In the name of Allah all Merciful, most Merciful part 2

In the first part of our film we saw the manifestations of our Lord’s names of Rahman and Rahim in the Qur’an and examined some examples of the spiritual blessings that Allah bestows.

In this second part we shall be providing some examples of manifestations of these excellent titles of our Lord in the universe.

For a man who takes heed and considers, Allah's title of Rahman and Rahim reveals itself in perfect clarity at every point and in every detail in the universe.

There are countless manifestations of these names of Allah’s in every detail we see around us, from the formation of the universe to the emergence of life, from the creation of man to the matchless structure of the cell, right down to animals, plants, fruits and vegetables.

And there is no need to engage in lengthy research, possess deep knowledge or undergo extensive training on any subject in order to see these manifestations.

All one needs is to pay heed to the universe and consider these titles of Allah’s, Rahman and Rahim, and consider our Lord’s infinite love for and blessings on His servants.

If one observes matters in such a way, then one will encounter a very different world to the everyday one and will see the manifest proofs of Allah’s mercy in every detail.

However, one must not forget that if we attempted to write down all the proofs on Earth of Allah’s mercy, not even millions of encyclopedia volumes would be sufficient to hold them.

Because our Almighty Lord’s mercy pervades all things, and is infinite, timeless and eternal.

If you tried to number Allah’s blessings, you could never count them. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nahl, 18)

MANIFESTATIONS IN THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

The Sun is one of the 200 billion or so stars that make up the Milky Way galaxy.

And the Milky Way is just one of the approximately 250 billion galaxies in the universe.

250 billion galaxies...

Think about this figure, that takes just a moment to say...

If you were to count one galaxy per second it would take you around 10,000 years to count them all.

250 billion galaxies

10,000 years

Yet the place the Milky Way occupies in the universe is like just one amongst countless dots put down on a very large piece of paper.

Our Earth is on a constant journey through this boundless universe.

However, there are many more conditions which need to be met for the Earth to continue on that journey than can possibly be imagined.

Some of these conditions include the Earth remaining in its own orbit, maintaining a fixed speed, keeping the same angle of inclination, its revolving around the Sun at the same time as it revolves around its own axis, its following a spiral orbit during that revolution, and the maintenance of all the requisite balances and proportions at every moment during this journey.

The Earth travels at the stunning speeds of 1600 kilometers per hour on its own axis and 115,200 kilometers per hour around the Sun.

However, this incredibly rapid motion causes us not even a moment’s discomfort.

Under normal circumstances, such movement should produce a great deal of noise and cause everything on the Earth to shake and vibrate.

Yet no noise or even the slightest vibration takes place.

This is Allah's mercy on His servants.

During this journey, the Earth faces many potential dangers, from giant asteroids to comets, and from black holes to supernova explosions.

Scientific research and technological progress in the 20th Century revealed that there are an infinite number of ways the equilibrium on Earth might potentially be impaired.

There is no doubt that it is Allah, Who is powerful enough to destroy the Earth by setting any one of these potential causes into action at a time of His choosing, created each and every one.

For example, even a mere 25% rise in the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 1997 led to global warming by giving rise to the Greenhouse Effect.

The ice packs at the Poles began melting, thus causing the levels of the oceans to rise.

Winter was harsher than ever before, with excessive rainfall, strong winds and floods inflicting disasters on many people in many places.

The breakdown of the ozone layer left the Earth exposed to harmful rays, and incidences of cancer rose, new diseases appeared and negative phenomena were observed in plants.

When the temperature of the sea rose by 0.8 degrees, coral, an important element of the oceans ecosystem, began dying and 80% of plankton disappeared.

In addition, carbon dioxide levels are just one of the essential conditions for the survival of life on Earth.

There are hundreds of other such conditions, any one of which might cause the destruction of mankind.

Another of these are black holes.

There is no possibility of any object entering the gravitational field of a black hole ever escaping it.

Every body has its own gravitational force.

One example is the gravitational force of the Earth.

When you throw a stone up in the air it will travel upward for a while, depending at the speed at which you throw it, and then fall back to the ground because of the force of gravity.

In order for an object to escape the Earth’s gravitational field it has to exceed a specific speed, known as “escape velocity.”

But the escape velocity from a black hole exceeds the speed of light. In other words, an object that enters the gravitational field would have to move away from the black hole faster than the speed of light in order to escape its gravitational force.

Bu since no known object can exceed the speed of light, there can be no escape from the black hole's gravitational force.

