Hakekat sosial dari pendidikan

BAB II
PEMBAHASAN

A. Definisi Hakikat pendidikan.
Hakikat pendidikan itu dapat dikategorisasikan dalam dua pendapat yaitu pendekatan epistemologis dan pendekatan ontologi atau metafisik. Kedua pendekatan tersebut tentunya dapat melahirkan jawaban yang berbeda-beda mengenai apakah hakikat pendidikan itu.
Di dalam pendidikan epistemologis yang menjadi masalah adalah akar atau kerangka ilmu pendidikan sebagai ilmu. Pendekatan tersebut mencari makna pendidikan sebagai ilmu yaitu mempunyai objek yang akan merupakan dasar analisis yang akan membangun ilmu pengetahuan yang disebut ilmu pendidikan. Dari sudut pandang pendidikan dilihat sebagai sesuatu proses yang interen dalam konsep manusia. Artinya manusia hanya dapat dimanusiakan melalui proses pendidikan.
Berbagai pendapat mengenai hakikat pendidikan dapat digolongkan atas dua kelompok besar yaitu :
1. Pendekatan Redaksional.
2. Pendekatan holistik integrative.


1. Pendekatan Redaksional.
Teori-teori / pendekatan redaksional sangat banyak dikemukakan di dalam khazanah ilmu pendidikan. Dalam hal ini akan dibicarakan berbagai pendekatan reduksionaisme sebagai berikut :
1) Pendekatan pedagogis / pedagogisme.
Titik tolak dari teori ini ialah anak yang akan di besarkan menjadi manusia dewasa. Pandangan ini apakah berupa pandangan nativisme schopenhouer serta menganut penganutnya yang beranggapan bahwa anak telah mempunyai kemampuan-kemampuan yang dilahirkan dan tinggal di kembangkan saja.
2) Pendekatan Filosofis.
Anak manusia mempunyai hakikatnya sendiri dan berada dengan hakikat orang dewasa. Oleh sebab itu, proses pendewasaan anak bertitik-tolak dari anak sebagai anak manusia yang mempunyai tingkat-tingkat perkembangan sendiri.
3) Pendekatan religius / religionisme.
Pendekatan religius / religionisme dianut oleh pemikir-pemikir yang melihat hakikat manusia sebagai makhluk yang religius. Namun demikian kemajuan ilmu pengetahuan yang sekuler tidak menjawab terhadap kehidupan yang bermoral.
4) Pendekatan psikologis / psikologisme.
Pandangan-pandangan pedagogisme seperti yang telah diuraikan telah lebih memacu masuknya psikologi ke dalam bidang ilmu pendidikan hal tersebut telah mempersempit pandangan para pendidik seakan-akan ilmu pendidikan terbatas kepada ilmu mengajar saja.
5) Pendekatan negativis / negativism.
Pendidikan ialah menjaga pertumbuhan anak. Dengan demikian pandangan negativisme ini melihat bahwa segala sesuatu seakan-akan telah tersedia di dalam diri anak yang bertumbuh dengan baik apabila tidak dipengaruhi oleh hal-hal yang merugikan pertumbuhan tersebut.
6) Pendekatan Sosiologis.
Pandangan sosiologisme cenderung berlawanan arah dengan pedagogisme. Titik-tolak dari pandangan ini ialah prioritas kepada kebutuhan masyarakat dan bukan kepada kebutuhan individu.
Peserta didik adalah anggota masyarakat. Dalam sejarah perkembangan manusia kita lihat bahwa tuntutan masyarakat tidak selalu etis. Versi yang lain dari pandangan ini ialah develop mentalisme. Proses pendidikan diarahkan kepada pencapaian target-target tersebut dan tidak jarang nilai-nilai kemanusiaan disubordinasikan untuk mencapai target pembangunan. Pengalaman pembangunan Indonesia selama Orde Baru telah mengarah kepada paham developmentalisme yang menekan kepada pencapaian pertumbuhan yang tinggi, target pemberantasan buta huruf, target pelaksanaan wajib belajar 9 dan 12 tahun.
Salah satu pandangan sosiologisme yang sangat populer adalah konsiensialisme yang dikumandangkan oleh ahli pikir pendidikan Ferkenal Paulo Freire.
Pendidikan yang dikumandangkan oleh Freire ini yang juga dikenal sebagai pendidikan pembebasan pendidikan adalah proses pembebasan. Konsiensialisme yang dikumandangkan Freire merupakan suatu pandangan pendidikan yang sangat mempunyai kadar politis karena dihubungkan dengan situasi kehidupan politik terutama di negara-negara Amerika Latin. Paulo Freire di dalam pendidikan pembebasan melihat fungsi atau hakikat pendidikan sebagai pembebasan manusia dari berbagai penindasan. Sekolah adalah lembaga sosial yang pada umumnya mempresentasi kekuatan-kekuatan sosial politik yang ada agar menjaga status quo hukum membebaskan manusia dari tirani kekuasaan. Qua atau di dalam istilah Polo Freire. “kapitalisme yang licik”.Sekolah harus berfungsi membangkitkan kesadaran bahwa manusia adalah bebas.

