The universe is a wide gate for knowing Allah:
Dear believing brothers, we stopped at the following Ayaat last lesson of the interpretation of Surat Ibrahim, peace be upon him and upon our Prophet Muhammad. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ Allah is He Who has created the heavens and the earth and sends down water (rain) from the sky, and thereby brought forth fruits as provision for you; and He has made the ships to be of service to you, that they may sail through the sea by His Command; and He has made rivers (also) to be of service to you* And He has made the sun and the moon, both constantly pursuing their courses, to be of service to you; and He has made the night and the day, to be of service to you* And He gave you of all that you asked for, and if you count the Blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them. Verily! Man is indeed an extreme wrong-doer, – a disbeliever (an extreme ingrate, denies Allah's Blessings by disbelief, and by worshipping others besides Allah, and by disobeying Allah and His Prophet Muhammad PBUH). ﴿
Dear noble brothers, Allah the Almighty has created the universe and has spread in it Divine Signs that indicate His Greatness. So, if you ponder over this universe, you will know Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He. Verily, the universe, with its sky, earth, sun, moon, night, and day, is a wide-open gate through which man knows Allah the Almighty.
Actually, if man reads this Noble Book attentively and pay attention to the Ayaat which refer to the Divine Signs, he will reflect on these Signs of Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, as they are the gate to know Allah.
In the Ayah of our discussion today, Allah the Almighty reminds us of some Divine Signs that indicate His Greatness. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ Allah is He Who has created the heavens and the earth… ﴿
The heavens and the earth in the Ayah refer to the entire universe that contains them both. Have you ever thought of the size of the earth we live on?
The wisdom behind making the earth stabilized abode:
You know that the land is five major continents: Africa, Asia, America, Europe, and Australia. The size of these five continents does not exceed one-fifth of the whole earth while the sea makes the other four-fifths.
The size of the earth in relation to the universe is like an atom of dust in a room. If you sweep a room in winter where the rays of the sun go through, you can see some atoms suspended in the midair of the room. The size of the earth in relation to the universe is like the size of this weightless atom in relation to your house or your city.
Allah the Almighty has made the earth stable in the sense that everything on it is stable. Were it not for the gravity, nothing would be stabilized on the earth, so due to Allah's great Grace, the earth has been made stable. Furthermore, He the Almighty has made it stable, so that you can build a building of several stories without being afraid of getting it fallen down. The earthquakes that occur in some parts of the earth are only evidence of its stability, and if the earth had a shaking nature like the earthquake, it would be impossible to live on it.
In some cases, Allah the Almighty gets us to know His Blessings by considering the contrary situations. For example, you will not recognize the blessing of the stability of the earth if you never witness the earthquakes that affect everything on it.
There is one more indication of making the earth stabilized abode. It implies that all the basic needs of the human being are on the earth, such as air, water, fresh water, minerals, food, animals, materials, plains, and mountains. In other words, Allah the Almighty has made the earth as a stabilized abode to enable you to live on it, since all your basic needs are available to you. Allah the Almighty has made the earth a fixed abode to keep it stable, and He has made it as a fixed abode in the sense that its gravity makes everything on it stable.
