ALMISKEENAH

Creatures.

Allah Ta’ala, our Lord the Most Wise and Praiseworthy displays His Omniscience through His creation as a reminder of His Magnificence, as an example of how He sustains all that He has created, to show the innumerable bounties and favours He has created for mankind and to display how the animal kingdom are in direct obedience to His Universal Laws.

Our Qur’an Majeed is replete with abundant references to many varieties of creatures; to enumerate all such verses would produce an extremely long list. SubhanAllah.

Animals belong to different species and communities and are vast in types.

All creatures that crawl on the earth and those that fly with their wings are communities like yourselves; We have not neglected anything in the Book, then to their Lord shall they be gathered. (6:38)

All share the same characteristics of needing to eat, drink and reproduce. Creatures and man share the right to inhabit the earth and travel through it, all enjoying on different levels the blessings of food and water provided by our Almighty Maker.

And how many a living creature that does not carry its sustenance: Allah sustains it and yourselves; and He is the Hearing, the Knowing. (29:60)

There is not a creature that moves on earth whose provision is not His concern. He knows where it lives and its (final) resting place: it is all there in a clear record. (11:6)

They too can be healthy or suffer wounds and illness, all eventually dying. All will be resurrected on Qiyamah, but unlike humans will not be judged for their behaviour.

The entire of creation glorifies Allah Ta’ala. Just as many men and jinn worship Allah Ta’ala, so too do plants, inanimate objects and animals.

The seven heavens declare His glory and the earth (too), and those who are in them; and there is not a single thing but glorifies Him with His praise, but you do not understand their glorification; surely He is Forbearing, Forgiving. (17:44)

Do they not consider every thing that Allah has created? Its (very) shadows return from right and left, making obeisance to Allah while they are in utter abasement. And whatever creature that is in the heavens and that is in the earth makes obeisance to Allah (only), and the angels (too) and they do not show pride. They fear their Lord above them and do what they are commanded. (16:48-50)

Do you not see that Allah is He, Whom obeys whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the earth, and the sun and the moon and the stars, and the mountains and the trees, and the animals and many of the people. (22:18)

Abu Hurairah RadhiAllah anhu said: Allah’s Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam took hold of my hands and said: "Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, created the clay on Saturday and He created the mountains on Sunday and He created the trees on Monday and He created the things entailing labour on Tuesday and created light on Wednesday and He caused the animals to spread on Thursday and created Adam (peace be upon him) after Asr on Friday; the last creation at the last hour of the hours of Friday, i.e. between afternoon and night. Sahih Muslim

And so it is with great awe and wonder that I need to greet the "visitors" whom Allah Ta’ala has decreed to pay me a "social" visit!

Alhumdulillah compared to many Madanians who live closer to the mountains and open spaces, our "drop ins" are slightly limited, and as yet have not included any of the more not so friendly species of scorpion, or snake or many other desert dwellers!  

These creatures could be dismissed as being no more than a nuisance, but reflecting on their unique features does have an amazing effect on ones Iman!

We have residing in an air well space, which, Alhumdulillah is so far sealed from our living area, a family of house lizards! I know of the hadith which instructs us to kill them, which I would do if they were actually in my space. But their "home" is like a display case in a zoo! There is a window looking onto this area, so I can see them and hear them. SubhanAllah they seem to offer their greetings at Maghrib time. My experiences of these creatures in other countries have provided me with Jihadi endeavours! It is reputed that this house lizard would blow on the fire Namrood ordered his men to set to burn Ibrahim Alaihis Salam. Like so many creepy crawly things created by Allah Ta’ala, they must have their purpose. And Allah knows best.

 

Certainly upon studying the intricate details about His creatures we undoubtedly marvel at the intricacy of His Work.

There are signs in the heavens and the earth for those who believe: in the creation of you, in the creatures Allah has scattered on earth, there are signs for people of sure faith. (45:3-4)

And Allah has created from water every living creature: so of them is that which walks upon its belly, and of them is that which walks upon two feet, and of them is that which walks upon four; Allah creates what He pleases; surely Allah has power over all things. (24:45)

House lizards, or Geckos can scale a polished glass wall at a metre a second, and support their weight on a vertical surface with one digit. The nanotechnology puzzle of how geckos use millions of tiny foot hairs to adhere to even molecularly smooth surfaces such as polished glass answer lies in the fact that gecko feet are covered in hairs called setae. Each hair is 100 millionths of a metre long. It has 1,000 pads at the tip, and these pads, or spatulae, are 200 billionths of a metre wide. The gecko foot hairs split and allow a billion spatulae to increase surface density and come into close contact with the surface. This creates a strong adhesive force. The adhesive is so strong that a single seta can lift the weight of an ant. A million seta could lift the weight of a child. The gecko can release its foot simply by changing the geometry of the hairs, to sprint onwards and upwards. Scientists are experimenting with producing a tape based on the Ingenuity of Allah Ta’ala’s creation which they say will be able to support an elephant hanging from a ceiling! 

