Fact of Creation

FACT OF CREATION : Mimicry and Resemblance

2009-04-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

Mimicry and Resemblance

Allah created all living beings on earth with distinct features best suited to the make-up of their habitats.

And in your creation and all the creatures He has spread about, there are Signs for people with certainty (Surat al-Jathiyya: 4)

We encounter such astounding traits in nature that even man, who considers himself superior to all other living beings, cannot help admiring them. For instance, some animals are saved from being a prey by “playing dead”. Unlike scavengers, most genuine predators prefer live animals as food. Noticing the snake hidden under sand, this insect saves itself thanks to its ability to mimic.

Some animals seem bigger than they are at times of danger, like these frogs.

The false eyes on the fruit fly’s head protect it from predators. In addition when the fly meets a spider, it immediately starts to imitate the walking pattern of another spider of which the enemy is afraid. Seeing this surprising behavior, the spider gives up preying on the fly because the walking pattern the fly imitates belongs to a poisonous spider.

Such intelligence in mimicry cannot be explained by coincidences as the theory of evolution claims. This is because this defense tactic requires specialization on spiders. First of all, the fly must be able to distinguish between the walking patterns of poisonous and non-poisonous spiders. And this can be possible only after a long period of research. It is evident that a tiny fly would not have such an excellent ability of judgment.

Besides providing protection for some animals, resemblance also helps some plants to reproduce. The lower leaf of an orchid species resembles a female wasp with open wings in terms of color and pattern right down to the thick hairs on its body. In addition, it is created with the ability to produce a scent that attracts the male wasp. The male wasp perches on the lower leaf of the orchid as soon as it sees the flower. Doing so, the wasp’s head touches the part that contains the flower’s pollen. The wasp flies off with the pollen dispersed over its head and antennae. Then it repeats the same process when it is attracted to another orchid in the same manner. In so doing, the wasp randomly daubs the pollen on this orchid. Thus, it helps the orchid to reproduce.

This is another plant that reproduces through resemblance. On the petals of this plant are hairs similar to those of an animal as well as veins resembling an animal’s fat sac. But the real trap is its scent that attracts flies. When a fly approaches, it instantly opens its petals thus releasing the smell of rotten flesh into the air. Flying towards this odor, the fly instantly perches on the flower. As soon as the fly reaches the pollen, the plant tightly clutches on to the fly in order to stick a few pollen grains on it. These tiny grains of pollen will inseminate the flower that will be the next stop of the fly. The reason for such a detailed design is that these flowers can reproduce only by this way.

In rain forests, the color red is usually a signal that a creature is poisonous. Taking advantage of this, some non-poisonous animals make use of the color red present on their bodies to protect themselves. When faced with an enemy, for instance, frogs and salamanders, which have red parts in their abdomens, pose in such a way as to display this spot to give an alarm signal to their predator.

The false organs that are found in the bodies of some animals help them in many ways. An example to this might be some butterfly and moth species. The tail part of this moth for example has the look of a head with antennae. This shape causes attackers to head towards the tail of the moth, taking it for the head. This tiny butterfly acts as if it is aware of the design on its tail and misleads the attacker by turning its back to it. This target-confusing operation helps the creature gain time to escape.

There are figures on the bodies of some animals that can be called “false eyes”. Just like all other small creatures, butterflies also have countless enemies. For this reason, as a defense mechanism, some butterflies are created with a pair of false eyes that appear when they open their wings. Although it is an attractive and appealing prey, the butterfly takes on a dreadful look when it opens its wings. The details and symmetry in these eyes are so perfect that the predators are fully convinced that this animal is not a butterfly. Besides false eyes, some butterfly species have a false face on their wings. This face is so realistic with its shiny eyes, facial features, frowning eyebrows, mouth, and nose that the overall picture is quite discouraging to most predators. However, the butterfly is not even aware of this superior trait Allah has given to it. This is stated in a verse of the Qur’an:

There is no creature He does not hold by the forelock. (Surah Hud: 56)