Spreading out of the earth is one of Allah's Blessings:
We move to another point regarding the earth. The earth is spherical, and this shape is the only one on which lines extend without stopping. I mean, the earth does not have edges like the cube, the pyramid and the rectangular prism. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ And it is He Who spread out the earth, and placed therein firm mountains and rivers and of every kind of fruits He made Zawjain Ithnain (two in pairs – may mean two kinds or it may mean: of two sorts, e.g. black and white, sweet and sour, small and big, etc.) He brings the night as a cover over the day. Verily, in these things, there are Ayat (proofs, evidences, lessons, signs, etc.) for people who reflect. ﴿
Allah the Almighty has made the earth extended, thus wherever you head, you will get back to the starting point. Moreover, Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, has made the earth of a moving nature as referred to in the following Ayaat:
﴾ O mankind! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection, then verily! We have created you (i.e. Adam) from dust, then from a Nutfah (mixed drops of male and female sexual discharge i.e. offspring of Adam), then from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood) then from a little lump of flesh, some formed and some unformed (miscarriage), that We may make (it) clear to you (i.e. to show you Our Power and Ability to do what We will). And We cause whom We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed term, then We bring you out as infants, then (give you growth) that you may reach your age of full strength. And among you there is he who dies (young), and among you there is he who is brought back to the miserable old age, so that he knows nothing after having known. And you see the earth barren, but when We send down water (rain) on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells and puts forth every lovely kind (of growth). ﴿
﴾ And you will see the mountains and think them solid, but they shall pass away as the passing away of the clouds. The Work of Allah, Who perfected all things, verily! He is Well-Acquainted with what you do. ﴿
The earth moves in different ways. The earth orbits the sun once a year and rotates on its axis once a day (each 24 hours). The earth's orbit makes a circle around the sun. At the same time that the earth orbits the sun, it spins. Scientists have counted many rotations, but we only know some of them.
Our Lord, the Most -High, has created the earth on which we live, and He says in another Ayah:
﴾ To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and all that is between them, and all that is under the soil. ﴿
Allah the Almighty has created many huge natural treasures under the ground.
Here is another Ayah about the rotation of the earth. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ Verily! Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they move away from their places, and if they were to move away from their places, there is not one that could grasp them after Him. Truly, He is Ever Most Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving. ﴿
The earth orbits the sun and spins, and it never deviates from its orbit by the Power of the All-Powerful (i.e. Allah). Were it not in the Grasp of Allah the Almighty, it would move away from its orbit, and if it moved away, it would collide with another planet, and there would be no life on it:
﴾ Verily! Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they move away from their places… ﴿
The earth moves around the sun in its elliptical orbit, which means it has two diameters: long and short. Gravity law is related to distance, and mass, so when the mass increases, the gravity increases as well, but when the distance decreases the gravity increases. Yet, if the mass were steady and the distance decreased, like in the case when the earth reaches the short diameter, the gravity of the sun would increase and we would have a high possibility of earth's gravitation towards the sun, and if this took place, the earth would evaporate in one second.
Amazingly, Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, increases the speed of the earth when it is closer to the sun, and this creates a centrifugal power that is equal to the gravity power which keeps the earth on its orbit. So, Who grasps the heavens and the earth lest they move away from their places? Allah the Almighty does.
By the way, "move away from their places" means move away from their orbits, and the sun moves away from the middle of the sky. Our Lord the Almighty says:
﴾ Verily! Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they move away from their places… ﴿
Have you known Allah the Almighty as you are supposed to, or not yet?
Objects on earth are solids, liquids, and gases:
Since we live on the surface of the earth, we inhale the air, we use and drink water, and we build our dwellings on the solid ground of the earth. Accordingly, there are solids, liquids and gases in the earth. Now, the question is: Who has made the elements Allah the Almighty has created on earth vary in their melting degree? If all the elements were equal in their melting point, the entire earth would have a solid, a liquid, or a gaseous nature. The elements in the earth differ in their nature; they are solid, like rocks and iron, they are liquid (like water) and they are gases (like air). This diversity is out of the Favor of Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, upon us.
The earth is an object that glorifies Allah:
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ See you not that Allah sends down water (rain) from the sky, and then the earth becomes green? Verily, Allah is the Most Kind and Courteous, Well-Acquainted with all things. ﴿
Have you not seen this Divine Sign, O man? In another Ayah, Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein, glorify Him and there is not a thing but glorifies His Praise. But you understand not their glorification. Truly, He is Ever Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving. ﴿
The earth is a being that glorifies Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He:
﴾ The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein, glorify Him… ﴿
Is man not ashamed that even the inanimate object is more reasonable than he is? Is he not ashamed that the inanimate object is closer to Allah than he is?
