs, and never PLEAD IGNORANCE of the fact that millions of living-beings, each so unique in their design, could not have evolved from each other.

A person who makes a conscious effort to understand

the miraculous attributes of living beings would easily find the answer to the question "how did these beings emerge?" Allah furnishes all living beings with extraordinary features and shows men the evident signs of His existence and might.

Never Plead Ignorance of this obvious fact that is so easy to see.

He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth. How could He have a son when He has no wife? He created all things and He has knowledge of all things. That is Allah, your Lord! There is no god but Him, the Creator of everything. So worship Him. He is responsible for everything.  (Surat al-An'am: 101-102)

Apart from this variety, a number of living beings in nature are equipped with astonishing systems and complex mechanisms by which they perform complicated tasks. These are actually tasks that are not even accomplished by human beings. The extraordinary designs that prevail in these mechanisms can by no means be explained by chance, as the theory of evolution suggests. Each living being is designed specially thus enabling it to survive in its particular habitat. It is unlikely that living beings could design these systems themselves. These flawless systems are inherent in their creation.

The extraordinary design discernible in the wing of a fly, flapping its wings 500 times a second.

In this section, we will review only a few of these miraculous mechanisms observed in plants and animals.

While reading these examples, ponder deeply, and never PLEAD IGNORANCE of the fact that these mechanisms are so perfect that they could not have come into existence by themselves.

When we say "the flawless structures of animals", some people may think that we are talking about the interesting attributes of as yet unheard, uncommon living beings. However, everyone is familiar with the attributes we are talking about. There is great design in the body of an insect or a tiny bird. This design is so complex that, so far, no human being has ever accomplished the production of such a design. An attentive eye would have no difficulty in recognising that this design, which is obvious in all nature, provides solid evidence of creation.

For instance, it takes an enormous amount of energy for a fly to fly. That is why the fly has an entirely different respiratory system. Special, fine air tubes in their bodies directly transmit oxygen in the air to the cells, enabling the rapid combustion of oxygen. This, however, is only one of the miraculous attributes of a fly. Allah draws our attention to the superior design evident in the creation of fly:

Mankind! an example has been made, so listen to it carefully. Those whom you call upon besides Allah are not even able to create a single fly, even if they were to join together to do it. And if a fly steals something from them, they cannot get it back. How feeble are both the seeker and the sought!  (Surat al-Hajj: 73)

Bees working to keep the heat of the hive at a constant temperature.

Let's consider bees. Everyone is familiar with the social nature of bees or the hexagonal structure of honeycomb. However, the attributes of bees are not limited to these alone. Care for the hive is an essential part of the bee's life. Worker bees control the temperature, and manage the security and cleaning of the hive. Whatever the temperature outside, honeybees keep the temperature of the of the hive – especially the brood chamber – constant. In the chill of early morning, workers cluster over the comb, incubating the brood with body heat. As the day warms, the tightly knit cluster gradually disperses. If the temperature continues to climb, some of the workers begin to fan their wings, directing a cooling flow of air through the hive entrance and over the combs. On an extremely hot day, the bees must resort to an even more drastic cooling measure: They place drops of dilute honey at the openings of empty cells, evaporating the liquid in the airstream created by their wings. This cooling system reduces the hive temperature dramatically. If, however, there is still not enough fresh, unconcentrated honey on hand, the foragers begin to scout for water.4

Flawless conscious design is inherent in the living beings surrounding us. The attributes mentioned here are no doubt only a small part of their extraordinary features. These are evident signs for people of understanding of Allah's existence and of His might.

Nevertheless, some people never think about these or they ignore the miraculous attributes of living beings. Yet, NEVER PLEAD IGNORANCE about the superior creation and the unique art of Allah.

Fireflies, excelling modern technology, with their inherent systems.

