Introduction:

 Allah the Almighty said:

((And also in your ownselves. Will you not then see? ))

[Adh-dhariyat, 21]

 The heavens, the Barzakh (the one-way barrier between the mortal realm and the spirit world which the soul of the deceased crosses and waits for the Day of Judgment), bees, earth, darkness of the outer space, the universe, ants, planets, the perfection in creating mankind, and reflecting on the creations and the universe, all of which are topics to be tackled by Dr. Muhammad Rateb Al Nabulsi, who is one of the notable scholars in Damascus, in interviews done by Abdul Haleem Kabbani.

Interviewer:

 In The Name Of Allah The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
 Dear brother in faith and Islam, Assalam Alaikum (Peace be upon you).
 It is true that the Quran is a Book sent for guiding people. However, the noble Quran is not only sent to guide people in the fields of beliefs, legislation, and contemplation aiming at acquiring knowledge. The one who reads the Quran well and thinks deeply in its meanings finds signs to scientific facts.
 In this episode let us welcome Dr. Mohammad Rateb Al Nabulsi, the lecturer in the faculty of education in Damascus University, and he is a preacher and a Khateeb in Damascus’ mosques. Welcome Dr. Nabulsi.

Dr. Nabulsi:

 Likewise sir.

Interviewer:

 The creation of human being is the closest thing to man to think of. Amazing things happen to human beings but we don’t think deeply of them. Man recognizes time through his mind, but how do his body organs recognize time and how does this affect its functions?

Biological clock in human body:

Dr. Nabulsi:

 In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon prophet Muhamad the faithful and the honest.
 To answer this question we need to talk about what is called biological clock in human body. It is an amazing and delicate thing, but before talking about this we need to ask whether other creatures have the same clock.

 A French scientist has discovered that plants can sense and measure time. This is because some leaves of a group of plants do certain kinds of movements at a certain time of the day, i.e. they have what scientists call a “Biological Clock” that measures time for them.

 Scientists have also found out that animals have something similar to the plants’ “Biological Clock”. This is because some animals know very accurately the passage of time, and they go directly to their place of hibernation when it is time to do so. If they were late or early, they would die. As soon as winter is come, they hibernate according to most accurate measure of time, and they spend all winter in their place of hibernation. Unless they know how time passes, they would never be able to do so. Allah, All-High, says,

“He (Moses) said, ‘Our Lord is He Who gave to each and every thing its due form and nature, then guided it aright.”

[TaHa; 49,50]

 As for man, beside his pituitary gland, there is a group of cells that have a marvelous quality, namely that they sense the sunlight which comes to the retina during the day and, through such light, perceive that it is day time. When the light is not there, they understand that it is night time.

 But what are the changes that take place in the human body during day time? And what are the changes that take place in the human body during night time?

 During the day, the body’s consumption of energy increases and its temperature rises half a degree above average; but it falls half a degree during the night.

 The question is: What makes cells of the body, particularly those responsible for transforming food into energy, feel that it is day time? The answer is: the cells that are beside the pituitary gland conceive that it is day time by sensing sunlight coming onto the retina.

The pituitary gland provides integration of body organs:

 Some scientists explained this phenomenon as follows:

 When sunlight comes onto the retina, it is transmitted in the form of a nervous current through fibers of visual nerves to the pituitary gland, queen of glands, which provides integrity and adjustment between functions of the body’s internal organs. In fact, the general activity of the body is connected with the thyroid gland, by which food is changed into energy. Food is changed into high energy during the day and low energy during the night. The pituitary gland and the thyroid gland are both influenced by time, i.e. they have a special Clock, which measures time as well as alternation of day and night.

Interviewer:

 This explains that most people go to work during daytime, but we must also ask how some people work at night.

Production during the day is more than at night:

Dr. Nabulsi:

 The answer is that the production of work at night is less than that of working during day time. I advice people to work during the day. However, there are exceptions like airports, border points, and some factories. The energy of man during the day is not like his energy at night. Thus, when a man works at the time of rest and sleep he can’t be effective like he is during day time.

Interviewer:

 That’s why teachers advice students to study during the day not at night.

Dr. Nabulsi:

 In addition, the benefit of night sleep is more than that of day sleep. In some athars it is reported that:

“Some works are only accepted at night and sh3er are only accepted during day time.”