The following Ayah is another proof that the earth is a being. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ And the heavens and the earth wept not for them, nor were they given a respite. ﴿
The earth is blessed by the believer, so if a non-believer dies, neither the heavens nor the earth will weep for him. I have mentioned earlier that the heavens and the earth are mentioned hundreds of times, as if Allah the Almighty meant to refer to the universe whenever He mentions them. In fact, the universe is everything other than Allah. Allah exists before all things, and thus the universe has been created by Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He.
The following Ayah indicates Allah's Greatness:
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ So I swear by Mawaqi (setting or the mansions, etc.) of the stars (they traverse. ﴿
Scientists gave three interpretations to this Ayah. The first interpretation is that the setting of the stars is the spaces between them. Only Allah the Almighty knows where the outer space extends. According to the latest discovery, there is a galaxy that is 18.000 million light-years away from the earth, whereas the moon is one light-second away from us, the sun is eight light-minutes away from us, and the diameter of the entire solar system is 13 light-hours. Furthermore, the Milky Way, our galaxy, is between 150.000-200 light-years across. As for this galaxy that astronomers have discovered lately, it is 18.000 million light-years away from us, which means its light has reached by now, and it means that it was in its setting 18.000 million light-years ago. Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, says:
﴾ So I swear by Mawaqi (setting or the mansions, etc.) of the stars (they traverse). ﴿
No matter how advanced science has become no one but Allah the Almighty knows how far the outer space extends. Scientists have discovered some new galaxies so far, and some of them cannot be seen with telescopes, but rather they are known through radio waves.
I repeat the Ayah:
﴾ So I swear by Mawaqi (setting or the mansions, etc.) of the stars (they traverse). ﴿
The second interpretation is that the big stars have wide dimensions. For instance, Antares is as big as the sun and the earth with the distance between them. Other stars are thousands of times bigger than our sun.
﴾ So I swear by Mawaqi (setting or the mansions, etc.) of the stars (they traverse). ﴿
The third interpretation is that stars have mansions since they have certain rotations and orbits in which they float. Each star in the sky rotates around another planet. This is a major Sign; Allah the Almighty has provided the stars and planets in this universe with gravitational and centrifugal powers that are based on the distance among the stars and the planets and their masses. Without these powers and the movements of stars and planets, the entire universe would become one mass, and so there would be no life. A centrifugal power that is equal to the gravity power is created, keeping the universe as it is, thanks to the permanent rotation of the stars and planets.
Allah the Almighty describes the sky in the following Ayah, by saying:
﴾ By the sky (having rain clouds) which gives rain, again and again. ﴿
It means every planet starts at one point on its orbit and returns to the starting point, and thus the orbit has an oval shape.
﴾ By the sky (having rain clouds) which gives rain, again and again. ﴿
If it were not for this constant movement of the stars, they would all be one mass.
The heavens and the earth has been exclusively created by Allah:
One more point regarding the universe; No one knows how big it is! If someone asks, "Who has created Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He?" We say to him, "Have you known the universe first? Have you known where the universe ends? Have you reached the borders of the outer space? Have you known the number of galaxies that Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, has created, to name but a few? Have you reached the end of the universe first to ask this question? The universe, as it appears to us, has no end. Well, it does have an end, because it is a creation (that has been created by Allah the Almighty), but it seems to us that it is infinite.
Some scientists said, "There are black holes in the outer space that exert very high pressure on their environment. If the earth entered into one of them, it would be become as small as an egg, but it would still have the same weight!
No one compasses these Divine Signs of Allah except Allah the Almighty. Verily, if we spend long hours and many days, months, years and ages, we will never be able to count the Signs of Allah which He spread on earth. Yet, giving some examples of these Signs is better than leaving the so many ones. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ Allah is He Who has created the heavens and the earth. ﴿
[ Ibrahim, 32
]
There is an implied question in this Ayah: Do you know now Who Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, is? Do you know that He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth? The One, Who calls you to worship Him and to obey Him, so that you would be admitted to Jannah that is as wide as the heavens and the earth, is He Who has created the heavens and the earth!