Not even beam of light traveling at the enormous speed of 300,000 kilometers per second can withstand the gravitational force of a black hole. That is why these heavenly bodies, which swallow up even light, are always black.

There is no reason why our Earth, which travels at high speed through space, should not one day be caught in the gravitational field of a black hole.

But all living things in the universe are protected at every moment against such dangers, whether they are aware of them or not. That protection is another manifestation of Allah’s infinite mercy.

The position of the Earth in space, and the fact that is equipped with everything the living things on its surface need, are clear evidence that this planet is the work of Allah, the Good and Forgiving.

It is Allah Who created this complex system in the universe packed with billions of details and who controls and preserves it at every moment.

And our Almighty Lord is creating, controlling and preserving that system at this every moment.

Human beings must realize that our Lord has created all the balances and systems in the universe in the most ideal form to support life, and must reflect on and learn from that truth.

The Holy Qur’an reveals that everything survives solely because Allah so wishes:

Allah keeps a firm hold on the heavens and earth, preventing them from vanishing away. And if they vanished no one could then keep hold of them. Certainly He is Most Forbearing, Ever-Forgiving. (Surat al-Fatir, 41)

MANIFESTATIONS IN THE LIFE OF THIS WORLD

Allah has built the Earth on which we live in a special way such as to support life.

The first thing that comes to mind for life to survive is without doubt the need to breathe; while people can go without water for a few days, they can only live without air for one or two minutes at the most.

The most astounding thing to consider at this point is that the level of oxygen in the air is created at just the amount needed by living things.

The fact is that were the level of oxygen in the air slightly higher than 21% it would cause cells to burn, while if it were any lower, it would be impossible to convert the food we eat into energy.

But our Lord has created the atmosphere within a specific balance, in just such a way as to make life possible, and preserves this balance as a manifestation of His mercy.

It is Omniscient Allah Who rules every atom and every molecule that constitutes this perfectly functioning system.

The atmosphere could have been made up of heavy and malodorous gases, and in that case we would find it hard to breathe. But our infinitely merciful Lord has created the atmosphere in the most perfect form for human beings to breathe. This is Allah’s protection of His servants.

There are many more finely planned details on Earth essential for the survival of human life. For example, by Allah’s mercy a drop of rain falls at a speed that will cause no discomfort on Earth.

Dropped from a height of 1,200 meters, an object the size and weight of a drop of rain accelerates and falls to earth at a speed of approximately 558 kilometers per hour. Yet a drop of rain falls to earth at a speed of only eight to ten kilometers per hour.

Researchers examining raindrops found that their shape increases friction from the atmosphere and thus decelerates the speed of their fall.

If raindrops fell at a speed of 558 kilometers per hour, they would destroy whatever they struck and life on Earth would become impossible.

In addition, the fact that rain water is fresh, not salty, is another mercy from Almighty Allah. So when clean water falls to Earth it does no harm to living things.

If the opposite were to apply and the rain that falls were acidic, then rainfall would represent a terrible torment, and acid rain would spell the end of all life.

Just a few such phenomena are enough to reflect on the infinite mercy of Allah.

Many features, the existence of which most people regard as perfectly natural and familiar, are in fact proofs of Allah’s mercy upon and divine protection of His servants.

Because there is no essential reason why all the hundreds of physical laws that make life on Earth possible should exist in their present form at all.

From its atmosphere to its shape, from its temperature to the seasons, and from the elements it contains to its distance from the Sun, the Earth was created in the ideal form to support life.

The fact that all the conditions essential for the existence and survival of life in the universe and on Earth have been flawlessly arranged is a means whereby we can better appreciate the infinite might of Allah.

But there is another miracle that human beings are inextricably bound up with at every moment of their lives.

Their own bodies, which are protected and continue to function flawlessly ever since they first begin to form in their mothers’ wombs!

MANIFESTATIONS OF ALLAH’S TITLES OF RAHMAN AND RAHIM IN THE HUMAN BODY

Everything began with a single cell…

That cell multiplied, and multiplied and multiplied...

After which the miracle of life began in the mother’s womb.

Billions of cells took their places just in the right location for them.

To do that, the cells undertook an extraordinary journey to exactly the right place from where they first formed in the embryo.

All these events took place without the slightest disorder or confusion.

Some of these cells combined together to form bones, and others nerves, or the liver, or the internal structure of the stomach, or the skin or the cornea in the eye.

Whatever part of the body the cells made up, they assumed just the right size and form in the region concerned.

Following which, life began with the first breath.