The superiority and uniqueness of the creation of Allah are also displayed in living beings that we do not observe. A striking example is the Siberian salamander. These living beings can remain in the depths of frozen soil for years and return to their ordinary way of living when weather conditions improve and the ice melts. These salamanders can survive even at -50o C, thanks to an anti-freeze-like material produced in their bodies protecting them against freezing cold. This anti-freeze materiel replaces water in blood cells, preventing the tissues from damage caused by ice-crystals.5

There is an important feature of the light emitted by fireflies: this light has no heat, a condition called "cold light." In today's world, this would be considered a major technological breakthrough and is largely thought unattainable. An ordinary bulb transforms only 3-4% of its electrical energy into light. The remainder is transformed into heat. Fireflies, however, transform 100% of its energy into light, without the dissipation of any in the form of heat.6

Nautilus, an interesting marine animal.

Diving tanks in a submarine filled with water make the submarine heavier than water, enabling it to sink to the bottom of the ocean. If water in the tank is emptied by pressurised air, the submarine floats again. Nautilus, a marine animal, also employs exactly the same method. A spiral organ shaped like a snail shell, and 19 cm in diameter, Nautilus embodies 28 interconnected "diving cells". How does Nautilus, then, find the pressurised air necessary to expel the water? Hard to believe, but Nautilus, through biochemical means, produces a special gas, which is conveyed to the cells through its bloodstream. This gas eventually expels the water in the cells. Nautilus pumps out the amount of water necessary to sink or float and hence performs essential functions like hunting or protecting itself against its enemies. A submarine dives to 400 metres while a Nautilus can dive to 4,000 metres.7

It is actually not man who invented cooling systems. Every warm-blooded living being possesses various mechanisms for temperature control. The gazelle, a fast running African animal, must often sprint to protect itself against its enemies. Such effort raises the body temperature. However, to survive, it is essential that the gazelle should keep its brain cool.

1. cooled arterial blood 2. cooled venous blood	3. evaporation 4. warm arterial blood
(Left) The shematic picture of the skeletal structure of gazelle.	(Right) A gazelle prepared to escape its enemy.

For this purpose, the gazelle has its own cooling system built right into its head. Gazelles have hundreds of small arteries that divide and pass through a large pool of blood lying next to its breathing passages. Air taken in by the animal 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. In the absence of such a system, the gazelle simply could not survive.8

Hunting birds have keen eyes that enable them to locate their prey and protect themselves against them. Yet in this sense, no hunting bird is better equipped than the owl. Some species turn their heads through one hundred degrees, an ability very useful for extending the angle of vision of the owl's eyes.

No doubt, the most remarkable feature of the owl's eyes is their size. These big eyes cover a considerable part of the face and are separated only by a thin bone. The eyes rest tightly in the eye cavity and leave almost no room for muscles. They are unable to move and force the owl to use its flexible neck and turn in different directions.9

Once the owl locates its prey's position, it should lose no time in attacking it. However, the majority of birds make noise while flying. The noise of the wings of an eagle, for instance, can be heard miles away, as can the wings of many other big birds. Noisy wings are obviously disadvantageous for a night hunter. However, the owl's soft feathers with their tassel-like structures at the ends allow the owl to fly noiselessly. The surface of the wings' velvet-soft feathers efficiently absorbs noise.10

Rattlesnakes are able to locate warm-blooded animals – a rat, for instance – even in pitch darkness. The rattlesnake can still sense a rat only 15cm away, although the rat causes a minor temperature change of only 0.005°C. Information regarding the prey is conveyed to the brain, assessed and responded to by the snake in less than 1/20th of a second. When we consider that one second is just as long as the blink of an eye, the incredible speed of the snake is better understood. The rattlesnake, finding the location of its prey without error, attacks and kills it with its poisonous teeth.11

Rattlesnakes, with their eyes sensitive to heat, can see warm-blooded animals even in pitch darkness.	A sea otter, protecting itself against the freezing cold of the Pacific by a special method.