﴾ Allah is He Who has created the heavens and the earth ﴿
How precisely these words have been chosen! Had Allah said, "Allah has created the heavens and the earth", it would not have had the same meaning of the following Ayah:
﴾ Allah is He Who has created the heavens and the earth ﴿
[ Ibrahim, 32
]
How big the difference between the two is! The following Ayah means that Only Allah is the One Who has created the heavens and the earth. In other words, the creation of the heavens and the earth has been exclusively done by Allah the Almighty:
﴾ Allah is He Who has created the heavens and the earth ﴿
The creation of the heavens and the earth is a blessing to which scholars refer as the blessing of brining things to existence. Listen to what Allah the Almighty says in another Surah, please:
﴾ All praises and thanks be to Allah, Who (Alone) created the heavens and the earth, and originated the darkness and the light, yet those who disbelieve hold others as equal with their Lord. ﴿
We exist to make benefit from this blessing Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, has brought to existence.
One more point regarding this part of the Ayah:
﴾ Allah is He Who has created the heavens and the earth ﴿
Allah the Almighty originates the creation and He will repeat it as mentioned in Allah's following Words:
﴾ Allah (Alone) originates the creation, then He will repeat it, then to Him you will be returned. ﴿
Allah the Almighty has manifested His Most Beautiful Names in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in repeating the creation (on the Day of Resurrection), absolute justice will be achieved after the poor and the rich, the strong and the weak and the healthy and the sick are all called to account for all their deeds and actions.
Allah is our Creator and Provider of provision:
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ Allah is He Who has created the heavens and the earth and sends down water (rain) from the sky… ﴿
Sending rain from the sky is another blessing Allah the Almighty provides us with. As you know, Allah the Almighty has created us and provided us with the blessings of food and water, which are basically originated from rain as mentioned in the following Ayah:
﴾ …And sends down water (rain) from the sky, and thereby brought forth fruits as provision for you… ﴿
Allah the Almighty Who has created the heavens and the earth is He Who sends down rain from the sky. In other words, He creates things and provides them with provision:
﴾ …And sends down water (rain) from the sky… ﴿
Sending water from the sky is a subtle topic. Sunlight warms the water on the surface of the earth, such as seawater. The water evaporates or turns into water vapor after being heated. Thus, the air is filled with water vapor, which condenses back into droplets of water when it cools. Condensation is a process that causes droplets the numerous of which join together to produce clouds. In a cloud, smaller water droplets combine to generate larger drops of liquid. The drips eventually weigh too much to remain in the cloud, so they fall on the earth as rain. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ And have sent down from the rainy clouds abundant water. ﴿
[ An-Naba', 14
]
Rain is a complicated process that is generated from differences in the temperature, and different electrical charges the clouds bear (positive and negative).
Regarding the Ayaat that we are discussing today, there are eye-catching references. In the creation of the heavens and the earth, Allah the Almighty has made things fixed and has made others movable. To clarify, the earth spins since it was created, and its nonstop rotation around the sun is ongoing since it was created. Besides, the sun is created fixed, and many other things are created fixed and unchangeable. This stability is meant to establish the order in life. Yet, there are other things on earth that Allah the Almighty has created changeable, including sending rain down.
Sending rain down is a complex process:
The process of raining is very complex, but you, O man, do not know when rain falls. In some times, the sky becomes scarce with water, but in other times it rains cats and dogs, to such an extent that what usually falls in an entire year falls in one night.
So, Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, has created unchangeable things in order to establish order in life, but He has created fluctuated things in order to keep man attached to Him. To elaborate, if Allah the Almighty made the rainfall fixed all the time, and it rained in a regular basis, man would no longer be in need of his Lord, and thus he would be miserable with such self-reliance. Bear in mind that out of Allah's Mercy upon His servants, He did not set a fixed system for rainfall. As a result, it rains heavily in a year, but in another year, it rarely rains, in order to keep man submitted to Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He.