 Moreover, the heart beats increase by 10 to 20 beats during the day; and the production of urine increases from 2 to 4 times during the day. The bladder takes a rest at night so that one can sleep without disturbance. Don’t you see that this design is marvelous? Don’t you see the Greatness of the Creator?

Interviewer:

 The name “Biological clock” sounds strange as biological refers to the body and clock refers to time.

Biological clock is not like ordinary clock:

Dr. Nabulsi:

 It is a clock not like our clocks. Our clocks are mechanic or electronic, with wheels, gears, and springs. The electronic clock has a plate made up of a certain material with orders. However the clock of our bodies is different. It is a biological clock played by the glands, nervous points, hormones, and nervous currents.

The Role of biological clock:

 Brain activity increases during the day and decreases at night, so that one can do a great thinking work during the day but not at night. Think of the blessed hour of fajr (dawn).
 Yesterday, I was at an honoring ceremony for a Damascene scholar. He talked about the blessing of fajr prayer and said that the time after fajr is when he produced his great books. He said that he used to wake up for fajr prayer and never slept after it as it is a blessed time.

“O Allah! Bless for my nation their earliness.”

[Attermidhi]

 Blood viscidity increases during the day, which makes bleeding less likely. When one is angry or afraid his/her blood viscidity increases while it is more fluid at night because the Great Creator knows that this is safer. The number of white corpuscles in the blood are also more during the day than they are at night to defend human body when there is movement, shaking hands, eating, and work where there are lots of germs.
 Changing the functions of glands with the change of time is also a function of the biological clock.

Interviewer:

 You mentioned that man’s function differs between day and night and Allah mentions this in the Quran.

Change in human function:

Dr. Nabulsi:

 Night is a covering. It is time for the husband-wife meeting for example. Thus growth rates are higher at night. People sleep and the hormones of growth are more effective at night, even sexual hormones are higher at night. Sugar consumption is 30% less than it is during the day, because sugar gives energy. We need energy during the day but not at night.

“We have indeed created man in the very best stature.”

[At-Tin; 4]

 Speaking about the biological clock, we should note that the power of the stomach of both secretion and digestion decreases during the night. Thus, it is very unhealthy to have fatty food at night. Some researches even recommend that 50% of food should be eaten in the morning, 35% at noon and 15% at night, because at night the stomach cannot digest food well.

Those who wake up at noon cannot be productive:

Dr. Nabulsi:

 When man wakes up a substance increases in his blood leading to faster pulse and higher blood pressure, and consequently makes body more active. It is well noted that the most active work is during the day and the least is at night. As I said before, the prophet (PBUH) said:

“O Allah! Bless for my nation their earliness.”

[Attermidhi]

 I went to America and saw that streets were so crowded at 5.00 am. They start work very early. I say that a society that start work just before noon is not productive. The utmost activity is in the morning.

Interviewer:

 Some people travel from one country to another. In one country it is day time and in the other it is night.

Confusion of biological clock:

Dr. Nabulsi:

 This causes confusion of the biological clock. The clearest example is that when someone travels to a very far country, from Lebanon to America for example, what happens? He doesn’t sleep or he sleeps during the day and wakes up at night. After a few days he is stable again. Allah the Almighty says:

“The Work of Allah, Who perfected all things, verily! He is Well-Acquainted with what you do.”

[An-naml, 88]

 He also says:

“O man! What has made you careless concerning your Lord, the Most Generous? Who created you, fashioned you perfectly, and gave you due proportion;”

[Al-Infitar: 6-8]

Interviewer:

 Thank you for telling us about this biological clock that recognizes time accurately and tells body organs that it is day or night time.
 Dear brother and sisters, do not forget that you have a clock that programs your hormones, pulse, pressure, temperature, and digestion and knows day and night time.

Strong will wakes you up before alarm clock:

Dr. Nabulsi:

 Before we end this meeting, I would like to highlight a point; When you go to bed and decide with a strong will to wake up at a certain time you wake up exactly at that time. The prophet referred to this point when a man complained to him that he used to sleep a lot. Umar said: It is a shame. The prophet (PBUH) said: “Leave him Umar. Shame now is easier than in the hereafter. O Allah, let him wake if he wants.”
 If you want to wake up you can wake up at the time you want. The proof is that when we want to go on a journey early in the morning we wake up before the alarm clock.