A bigger desert "cousin" of this house lizard is what the Arabs call Dhub. This is the species referred to in various hadith as being permissible to eat, and which many Bedouins consider a delicacy. They hunt them and bring truckloads back for selling to the "connoisseurs." 

Narrated Thabit ibn Wadi’ah RadhiAllahu anhu: We were in an army with the Apostle of Allah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. We got some lizards. I roasted one lizard and brought it to the Apostle of Allah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam and placed it before him. He took a stick and counted its fingers. He then said: A group from the children of Isra’il was transformed into an animal of the land, and I do not know which animal it was. He did not eat it nor did he forbid (its eating).

Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab RadhiAllahu anhu; Jabir ibn Abdullah
Abuz Zubayr RadhiAllahu anhu reported: I asked Jabir about the eating of the lizard, whereupon he said: Don’t eat that, as the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam felt disgust. He (the narrator) said that Umar ibn al-Khattab RadhiAllah anhu remarked: Allah’s Apostle SallAllahu alaihi wasallam did not declare it to be unlawful. Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, has made it a source of benefit for more than one person. It is a common diet of the shepherds. Had it been with me, I would have eaten that. 

Malik RadhiAllahu anhu related to me from Ibn Shihab from Abu
Umama ibn Sahl ibn Hunayf from Abdullah ibn Abbas that Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira RadhiAllahu anhu entered the house of Maimuna RadhiAllahu anha, the wife of the Prophet, SallAllahu alaihi wasallam with the Messenger of Allah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam and he was brought a roasted lizard. The Messenger of Allah, SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, stretched his hand toward it. One of the women who was in Maimuna’s house said, "Tell the Messenger of Allah, what he means to eat." Someone said, "It is a lizard, Messenger of Allah." He withdrew his hand. Khalid RadhiAllahu anhu said, "Is it haram, Messenger of Allah?" He said, "No, but there were none in my people’s land, and I find that I dislike them. "Khalid RadhiAllahu anhu added, "I chewed and ate it while the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was looking."

The other recent visitors have been house flies!

Before we acknowledge how repugnant they can be, or ask what significance they have in our lives, let us examine some of the incredible features of this one small creature from the enormous repertoire of The Creator, The Ultimate Designer! The metallic colouring, the intricate details of the head, the mathematical precision of the eye, their amazing life cycle.

 

 

Adults usually live 15 to 25 days. The potential reproductive capacity of flies is tremendous, but fortunately can never be realized. It has been stated that a pair of flies beginning operations in April may be progenitors, if all were to live, of 191,010,000,000,000,000,000, flies by August.

O mankind! A parable has been coined, so listen to it carefully: Verily! Those on whom you call besides Allah, cannot create even a fly, even though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly snatched away a thing from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly. So weak are both the seeker and the sought. (22:73)

On the authority of Abu Hurairah RadhiAllahu anhu: Allah’s Apostle SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said, "If a fly falls in the vessel of any of you, let him dip all of it into the vessel and then throw it away, for in one of its wings there is a disease and in the other there is healing, an antidote for the treatment of that disease."

A tyrannical ruler was addressing the people, when a fly settled on his face. He chased the fly away. Back it came and again he chased it. The fly was stubborn. It settled on his face once more. He tried to kill it, failed, got angry. He then asked Dahhak, a scholar who was present: "Why has Allah created this annoying insect? Doesn’t it seem useless?" Dahhak replied: "It was created to show tyrants like you how impotent they really are; that they don’t even have the power to dispose a fly. You may hold sway over human beings, yet a feeble little insect refuses to obey you. It settles on dirt, then comes and alights on the faces of those who imagine they are God. If it could express itself in words, it would say: "You are a nonentity. Do not forget that you are nothing. You may conquer the world, but you cannot conquer me. If Allah wills, He can kill you, as He killed Nimrod, with a miserable little fly.""

Wisdom of a Sufi Master -Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi, Irshad

And of everything We have created pairs that you may be mindful. (51:49)

May we all be mindful of all aspects of Creation. Insha’Allah.

 

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. Ameen.