Reflect on rain and notice how this water that Allah the Almighty sends down from the sky, is pure, colorless, tasteless, and odorless. This water evaporates at low degrees; it evaporates at 14°C, and if it were not for this degree, the floor of your house would remain wet all winter from the water you use to clean your house with. Out of Allah's Favor upon us, He has made water evaporate at low degree and boil at 100°C. How great the Favor of Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, upon us is! We can use the boiling water to cook our food.
As I have mentioned, Allah the Almighty has made water evaporate, and were it not for its evaporation, the air would not be saturated with water vapor. Due to this fact, the air has a certain percentage of humidity, which is essential for growing plant. The plant needs humidity, heat, and light in order to grow. Therefore, the saturation of the air with water vapor helps the plant germinate.
Water is one of Allah's Signs that indicates His Greatness:
Concerning the topic of water, there is one more fact. As you know, water increases in its volume and it expands when it reaches a degree as low as +4°C. When its volume increases, its density decreases. This explains why ice floats on seas while the deep seawater remains warm, enabling fish to stay alive. As the ice melts, the evaporation process starts over again. Indeed, without the unique property of water (the expansion of water at +4°C) life would be impossible on earth.
Water, as you know, is incompressible, and if it expands, nothing on the ground can stand against it. It can split the hardest types of steel, so it is used in some marble quarries after being cooled in order to expand and split the marble. Hence, this property of water is made benefit from to cut out marble from the mountains.
One more point, this water which has no taste, no smell, and no color, which is incompressible, and which never stops at any limit upon being expanded, has the quality of permeability. If it were not for this quality, the plant would not survive. In addition to the quality of passing through the smallest pores and tiniest vessels, water has other qualities.
The principles of the human mind:
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ …And sends down water (rain) from the sky, and thereby brought forth… ﴿
The preposition "thereby" explains the reason of sending down water:
﴾ …And thereby brought forth… ﴿
Allah the Almighty makes a reason for everything that happens. For instance, plants do not grow without water that brings it forth. Much in the same line, Allah the Almighty guides you to the available means, and then He commands you to put your trust in Him.
﴾ …And thereby brought forth… ﴿
The human mind does not understand things without a reason, it does not understand things without a purpose, and it does not accept contradictory things. The mindset of the human being doesn't function without these three principles; the principle of causality, the principle of teleology, and the principle of non-contradiction. To clarify, you will not be able to remain silent about a turned on light you find in your house since you turned all the lights off before you left it. This means that someone entered your house and turned that light on in your absence. Your mind tries to find a reason for finding the light on. Likewise, if you buy a machine, you cannot understand the mechanism of some of its parts unless you know the purpose for which they are manufactured. This is human nature.
Allah creates the fruits as such to meet man's needs:
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ …And sends down water (rain) from the sky, and thereby brought forth… ﴿
"Thereby" explains the reason of sending down water:
﴾ …And thereby brought forth fruits… ﴿
These fruits, which Allah the Almighty has created, have economic benefits, according to economists. Namely, the apple tree bears a great number of apples, not only four apples a year; otherwise no one would plant it. The quantity of fruits should be enough economically to cover all the expenses spent on the farm. Has anyone among us think of fruits in such a way? One should consider the economic benefits the farmer will get from planting apple trees, cherry trees, peach trees, and grapes. The production should be good enough to meet the needs of the hard working farmer in order to keep him devoted to this job.
If the hen laid only an egg every year, the price of the egg would be very high, and so no one would buy eggs. Fortunately, a hen lays an egg every day, and this is called "economic production" in economy.
Unlike the economic production of the egg, gold requires a lot of money to be mined and obtained, and this explains its high price. Each cubic kilometer of the sea contains four kilograms of gold. Therefore, if the price of a kilogram of gold is 300.000 liras, this means that in every cubic kilometer of the sea, we have a million or more liras. However, you cannot obtain one gram of gold unless you treat 250 million liters of seawater. Actually, treating this quantity of water is more expensive than the price of a gram of gold. In this context, consider the Divine Wisdom of Allah the Almighty Who has made fruit trees produce economic quantities.