There is a marvelous design in all these living things. It is not possible to claim that the glorious picture on a butterfly’s wings has come about as a result of coincidences. No coincidence can produce such a perfect pattern or harmony in color and symmetry. The exact resemblance of an orchid to a female wasp and moreover its knowing the scent that will attract the male wasp and its ability to secrete it, imply a flawless design that cannot be attributed to random and unconscious changes. The claim of evolutionists that everything originated through coincidence is utterly refuted in the face of these examples of design. It is out of the question that a creature could play with its own colors and designs or make a drawing surpassing even that of an artist. And if there is design, then there surely is a designer. It is obvious that just like all the other living beings on earth, these creatures are also created by Allah. The author of their flawless design and superior skills is certainly Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds.

What is in the heavens and in the earth belongs to Allah. Allah encompasses all things. (Surat an-Nisa: 126)

from Harun Yahya film: FACT OF CREATION

FACT OF CREATION : Camouflage in Living Things

2009-04-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

Camouflage in Living Things

Now look at this scene very carefully. Can you see anything other than a tree bark, a wild orchid or a few dry leaves? At a closer look, the view is astounding. These are some of the living beings which display a perfect camouflage.

Animals living on earth are equipped with amazing systems so that they may survive. Camouflage is one of these systems that help animals to be protected from their enemies or to hunt. These animals fully adapt to their surroundings in shades of color and even in pattern. Some camouflaging animals use the sandy ocean floor as a shield to be protected from their enemies. And some adapt to the color and pattern of their surroundings.

It is apparent that these methods of camouflage are designed consciously. It is impossible for living beings bereft of the ability to think to bring about such a design and shape their bodies accordingly. Undoubtedly, Allah, the Lord of the heavens, the earth and everything in between, created these creatures with these features.

Among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and earth and all the creatures He has spread about in them. (Surat al-Shura:29)

One of these animals is the caterpillar that imitates the branch of the tree it rests on in order to protect itself from predator birds.

The praying mantis, which lives in the deeps of the forest, hides itself by successfully mimicking a leaf or the flowers of an orchid.

It is so much so that insects, without realizing that they will be hunted, look for nectar on the body of their predators.

The chameleons of North Africa may take on the color and even the pattern of their surroundings because of their ability to change color.

Some snakes hide under the sand to watch out for their prey.

Under the sea, many creatures are camouflaged due to their resemblance to mosses, leaves, or rocks. One of these creatures, The Amazon leaf fish, hides itself by standing still among the leaves, swimming at the bottom of the sea while waiting for its prey. In the world of insects, there are many species that perfectly adapt to their surroundings. The colors on the bee help it to be camouflaged among the flowers.

Camouflage is one of the biggest stumbling blocks of the theory of evolution, which attributes life to natural phenomena and unplanned coincidences. It is no doubt quite unreasonable to assume that such perfect designs are the product of coincidences.

For instance, the perfect resemblance of the rotten leaf pattern on the wings of a butterfly to the leaf on which it will land cannot be explained by coincidence. Needless to say, these creatures, which do not have even a mind to think with, could not have examined the colors and patterns around them and copied them onto themselves.

Certainly, the perfection in these designs reveals the existence of a superior designer. Allah created these creatures in the most appropriate way to their habitat. The similarity between the pattern of an insect and the leaf on which it rests right to the veins on the leaf is an indication that both the leaf and the insect are created by the same Creator.

He is Allah – the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies Him. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. (Surat al-Hashr, 24)

from Harun Yahya Film: FACT OF CREATION

FACT OF CREATION : The Sundew Plant

2009-04-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

The Sundew Plant

The South African sundew plant grows in barren lands and even semi-desert. It is created with a very curious hunting skill, which enables the plant to get the nutrients it cannot derive from the soil in a different manner.

The leaves of this plant are covered with long, red hairs. The tips of these hairs are coated with an extremely viscous liquid, which has a special scent that attracts insects. An insect heading towards the origin of the smell will become stuck in these viscous hairs and start to struggle against one of the strongest adhesives in the world. As the insect struggles to escape, these tendrils start to bend down to better grip the insect.