You came into the world with a great many organs and attributes, such as a digestive system for the food you eat, hands and fingers with their unique prints and many, many others.

The reflex by which you close your eyes automatically for protection against a fast approaching object and many other “precautionary measures” were all prepared without your knowledge and duly installed in your body.

You never had to do anything to possess them.

Allah, Who created all these systems and installed them in your body in the most perfect form also set up a superb command and control system, again without your being aware of it.

And He keeps all things under His control in your inner world, again without your knowledge.

Things taking place inside one’s every cell, every breath, your brain activities, walking, growing, in short everything that happens in the body every 24 hours over the whole course of one’s life, are all under Allah’s protection at every moment and take place by His will and as a result of His infinite mercy.

Let us now look at a few of the miracles that take place within the human body:

The ear only detects sound vibrations within a specific frequency and range.

These perception limits, known as the sensory threshold, have been set for a specific purpose.

If our ears were highly sensitive then we would hear everything, from our own heartbeat to the tiny sounds given off by microscopic insects.

And that would be highly uncomfortable. Yet none of this happens and we continue with our comfortable lives.

There is a special smell alphabet in our noses. That is how 1000 smell receptors can detect more than 10,000 smells.

MORE THAN 10,000 SMELLS

The more evaporation that takes place, the more sharp and distinct the smell that arises.

Under the effect of heat, scent molecules begin moving freely in the air and can spread over a wide area.

The environment you are in now contains substances such as stone, iron and glass.

But these have no smell; because these substances do not evaporate at room temperature.

But let us pretend for a moment that everything in your room does have a smell.

It is obvious just how uncomfortable that would be.

But that never actually happens.

Because as in every system in our bodies, our Lord, the infinitely merciful and bountiful, has created scent perception in a manner compatible with our own comfort.

The human eye is created to be highly protected and strong.

One of the most sensitive structures in the eye is the cornea.

The cornea always has to be transparent and very sensitive in order to be able to make bodies out clearly; because the moment it loses its transparency, the image will blur since not enough light can enter.

The cornea consists of nerves, fibers and lymphatic vessels invisible to the naked eye. But these do not impair the image.

If the clarity of the cornea were not fully established, then one would never see a clear image, and everything would always be blurred.

In that event, the world would of course be very different to how it is now, and it would be as if we looked at everything through a murky screen.

The way we see everything so clearly, despite looking at the world through a tissue consisting of blood vessels and fibers, is a great blessing and an example of the artistry of Allah.

It is essential for our survival for the levels of sugar in our bodies to remain within specific limits. But you cannot calculate this balance as you eat sugary foods in your day to day life. The calculation is “done for you.”

Certain cells calculate the level of sugar in your bloodstream many times over, and thousands of cells are constantly at work to balance that level.

The Level of Sugar in the Blood

When the level of sugar in your blood rises, an organ known as the pancreas releases a special substance known as insulin. This substance commands liver and other cells in the body to absorb and store more sugar from the blood. The level of sugar in the blood thus never approaches dangerous proportions.

Not only do you have no control over the pancreas and insulin, you are also quite unaware of them in your daily life.

Human beings who could otherwise easily die from a sugary piece of food thus remain alive by means of this matchless protective system installed in them by Allah.

Capillary vessels carry substances such as oxygen, energy, nutrients and hormones to all the cells in the body.

The total length of the 5 billion or so capillary vessels in the body is 950 kilometers.

If we put 10,000 of the thinnest capillary vessels in the body side by side, their total thickness would be that of the lead inside a pencil.

The blood is able to move through such delicate vessels without clogging is by means of the high viscosity of water.

If that viscosity were just a little lower, then the presence of the system would serve no purpose at all.

All these checks and balances are a great blessing from Allah.

If human beings had to check and monitor their own bodies all the time, it would be impossible for them to do anything else.

But as a manifestation of our Almighty Lord’s love and compassion for us, He has created our bodies in such a way that we do not have to manage them all the time:

It is He Who forms you in the womb however He wills. There is no god but Him, the Almighty, the All-Wise. (Surat al-‘Imran, 6)

He is Allah – the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form. (Surat al-Hashr, 24)

Was he not a drop of ejaculated sperm,

then a blood-clot which He created and shaped, (Surat al-Qiyamah, 37-38)

MANIFESTATIONS IN THE CREATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS

Trees capable of standing many meters high...

Leaves distributed on the branches according to a particular mathematical calculation...

Penguins able to survive easily with body temperatures of +40°C while the external temperature around them is -40°C ...