One more point regarding the fruit tree. After seven years of planting a tree, it becomes productive enough, and it gives fruits in good quantities. If this tree died two years after giving fruits, then planting it would be a big loss, and no economic benefits would be gained from planting it.
Date trees live 7.000 years, and olive trees live 400 years. In fact, there are many other long-lived trees, and the shortest lifespan of a tree is about 10, 20 or 30 years, so that it meets man's needs.
Let me mention one more fact about the trees. Farming is not a complicated process, i.e., you just have to plant the tree and water it. You have nothing to do with the process that happens inside it, like the growth of the cells and the branching of the roots, and how each root has a taproot and a root cap. Besides, you do not interfere in the process of having substances that dissolve the rock in front of the root to enable it to go deeper in the soil. You have nothing to do with the way the tree gets its nutrition from the soil, and the way it gets the air from the leaves. In addition, growing to the top, having branches, and having flowers, which later on become fruits, are none of your business.
One day, someone who specializes in agriculture told me, "Do you know what draws one's attention when the farmer refrains from watering the tree? The tree consumes the water stored in its leaves, which makes them few days or few weeks later wilt. This is a warning to the farmer in order to water it. As if it tells him, "I am thirsty." If the gardener does not water it, it consumes the water of its small branches, then its large branches, then its trunk, and finally its roots." We think it is the other way around; we assume that logically, the tree consumes water that is stored in its roots when the farmer forgets to water it for days.
Well, if the water stored in the roots were consumed first, the tree would become dry, and it would die immediately. So, due to Allah's Mercy upon man, He makes the plant consume the water that is stored in the leaves first, in the small branches second, in the big branches third, in the trunk fourth, and in the roots last. If it consumed the water that is stored in the roots first, it would die. Actually, the gardener can avoid this problem in all water-consumption stages except the last one.
Botany contains incredible Divine Signs:
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ …And sends down water (rain) from the sky, and thereby brought forth fruits… ﴿
The size of the tree and the size of the fruit are acceptable and reasonable. Look at the apple and consider its size, what if it were bigger. I mean, if it were as big as the watermelon, you would have to cut it into two halves, to eat one half and leave the other one till the next day, but guess what? It would turn brown, and so you would not have the appetite to eat it. The size of the apple enables you to eat it at one go.
Think of the size of other kinds of fruits and vegetables, such as the olives, the peaches, the grapes, and so on. If grapes were as big as the watermelon with this thin membrane, it would be impossible for us to eat them. How would we be able to eat grapes? Allah the Almighty has created every kind of fruits with an appropriate size. If the watermelon were as small as a walnut, would you be able to take the inner pulp with your finger? Absolutely, you would not. Ponder over the sizes of all fruits and vegetables, and you will find that they have been created with astonishingly appropriate sizes.
We move to another point. Consider the peels of the fruits, such as the peel of the peaches, the pears, the apples, and the watermelon, which is hard. You can see how watermelons are put in tons one over another in the truck, and the one at the bottom remains intact thanks to the hardness of the peel. The watermelon is ninety-eight percent of water, so Allah the Almighty has made its peel hard to preserve the water inside it.
The topic of peels and the topic of the fruits' connection to their trees are stand-alone research. Ask yourself, who is the Designer of all these fruits and their trees? If you try to pick an apple from an apple tree, you will not be able to do so unless it is ripe. Only then, you can pick it easily. Who has made it easy to pick when it ripens? Allah the Almighty has.
If Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, created all these fruits without seeds, we would not be alive today. He has granted man huge quantities of food and drink, and even if man consumes them all, due to their seeds, life will go on. Actually, seeds have a great economic benefit. A man told me that a gram of tomato seeds grows a ton of tomatoes. A gram of seeds provides man with tons of fruits and vegetables.