As soon as the plant closes down on its prey, it digests the insect slowly and obtains the essential proteins for itself. After digesting all the edible parts of the insect, the sundew plant opens its tendrils to set up another trap. Interestingly, the strong adhesive, which does not let the insect go, does not limit the movements of the plant at all.

Certainly, the fact that a plant unable to move from its place is furnished with such a marvelous skill is explicit evidence for special creation. This system, which is the product of a supreme wisdom, can by no means be explained with coincidences. No one with reason would think that the plant invents such a system.

Therefore, the existence and the superior wisdom of the Creator, Who gave these properties to the plant, is obvious. All plants feed by the systems created specially for them by Allah. This fact is stated in the Qur’an as follows:

There is no creature on the earth which is not dependent upon Allah for its provision. He knows where it lives and where it dies. They are all in a Clear Book.
(Surah Hud, 6)

from film Harun Yahya: FACT OF CREATION

FACT OF CREATION : The Venus Flytrap

2009-04-07T18:19:00.000-07:00

The Venus Flytrap

In addition to predatory animals, there are also a number of plants that "hunt" by using amazing methods. One of these is the Venus flytrap, which catches and feeds on insects that visit it. The plant attracts the insects with the charming red color of its leaves, something of which it is totally unaware.

The fly is charmed by the irresistible sweet scent secreted by the glands surrounding the leaves and lands on the plant without much hesitation. While moving towards the “food”, it inevitably touches the seemingly harmless hairs on the surface of the plant. Upon feeling the fly’s touch, the plant suddenly snaps its leaves shut. Locked up between the leaves, the fly causes the leaves to be clasped even tighter touching the hairs again and again as it flutters.

The plant then starts to secrete a "flesh dissolving" liquid. In a short time it turns its prey into a jelly-like substance and consumes the fly by digesting it. The speed of the plant in closing its leaves is faster than the fastest closing speed of the hands of a human. While a person is most of the time unable to catch a fly sitting on his palm, The Venus flytrap easily does it. How, then, can this plant, which has no muscles or bones, make such an abrupt move? There exists an extremely detailed electrical system inside the Venus flytrap.

The mechanical effect caused by the strokes of the fly is transmitted to the receptors lying under the hairs of the plant. The electrical signals sent out by the receptors are carried to the motor cells that cause the leaves to make sudden moves, and finally the mechanism is activated to capture the fly. As soon as the perfectly designed motor cells receive electrical stimulation, they change the concentration of water within themselves. The cells inside the trap release water from their bodies and shrink. This event is similar to deflating a balloon.

The cells right outside the trap, on the other hand, take in excess water and swell. This process occurs in such a swift fashion that the plant closes its leaves at an enormous speed. Meanwhile, the digestive glands in the trap are also activated. As a result of stimulation, these glands start to secrete a solution to dissolve the fly slowly. Although strong enough to dissolve proteins, this chemical fluid gives no harm to the leaves of the Venus flytrap. Thus, the plant feeds on the jelly of its prey that has turned into a bowl of soup enriched by proteins. At the end of digestion, the mechanism that makes the trap close works conversely to open it.

In order to activate the trap, the hairs have to be touched twice in succession. Due to this dual action mechanism, the flytrap is never closed without purpose. For instance, the trap does not become activated when a raindrop falls on it. Here, the most important point is that this skilful hunter is devoid of a brain, or a similar structure, and therefore the ability to think. Certainly, the plant is not aware of its superb features, which allow it to hunt.

