Signs of the Quran - Biology

Evolution - Biotopes

"O my son!" (said Luqman) "If there be (but) the weight of a mustard-seed and it were (hidden) in a rock or (anywhere) in the heavens or on earth Allah will bring it forth: for Allah understands the finest mysteries (and) is well-acquainted (with them)."

Surah Luqman 31 Ayah 16

"And in the earth are tracts (diverse though) neighbouring and gardens of vines and fields sown with corn and palm trees growing out of single roots or otherwise: watered with the same water yet some of them We make more excellent than others to eat. Behold verily in these things there are Signs for those who understand!"

Surah Ar-Ra'd 13 Ayah 4

"And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance. And We have provided therein means of subsistence for you and for those for whose sustenance ye are not responsible. And there is not a thing but its (sources and) treasures (inexhaustible) are with Us; but We only send down thereof in due and ascertainable measures. And We send the fecundating winds then cause the rain to descend from the sky therewith providing you with water (in abundance) though ye are not the guardians of its stores."

Surah Al-Hijr15 Ayah 19-22

"And We send down water from the sky according to (due) measure and We cause it to soak in the soil; and We certainly are able to drain it off (with ease). With it We grow for you gardens of date-palms and vines: in them have ye abundant fruits: and of them ye eat (and have enjoyment) Also a tree springing out of Mount Sinai which produces oil and relish for those who use it for food."

Surah Al-Muminun 23 Ayah 18-20

"Set forth to them the similitude of the life of this world: it is like the rain which We send down from the skies: the earth's vegetation absorbs it but soon it becomes dry stubble which the winds do scatter: it is (only) Allah Who prevails over all things."

Surah Al-Kahf 18 Ayah 45

"And He it is Who hath produced you from a single being, and (hath given you) a habitation and a repository. We have detailed Our revelations for a people who have understanding. / It is He who sendeth down rain from the skies: with it We produce vegetation of all kinds: from some We produce green (crops) out of which We produce grain heaped up (at harvest); out of the date-palm and its sheaths (or spathes) (come) clusters of dates hanging low and near: and (then there are) gardens of grapes and olives and pomegranates each similar (in kind) yet different (in variety): when they begin to bear fruit and the ripeness thereof. Behold! in these things there are signs for people who believe."

Surah Al-An'am 6 Ayah 98/99

The "mustards seed hidden in a rock" exists in deed, it is a mustard species that hibernates during the 6 months of arctic winter in the Antarctic. In these extreme conditions it is hidden inside rocks and stones and the little amount of light, oxygen, water and carbohydrate reaching it during the only thawing month in the summer are sufficient to make it grow in minute quantities across many centuries. This species is a left over adopted form of the abundant growth of the Antarctic continent before it was covered by snow during the last 20-30 million years. There are also many arctic fungi, lichen and algae which are not known very well and miracles of nature and creation adopted to these conditions.

The fact that palms can grow out of single roots or otherwise and that there are many kind of different classes of plants with an own systematic is expressed in S 13: A 4 and it is left for us to marvel on the botanical separation of the variety of growth that comes out of the same soil, "watered by the same water". S 15: A 19-22 adds to this that our nourishment is something beyond our control, which we can easily experience in a draught or a flood. Both can spoil the harvest and only the "ascertainable measure" which is kept up by the very Creator of the ecosystem by watering the fields "in due balance" makes the harvest grow in an eatable manner. The "fecundating winds" are responsible for most of the fertilisation of the grain and other crops, without wind there would be no growth and no distribution, variety or variation between the biotopes.

The olive trees that "sprout out of" stone which cannot hold any water are a miracle of their own. Not only is their oil blessed and the fat is unsaturated, so it burns off cholesterol, see B6, but also the water cannot be absorbed by stone or vegetation. Still it grows on rocky and dry material and its roots break through it, longing for the minerals and nutrients inside. Even the water that is stored in roots of wet soil could be "drained off with ease" and the dry vegetation would be scattered by the same wind that has brought it there. So the composition of the biotopes is subject of a delicate balance set up by the Almighty. He has given us "a habitation and a repository" and the mere beauty of the plants in the biotopes, forests, jungles, fields and oasis appeal to our sense for beauty and nurture and nourish us (S 6: A 98/99). They are essential for a healthy psyche and our physiology.