There are amazing miracles in the world of plants, like the taste of the fruits. If the taste of the fruit were not delicious, we would never eat it, and if it had unattractive shape, we would never eat it either. Furthermore, if it had an unpleasant smell, we would not eat it. Besides, if it had a fascinating shape, delicious taste, and a wonderful smell, but it had no nutrients at all, would we be able to make benefit from it? Would we be able to take energy from it? Who has combines the taste, the shape, the smell, and the nutrition in the fruit? The nutrients the fruit contains are useful, so whoever drinks fruit juice instead of eating the fruit makes a big mistake, because the things he gets rid of, when he makes a fruit juice, are very useful in absorbing most of the fatty substances and cholesterol in the intestines. Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, has created it like this to get benefit from it, not from its juice. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ …And sends down water (rain) from the sky, and thereby brought forth fruits as provision for you… ﴿
Here is another point regarding the following part of the Ayah:
﴾ …And He has made the ships to be of service to you, that they may sail through the sea by His Command… ﴿
What made the ships that sail in the seas float on the surface although they are made of metals? Take a piece of iron and throw it into the water and see how it sinks, but why does this not happen to the ship which floats instead of sinking? This is because of Archimedes principle. According to this principle, there is a force in the water that pushes things upwards. The upward buoyant force that is exerted on a ship immersed in a fluid, whether partially or fully submerged, is equal to the weight of the fluid that the ship displaces and acts in the upward direction at the center of mass of the displaced fluid. Who has created the upward force of the water? If Allah did not create it, you would not see any ship on the seas, and the continents would not be reached by seas. Seas are links between the continents and the best way to travel around the word is by the sea. Seas do not need to be paved or to be maintained, since there are no streets or signs. The ship can sail wherever it wants on the sea, which is considered a linking course between the continents. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ …And He has made the ships to be of service to you, that they may sail through the sea by His Command… ﴿
I would like to mention some statistics about the sea: In a cubic kilometer of seawater, there are 35 million tons of table salt, and till now scientists are bewildered, because they cannot explain the reason for the salinity of seawater. There are hundreds of tons of more than 68 minerals per cubic kilometer of seawater, such as sulfur, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iodine, iron, aluminum, lead, tin, copper, and gold. How great this Divine Sign (seawater) Allah the Almighty has created!
Allah the Almighty has made the earth vary in height, and if it were leveled, seas would flood it from every side, and there would be no piece of dry land on the surface of the earth. Allah the Almighty has created heights, low places, valleys, plains, and the like.
﴾ …And He has made the ships to be of service to you, that they may sail through the sea by His Command… ﴿
They sail through the sea by His Command, not by man's command, and the minute man thinks that the ships sail by his command, they will sink. In the nineteenth century, a ship (Titanic) was built to be one of the largest ships in the world, and it was equipped with furniture, chandeliers, and luxury accommodation that manifested the best western civilization. However, on its first voyage from Britain to America, it sank. It sank because they said when they built it, "Not even God can sink the Titanic"
I repeat this part of the Ayah:
﴾ …That they may sail through the sea by His Command… ﴿
[ Ibrahim, 32
]
If man thinks that the ships sail by his command, they will definitely sink. An oil rig in the North Sea was built, and the project was beyond imagination due to its magnitude. It was a floating city, and people thought that such a city was firm enough. Yet, a sea storm came and destroyed it. Hence, whenever man claims that things happen according to his plans, Allah proves him wrong to let him see his real abilities. Verily, the sinking of the ship (Titanic) was a moral lesson from heaven to mankind.
Storing water manifests Allah's Power and Mercy:
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ …And He has made rivers (also) to be of service to you… ﴿
Civilization started along the banks of large rivers, so would be there any value of Damascus if there were no Barada River and Fijah spring? Would be there any value of Egypt if there were no Nile River? Would be there any value of Europe if there were no Danube River? Would be there any value of Latin America if there were no Amazon River?