All of these apparently point to a system of accurate precision, knowledge, and design present in every detail of it. Unquestionably, the origin of such a design cannot be explained with coincidences or natural phenomena. It is obvious that a superior Creator ruling the entire nature endowed the Venus flytrap with such a feature. This is the matchless creation of Allah. In a verse of the Qur’an, it is stated:

How many creatures do not carry their provision with them! Allah provides for them and He will for you. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing
(Surat al-Ankabut, 60)

From Film Harun Yahya: FACT OF CREATION

SPLENDER IN THE SEAS: The Firefly

2009-04-02T21:04:00.001-07:00

The Firefly

The firefly is equipped with an amazing system. This insect has an organ in its body that produces fluorescent light. This light has great significance for the firefly to preserve its race, because the female and male fireflies recognize each other by looking at their lights.

The fluorescent organ of the firefly is composed of three layers just like the headlamps of an automobile. Cells that produce light lie at the bottom layer. The duty of these cells is to produce a combustible substance. This combustible substance reacts with oxygen controlled by an enzyme.

As a result of this chemical reaction, the fluorescent light manufactured in a similar fashion to a factory is first transferred to the adjacent concave layer and then to the upper transparent layer where it is reflected as light.

The perfect quality and 98% productivity rate of this fluorescent light astonished scientists examining fireflies. The light bulbs used for lighting purposes by people can only convert 5% of the received energy into light, the remaining 95% being lost in the form of heat. Because of this 95% heat which is released, we cannot touch a light bulb when it is on.

Despite the fact that the firefly produces almost 20 times more light than a light bulb, the temperature does not rise, due to the cold nature of its light. Man can produce cold light only in laboratories, at the end of a series of chemical reactions.

It is obviously irrational to claim that this complex lighting system has been designed and then installed in the body of this tiny insect by itself. More irrational than this is the claim of the theory of evolution that this system formed as a result of coincidences in nature.

The perfection in the firefly’s body is an indication that it is the product of a superior wisdom and infinite knowledge. Allah created all living species with distinct qualities and through them shows us His Eternal Might.

In a verse of the Qur’an, people are summoned to ponder on this fact:

“Among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and earth and all the creatures He has spread about in them. And He has the power to gather them together whenever He wills.” (Quran, Asy-Syuura, 42:29)

From Film HARUN YAHYA: SPLENDER IN THE SEAS

FACT OF CREATION : The Tortoise Beetle

2009-03-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

The Tortoise Beetle

On the earth, there are distinctively designed systems of enormous perfection within the bodies of millions of insects, the names of which we even do not know yet. The vast diversity and detailed design in all living beings from the smallest to the biggest shows us the infinite Power of our Creator.

One of these wondrously designed insects is this bug. Though smaller than a ladybug, it has big feet in proportion to its size. The defense mechanism of the insect depends on this characteristic of its feet and its shell.

When threatened by an enemy, the bug pulls its antennae and feet in and clutches the ground like a sucker. The inside of the shell is designed to accommodate the antennae and feet when pulled in. Due to its structure, it is impossible to turn the bug upside down.

The purpose of the ant that tries to turn the bug upside down, is to reach the soft tissue under the shell to debilitate it. Yet, the ant cannot turn the bug upside down because of its defense system. Despite the fact that its size is bigger than the bug, the ant gives up the effort in less than a minute after a hard struggle.

When the superb design of the bug is viewed under the microscope, its feet are seen to have 60 thousand hairs. When viewed under the electron microscope, these hairs are observed to divide into two to become forked and have a soft spongy sole at their tips.

At a close examination, the ground they cling to is observed to have traces of oil made up of thousands of droplets. This oil that is produced in the glands at the roots of the hairs leaks in the cavities, and from here proceeds to the tip of the hairs where it wets the spongy tissue.

The reason why this bug cannot be turned upside down by its enemies is because these hairs attach themselves to the ground like a sucker. There is a perfect superiority in this bug from the shape of its shell, to the design of the hairs, from the oil glands to the cavities where they leak.

The flawlessness and the order in the creation of this beetle make it impossible for such a system to be explained by coincidences as the theory of evolution claims. No coincidence can bring such perfect mechanisms together.