Sea otters comb their fur with their feet, a method they employ to clean and groom their fur with the oil made in their skin. This operation is a unique way of airing the fur since it enables tiny bubbles of air to be trapped by the thick underfur. In the freezing cold of the Pacific, the air bubble-holding capacity of the fur has an essential role in the perfect adaptation the sea otter has to unfavourable weather conditions. These bubbles simply protect sea otters against freezing. Matting of the sea otter's hair – usually caused by fuel waste products – simply means death.12

The Wedel seal can survive in the freezing waters of the Antarctic, even when the temperature drops below –26°C. It is not affected by intense and sudden changes of pressure when it dives to the bottom of the ocean, since before a deep dive, the seal makes several short dives. Opening and closing its rib bones and diaphragm, it lets out the air in its lungs and closes its lungs. After a while, when no air is left in the lungs, nitrogen does not dissolve and loses all possibility of entering the bloodstream. This is a process that enables the animal to survive. Contrary to the majority of mammals, seals have a flat oval-shaped trachea, rather than a round one, which easily closes under high pressure. Such a structure grants the seal perfect adaptation to its environment.13

A Hummingbird.

During the day, the heart of a hummingbird beats between 500 and 1,200 times a minute. In the evening, its heartbeat slows down so much that its throb is virtually undetectable. Nor does the bird appear to be breathing. In effect, it is doing what a hedgehog does when winter approaches. It is hibernating. The hummingbird, however, has to hibernate 365 times every year.14

These are only a few examples of the divergence of living beings. However, these examples are enough to reveal the design inherent in them. It is unlikely that these elaborate systems could have occurred by chance. Coincidences have no consciousness; they can devise no plans. All these living beings are surely the product of conscious design. This flawless design is only one of the signs showing that all living beings are created. Allah, the Sustainer of all the worlds, granted these attributes to them. A subtle art and wisdom are displayed in His creation.

So, NEVER PLEAD IGNORANCE of the fact that these miraculous systems are only products of the superior creation of Allah.

Take a plant and look at its leaves closely. Examine the arrangement of its leaves, and its colour and brightness. Just consider how leaves of the top branches of trees hundreds of metres above sea-level remain green all year round? Then, turn and look at birds flying in the sky. Take a feather and analyse it under a microscope. Such an analysis reveals that birds' feathers are made up of thousands of tiny tendrils attached to one another by hooks.

Even the unique design of the feather is an indication of creation.

Analysis of various other living beings makes us arrive at the same conclusion: a detailed design is evident in all living beings. How did these feathers come into existence? Is it possible that these complex designs can be attributed to blind chance and coincidences?

Let's provide the answers to these questions by asking other questions. Is it possible for a plane to be constructed without conscious intervention? Alternatively, does a random arrangement of tiles make up a factory? The answer is obvious. Technological products supported by highly complex structures are designed and produced by intelligent men. Similarly, the flawless design observable in nature is the end product of an exalted Creator. This is an OBVIOUS fact.

Pierre Grasse, a prominent French zoologist and the former president of the French Sciences Academy states the following:

A single plant, a single animal would require thousands and thousands of lucky, appropriate events. Thus, miracles would become the rule: events with an infinitessimal probability could not fail to occur. There is no law against daydreaming, but science must not indulge in it.15

The thought that living organisms could come into existence by chance is only a figment of the imagination.

LIVING BEINGS DID NOT COME INTO EXISTENCE BY CHANCE. Allah, the Sustainer of the worlds, creates all of them. So, NEVER PLEAD IGNORANCE of this obvious fact, which today must be comprehensible to everybody.

The only planet supporting life in the solar system is the Earth. A section from the planet Mars (above). A comparison between other planets and the earth would make man feel the astonishing design inherent in this planet.

The wisdom, design and order we observe in nature prevail throughout the universe. From the world we live in to all the heavenly bodies in space, there is a flawless planning.

Our world is perfectly orderly. Countless billions of systems function simultaneously yet in total harmony. There is an incredible equilibrium within this gigantic network of systems, which reveals that life on earth, which rests on a delicate system of balances, is specially designed. A comparison between other planets in the solar system and the earth would show this fact better. The earth is the only planet in the solar system which supports life.

The delicate balances inherent in the planet make this possible. The velocity of the earth's rotation about its axis is one of them. These delicate balances make the earth a habitable place. For instance, the atmosphere of the earth consists of gases in ideal proportions for the survival of man as well as all other living beings (77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% carbon dioxide and other gases). Let's take one of these gases, oxygen, for instance. If the ratio of oxygen to the other gases were a little higher than 21%, the cells of living beings would be severely damaged. Moreover, the molecules of hydro-carbons and thus plants would also have no chance of existing.