﴾ …And He has made rivers (also) to be of service to you… ﴿
[ Ibrahim, 32
]
Where are the stores of fresh water? Its stores are beyond imagination. There are mountains inside which fresh water is stored, and in these mountains, there are various types of rocks. As you know some mineral water contains calcium, magnesium, potassium, salts, iodine, fluorine and other substances. Do you know why does fresh water contain these substances? Because when Allah the Almighty stored river water in the mountains, He dissolved some rocks (which contain minerals) in it in order for this water to become drinkable. In some oil-producing countries, seawater is desalinated, and it is distilled, but it does not contain minerals like well water, river water, and spring water. Mineral water contains iodine, which is necessary for the thyroid gland, it contains chlorine, which is good for teeth, and it contains calcium, which is essential for bones. Mineral water is one of the Divine Signs of Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He.
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ And We send the winds fertilizing (to fill heavily the clouds with water), then caused the water (rain) to descend from the sky, and We gave it to you to drink, and it is not you who are the owners of its stores (i.e. to give water to whom you like or to withhold it from whom you like). ﴿
Storing water is another Divine Sign. If Allah the Almighty had entrusted us with storing our water each year, we would need reservoirs that are as big as our houses, but out of Allah's Mercy upon us, He is responsible for storing it. The Almighty says:
﴾ …And it is not you who are the owners of its stores (i.e. to give water to whom you like or to withhold it from whom you like). ﴿
Consider the freshness of the rivers in which minerals are dissolved, and think of their length, such as the Nile, which is the longest river in the world, and reflect on their volume, such as the Amazon, which is the largest in volume in the world. The Amazon has an average discharge of about 215.000–230.000 m3 per second. Allah the Almighty has created rivers all over the world so that people may dwell near them.
Regarding the stored spring water, Allah the Almighty has created Islands with a spring in each one of them. However, the water of this spring is stored in a place other than the island. Thus, the spring water must be flowing in channels under the sea. This is a definitive statement; since the island has a spring, then its water must be flowing under the sea, running from a high reservoir (the mountain) in the land till it reaches the island.
In some countries, there are 4.000 islands, and there is a spring in each of them which suits size of the island. Is this not created perfectly? Is this not something subjected to man by Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He?
Contemplation is one of the best acts of worship:
Allah the Almighty mentions many Divine Signs in this Noble Book, and they are not mentioned in vain, but rather Allah intends to mention them to us in order to ponder over them, so I hope that you perform this act of worship. Pondering over these Signs is one of the most exalted acts of worship. Better yet, the universe is the widest gate to know Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He.
In fact, the Divine Signs that guide you to Allah the Almighty are around you; whenever you sit and wherever you go, you will find Signs surrounding you.
﴾ And on the earth are signs for those who have Faith with certainty… ﴿
Get yourself used to think of the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and to know Allah the Almighty through His Signs, because when you know Him, you will glorify Him, and when you glorify Him, you will remain steadfast upon His Path. Pay attention to the following Ayaat, please:
﴾ And of men and Ad-Dawab (moving living creatures, beasts, etc.), and cattle, in like manner of various colours. It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah. Verily, Allah is All Mighty, Oft Forgiving. ﴿
﴾ Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding* Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted be You above all that they associate with You as partners). Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire. ﴿
[ Aal-'Imran, 190- 191
]
There is no act of worship that is greater than pondering over Allah's Signs. Regarding this point, consider the following Hadith:
(( Abi Hurairah narrated that Allah's Messenger, peace be upon him, said, "Pondering for an hour is greater than sixty years of worship." ))
[ Al-Albani, on the authority of Abi Hurairah ]
﴾ They made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him. And on the Day of Resurrection the whole of the earth will be grasped by His Hand and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand. Glorified is He, and High is He above all that they associate as partners with Him! ﴿
[ Az-Zumar, 67
]
I intended in this lesson to make these facts available to you as examples, so that you may ponder over the creation of the heavens and the earth including rain, plants, seas, and rivers. These are clear Divine Signs that indicate the Greatness of Allah the Almighty.