No man with wisdom and conscience would accept that coincidences give rise to such a design. The existence of such perfect systems is the manifestation of the Exalted Wisdom of the One Who creates them. Allah, the Lord of All Worlds, is the Creator of everything and all living beings display the signs of His perfect creation.

In the Qur’an, Allah’s creation is mentioned as follows:

“ He is Allah - the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies Him. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.” (Qur’an, Al Hasyr, 59:24)

From Film HARUN YAHYA : Fact of Creation

FACT OF CREATION: THE BOMBARDIER BEETLE

2009-02-23T17:34:00.000-08:00

The Bombardier Beetle

The bombardier beetle is an insect on which an enormous amount of research has been done. The trait that renders this insect so popular is that it owns a highly complex chemical weapon in its body measuring about 2 centimeters in length.

When threatened by another bug, a boiling-hot and irritant solution is formed in its body. Then the insect squirts this chemical substance at the enemy out of an aperture in its hind section. Driving away its enemies with this defense mechanism, the bombardier beetle is not even aware of what a miraculous job it does.

This chemical weapon is the outcome of extremely complex chain reactions that occur within the body of the insect. Specialized structures called secretory lobes make a very concentrated mixture of two chemicals, hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone.

The mixture is sent into a storage chamber called the collecting vesicle. The collecting vesicle is connected to a second compartment called the explosion chamber. When the beetle feels threatened it squeezes muscles surrounding the storage chamber and the chamber suddenly contracts.

Simultaneously, the duct separating the storage chamber from the explosion chamber opens. This forces the chemical solution to enter the explosion chamber. Immediately after that, the duct of the explosion chamber is closed.

When the chemical solution mixes with enzyme catalysts secreted by ectodermal glands attached to the explosion chamber, a chain reaction starts. These reactions release a large quantity of heat and the temperature of the solution rises to the boiling point

Muscles surrounding the channel leading outward from the beetle’s body allow the steam jet to be directed at the source of danger. And the beetle scalds its enemy by squirting the boiling-hot solution it produces on it with pressure.

This chemical weapon effective enough to repel the enemy gives no harm to the insect, because the part of the insect’s body where this chemical is produced is lined with a heat-resistant material. This marvelous system which is found “staggering” by many scientists has to have formed at once and fully, just like millions of other similar systems in nature. A single piece missing and the system would not work and the bug would disappear from the earth.

Every step of the defense mechanism of the bug is under the control of a superior mind. The bombardier beetle, just like billions of other living beings, is an example of the might and matchless creation of the All-Knowing and Almighty Allah.

Allah states in the Qur’an:
“In your creation and all the creatures He has spread about there are Signs for people with certainty” (Quran, Al-Jaatsiyah, 45:4)

From Harun Yahya

FACT OF CREATION : INTRODUCTION

2009-02-23T16:48:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

A person who examines any corner of the universe from the giant galaxies in space to the living beings in nature and from his own body to invisible cells, sees a flawless plan incorporating both order and design. Every aspect of the universe overflows with a precise and explicit fact: The Fact of Creation. The world we live in flourishes with life equipped with astonishingly flawless systems.

Many amazing living beings, from birds to plants and from fish to insects, that have no intelligence or mind–and sometimes even no brains–keep surprising us with the intelligent and successful acts they perform. Most of these behaviors astonish people. Man, with all his wisdom and knowledge, fails to deal with some of them, let alone succeeding in imitating them.

“in what Allah has created in the heavens and the earth, there are Signs for people who fear Him” (Qur’an -Yuunus, 10:6)

The incredibly complex defense, reproduction, and hunting systems of insects, which are one of these types of animals, reveal that all these systems are brought into being by an All-Wise, Almighty Creator.

The wonderful designs in insects are evidence to the being of Allah and His flawless creation. Every person who contemplates with a clear conscience and unprejudiced mind can see this obvious fact. The greatness of the number of these insects is quite amazing.

For every human being on earth, there are 200 million insects, which is equivalent to 10 million insects in a square kilometer. There are 30 million insect species, many of which have not even been named yet.

From Harun Yahya