If the proportion of oxygen to other gases were a little less, than breathing would be torture. Furthermore, the transformation of nutriments into energy would become impossible. Similarly, if the proportion of carbon dioxide in the air were greater, it would pose a threat to mankind since the atmosphere would keep more heat, increasing the overall temperature of the earth. A slight decrease in the amount of carbon dioxide, on the other hand, would cause great temperature differences between day and night, with the temperature falling below zero at nights. The proportion of nitrogen in the air is so delicate that oxygen, a flammable gas, acquires a vital importance for living beings.

The constant nature of atmospheric gases is another important factor for life. Plants produce around 200 billion tons of oxygen a year by transforming the carbon dioxide in the air into oxygen.

The mass of the earth, too, is ideal, and prevents the atmosphere drifting out into space.

1. Magnetic Field 2. Mantle 3. Crust	4. Outer Core 5. Inner Core
Life on earth exists on the "crust" of the earth, a section of 7 layers with a distance of 670 km. The crust, 6,370 km deep, makes up only 1% of the depth of this section. Scientists, drawing an analogy between an apple and the world, state that the outer part of an apple is similar to the crust of the earth whereon life exists, whereas the inner part of the apple is similar to the planet's interior, an inner core of molten elements. Just considering that 12km below the earth the temperature is about 60°C shows that the world is anything but serene and still. Possessions, children, career, and people's possessions, all belong to a life led on top of this core of molten elements.

With regard to these balances in the atmosphere, it is essential that the temperature of the surface of the earth should be relatively constant. This constancy is closely related to the regularity of the orbit that the earth follows around the sun, the size of the sun, the velocity of rotation of the earth and the inclination of the earth's axis.

There are various other balances that enable earth to support life.

The current power of the gravitational force exhibits a delicate balance. A slight increase in the gravitational force, would mean more ammonia and methane in the atmosphere, which would be detrimental to life. In the contrary situation, however, the atmosphere would fail to hold water, changing the world into an uninhabitable place.

The thickness of the earth's crust and the ozone layer, the water and nitrogen cycles on earth, the existence of mountains, the protective nature of the atmospheric layers are essential for the continuance of life.

Some people, however, lead lives having no idea of the delicate balances of the composition of gases in the atmosphere, the distance of the earth from the sun or the movements of the planets. The vital importance of such balances do not mean much to them. However, even a subtle change in one of these balances would become a major threat to the continuance of life. Furthermore, the above-mentioned are only a few among billions of delicate balances existing on earth. However, it is an OBVIOUS fact that even these are enough to show that they are all the products of a superior wisdom.

So, NEVER PLEAD IGNORANCE of the fact that such delicate balances could not have occurred by chance, and that only Allah the Almighty has the power to establish such an order.

Footnotes

4. The Marvels of Animal Behaviour, National Geographic Society, 1972, p. 59

5. New Scientist, Eugene Potapov, "How Salemenders Survive the Deep Freeze", Vol. 139, 11 September 1993, p. 15

6. Bilim ve Teknik (Science and Technology) Magazine, October 1987, No. 239, p. 10

7. Bilim ve Teknik (Science and Technology) Magazine, Vol. 20, No. 231, February 1987, p. 11

8. Lawrance O.Richards, It Couldn't Just Happen, p. 108

9. Gorsel Bilim ve Teknik Ansiklopedisi (Gorsel Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology), Vol. 3, p.782

10. Gorsel Bilim ve Teknik Ansiklopedisi (Gorsel Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology), Vol. 3, p.784

11. Gorsel Bilim ve Teknik Ansiklopedisi (Gorsel Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology), Vol. 7, p.2352

12. National Geography, June 1995, No. 6, Vol. 187, p. 50

13. Gorsel Bilim ve Teknik Ansiklopedisi (Gorsel Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology), Vol. 8, p.2660

14. David Attenborough, The Life of Birds, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1998, p. 59