Part 28

The mercy of animals

Regard first the quadrupeds. See how their young follow the mothers walking, not being in need of carrying about and not needing constant care as in the case of human

The author is referring to this tradition:

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“Allah has divided mercy into one hundred parts, one part of which he allotted to the Jinn, humans, animals and beasts. It is by this that they have affection among each other; it is by this that a mother animal has mercy for its baby. The other ninety-nine parts of mercy Allah has reserved to have mercy on His servants on the Day of Judgement.” Reported by Muslim (6840).

comprehend: “Find yourself perch and food, for there is no longer a perch or food for you here.”

So ask the denier about this: Is it all haphazard? Who inspired them to behave like this? Who made them have all that affection for the baby-birds when they were quite young and in vital need of the parents’ care; and then withdrew that sentiment exactly when the fledglings were able to do without their mother’s care, and the mothers badly needed relaxation from that exertion and to be able to look after their interests? If the mothers had to continue giving the same care to the fledglings, that would cause them harm, would distract them from striving to take care of their own life, considering the great deal of food their young need; the Lord inspired them with affection, compassion and selflessness out of mercy for the fledglings, and withdrew that later out of mercy for the mothers. Can all this be without the disposition and care of a Wise Disposer? Can it be without the compassion of the Almighty Lord? There is ample evidence of His Lordship, proofs of His Divinity, indicators of His Wisdom, and signs of His Power, in a way that no mind can rationally deny. It is only an outward denial when any stubborn miscreant denies. It is well expressed in the Qur’an:

“Can there be doubt concerning Allah?” (14:.10)

Doubt is legitimate in matters whose proofs are vague and the evidence is debatable; but in the case of the One Lord there is a. proof, even proofs, in every concrete or abstract thing, that confirm and assert that He is Allah, and there is no true god but Him. So how can there be doubt concerning that?

"The penguin’s parental sentiment is also prominent in the behaviour of one of its sub-species called ‘the emperor’, in such a degree that penguins that have no babies fight among themselves to adopt a baby.

There is also a kind of geese that, when they cannot find food for their babies, they pore their own entrails with their beak, to cut from them food for their babies to secure their survival, sacrificing their own life.

Regard now the trunk of the elephant and the amazing aspects of wisdom it embodies. It does for the elephant the work of a hand by collecting fodder and water and delivering them inside. Without that,

Ancient, extinct type of elephant

If two elephants meet at a certain place to eat, they do not fight, but on the

contrary they greet each other by each lifting its trunk high. After they have

finished cating, cach raises onc of its front legs, and bows to the other. (Quoted from: ‘Instinct or Divine Will?')

it wouldn’t have been able to obtain anything at all from

the ground: it does not have a long neck to reach the ground like many other animals, and so the trunk performs for it the job of the neck, an efficient replacement of it. The Lord enabled the elephant to lower it, raise it, fold it, and do with it whatever it likes. He made it to bea hollow vessel, smooth to touch; it catches with it what it needs, delivers with it what it wants to its mouth, holds inside it what it likes, and can cause harm with it to anyone if it wants; it gives with it, and collects what is offered to it. So ask the denier: Who endowed the elephant with this compensation? Who replaced for the organ it missed with something that can do its job? Who but the Compassionate? Who but the Merciful to His creatures; Who takes care of their needs, who is Kind to them? How can this happen if it were a universe without a Power to take care of it, a universe without its Tender, its Originator, Creator and Maker? There is indeed no true god but the Most Mighty the Wise.

To the question: Why did not the Lord provide the elephant with a neck like the rest of animals? What is wise about that? The answer is — though it is Allah who knows the wisdom of His handicrafts — because its head and ears are of such huge mass and heavy weight, that if it had a neck like most animals, it would soon be exhausted with the weight it carried and would not endure it. So the Lord had the head attached directly to the body, so that it does not suffer and struggle with the weight it bears; He created for it, in place of the neck, that long trunk with which _ it can pick its food. In contrast, as a camel’s neck is long, for good reasons, its head was made small relative to its bulk, so that it does not exhaust it and tire it. So glory be to the Him, whose acts of wisdom are beyond the calculation of reckoners and the comprehension of thinkers.

The diversity of creatures points to the wisdom of the Maker

Our sheikh Abul-Abbas Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah bless his soul, was once asked about a donkey that mated with a mare and impregnated it, would the mare’s milk be legally permitted or prohibited to drink? * His answer was that it was permitted, since the male’s part is not recognized in this case, unlike the verdict in the case of humans: the

The question is justified, since the horse’s meat is permitted to eat, as

supported by authentic traditions of the Prophet, while the meat of domesticated donkeys is prohibited to cat.

mare’s milk is the result of fodder, so that it is formed from the mare’s flesh, and the male donkey’s mating had no part in the formation of the milk; there is nothing forbidden that applies to the milk. In the case of humans, on the other hand, the male’s part is recognized in the milk, as breast feeding is a reason for the banning of certain marriages. In the present issue, no prohibition is transferred through the male except to the baby itself, since both parents are responsible for its formation, and so a baby donkey is equal to the parent in being prohibited to eat. The milk is not the consequence of the male’s mating, but results rather from fodder, and so it is not prohibited. That is the purport of the sheikh’s argument.

Our purpose here is to refute the claim put forth by many that the giraffe is the outcome of the mating of many animals which meet at the places of drinking — such claims are a lie about the giraffe and a lie about creation. To refute this lie, one only needs to observe that when the male donkey and the mare mate, or the wolf and the she-hyena, or the sheep and the she-goat, there will not be in the offspring an organ from the father and another from the mother; not like the giraffe’s having an organ similar to a horse’s and another similar to a camel's; it is rather a mixture and compromise of the two, as you see in the mule: its head, ears, back, and hoofs are midway between the organs of its father and mother and a joint outcome of both. Even its braying is a mixture of the horse’s neighing and the donkey’s braying. This proves that a giraffe is not the descendant of parents of different species, as is assumed by some. It is rather an exquisite creation and a wonderful making, a creation of Allah, Who originated it, as a sign and an evidence of His power and wisdom which is without limit; so that His slaves should witness that He is the creator of various animals, Who diversified them as He wished and made them in the shapes He willed. Some are symmetrical, with balanced

organs, some are asymmetrical, with different shapes, structures and looks. Similarly, he shows His servants His perfect power by creating the human species in four different ways, which point to their being created by the Lord’s power and will and their being subordinate to Him. The four divisions are as follows: the human who was created without male or female, the father of the human species; the one created from a male without a female, the mother of humans who was created from a rib of Adam’s; the one who was created from a female without a male, Jesus son of Mary; the one who was created from a male and a female, all the rest of human beings. He is thus showing His servants His signs and revealing Himself to them with His favours and power, that if He wills something to be He will say: Be, and it will be. Why the giraffe has that long neck is, according to those who observe its life and living place, because its home and grazing place is among tall, extremely tall trees; by having a long neck, the giraffe can reach the ends of branches of those trees to eat of their leaves and fruits. This is the extent of what those people know, although the wisdom of the Gentle, the Knowing is far deeper and superior to that.