And millions of other plants and animals, together with the systems all these life forms possess, are all manifestations of our Lord Allah’s infinite mercy.

Every living thing is helpless when it first enters the world. It is utterly unaware of the dangers surrounding it.

It needs someone to protect and watch over it all the time if it is to be able to feed, grow and survive.

There is no chance of it surviving on its own.

Yet its parent will always be with it from the moment it is born.

Many species of animals spend days, months, or sometimes even years looking after their young from the moment they are born or hatch.

The albatross, for instance, crosses vast oceans on journeys to find food for its young.

Larvae are of great importance for ants. So much so that one group of ants dedicates itself to caring for them.

The ostrich uses its own body to shelter its young from the heat.

Even the fiercest animals display great affection for their young, feed and protect them from dangers, even at the cost of their own lives.

Many birds feed their chicks between four and twenty times an hour throughout the day.

The defenseless chicks grow by means of special care given them by their parents, who act through Allah’s inspiration.

The parents take care of their young until they are able to open their wings and fly and move around independently.

What one would expect from an animal that has no awareness to do is to abandon its young as soon as it is born because animals cannot even conceive what these tiny creatures are.

The only way they are able to assume full responsibility for their young is by Allah’s inspiration and the manifestation of His title of the Merciful.

Allah reveals in several verses of the Qur’an that everything in the sky and on the earth is under His protection. In one such verse our Lord tells us:

... His Footstool encompasses the heavens and the earth and their preservation does not tire Him. He is the Most High, the Magnificent. (Surat al-Baqara, 255)

One secret world in which events take place that scientists have been unable to unravel, despite all their efforts and using the most advanced technology, is the world of plants.

Despite looking delicate, weak and lovely, some members of that kingdom are powerful enough to carry out the most difficult and complex processes in just a thousandth of a second.

No laboratory equipped even with the most advanced technology is able to match the chemical processes by a single green leaf emerging from the dry soil.

Plants are essential to the survival of life on Earth because it is green plants which provides the balance of essential substances such as oxygen, water and nutrients, the most fundamental elements of life.

Green plants provide many important balances, such as temperature control on Earth and the equilibrium of the gases in the atmosphere, as well as others essential for both humans and other life forms.

Almighty Allah keeps all the geographical features of a region, from its climate to its plant cover, from the number of living things in it to its position, in balance with a most sublime wisdom.

Indeed, any change in the plant cover, or an artificial intervention in the numbers of a living species, can have totally unexpected consequences.

In addition to these vitally important tasks, plants also possess tastes, smells and colors that delight our senses.

In this way, they reveal the infinite knowledge and artistry of Allah, as examples of His infinite love and compassion for us.

Our Lord has bestowed these blessings upon us with unlimited generosity and has furnished just about everywhere in the world with them, even the most remote mountains and forests and hidden corners in the depths of the jungles.

Every seed placed in the ground is furnished with the knowledge of Allah; it grows with His knowledge and turns into a plant as a blessing from Him.

Yet human beings lack the power to create so much as a single grape or the ability to give color to a single flower.

Our Lord, He who needs nothing but Whom all things need, is forgiving, merciful, beneficent and generous.

A Sign for them is the dead land which We bring to life and from which We bring forth grain of which they eat.

We place in it gardens of dates and grapes, and cause springs to gush out in it,

so they may eat its fruits – they did not do it themselves. So will they not be thankful? (Surah Ya Sin, 33-35)

CONCLUSION

Throughout this film we have seen some of the manifestations of our Lord’s titles of Rahman and Rahim.

People can see the manifestations of Allah’s titles of Rahman and Rahim every moment of their lives, everywhere they look, from the food they eat to the air they breathe.

Reflecting on these fine titles of Allah's will help one see the proofs of Creation and appreciate the blessings that Allah creates and places at our disposal with His omniscience.

All the complex systems that our Almighty Lord has created in the heavens, on the earth and in all places between, work uninterruptedly in the service of human beings.

Our Lord has placed the universe He so flawlessly created at our disposal, and merely asks that we believe in and serve Him.

Our responsibility is to realize this extraordinary state of affairs, submit to our Almighty Lord, reflect on the proofs of the mercy that surrounds us and turn to Him with a sincere and thankful heart.

Great is the glory of Allah, He Who holds all things under His control.

Mankind! Remember Allah’s blessing to you. Is there any creator other than Allah providing for you from heaven and earth? There is no god but Him. So how have you been perverted? (Surat al-Fatir, 3)