2. Pendekatan Holistik Integratif.
Pendekatan-pendekatan reduksionisme melihat proses pendidikan peserta didik dan keseluruhan termasuk lembaga-lembaga pendidikan, menampilkan pandangan ontologis maupun metafisis tertentu mengenai hakikat pendidikan. Teori-teori tersebut satu persatu sifatnya mungkin mendalam secara Vertikal namun tidak melebar secara horizontal.
Peserta didik, anak manusia, tidak hidup secara terisolasi tetapi dia hidup dan berkembang di dalam suatu masyarakat tertentu, yang berbudaya, yang mempunyai visi terhadap kehidupan di masa depan, termasuk kehidupan pasca kehidupan.
Pendekatan reduksionisme terhadap hakikat pendidikan, maka dirumuskan suatu pengertian operasional mengenai hakikat pendidikan. Hakikat pendidikan adalah suatu proses menumbuh kembangkan eksistensi peserta didik yang memasyarakat, membudaya, dalam tata kehidupan yang berdimensi lokal, nasional dan global. Rumusan operasional mengenai hakikat pendidikan tersebut di atas mempunyai komponen-komponen sebagai berikut :
1) Pendidikan merupakan suatu proses berkesinambungan.
Proses berkesinambungan yang terus menerus dalam arti adanya interaksi dalam lingkungannya. Lingkungan tersebut berupa lingkungan manusia, lingkungan sosial, lingkungan budayanya dan ekologinya. Proses pendidikan adalah proses penyelamatan kehidupan sosial dan penyelamatan lingkungan yang memberikan jaminan hidup yang berkesinambungan. Proses pendidikan yang berkesinambungan berarti bahwa manusia tidak pernah akan selesai.
2) Proses pendidikan berarti menumbuhkembangkan eksistensi manusia. Eksistensi atau keberadaan manusia adalah suatu keberadaan interaktif. Eksistensi manusia selalu berarti dengan hubungan sesama manusia baik yang dekat maupun dalam ruang lingkup yang semakin luas dengan sesama manusia di dalam planet bumi ini. Proses pendidikan bukan hanya mempunyai dimensi lokal tetapi juga berdimensi nasional dan global.
3) Eksistensi manusia yang memasyarakat. Proses pendidikan adalah proses mewujudkan eksistensi manusia yang memasyarakat. Jauh Dewey mengatakan bahwa tujuan pendidikan tidak berada di luar proses pendidikan itu tetapi di dalam pendidikan sendiri karena sekolah adalah bagian dari masyarakat itu sendiri. Apabila pendidikan di letakkan di dalam tempatnya yang sebenarnya ialah sebagai bagian yang tak terpisahkan dari kehidupan manusia yang pada dasarnya adalah kehidupan bermoral.
4) Proses pendidikan dalam masyarakat yang membudaya. Inti dari kehidupan bermasyarakat adalah nilai-nilai. Nilai-nilai tersebut perlu dihayati, dilestarikan, dikembangkan dan dilaksanakan oleh seluruh anggota masyarakatnya. Penghayatan dan pelaksanaan nilai-nilai yang hidup, keteraturan dan disiplin para anggotanya. Tanpa keteraturan dan disiplin maka suatu kesatuan hidup akan bubar dengan sendirinya dan berarti pula matinya suatu kebudayaan.
5) Proses bermasyarakat dan membudaya mempunyai dimensi-dimensi waktu dan ruang. Dengan dimensi waktu, proses tersebut mempunyai aspek-aspek historisitas, kekinian dan visi masa depan. Aspek historisitas berarti bahwa suatu masyarakat telah berkembang di dalam proses waktu, yang menyejarah, berarti bahwa kekuatan-kekuatan historis telah menumpuk dan berasimilasi di dalam suatu proses kebudayaan. Proses pendidikan adalah proses pembudayaan. Dan proses pembudayaan adalah proses pendidikan. Menggugurkan pendidikan dari proses pembudayaan merupakan alienasi dari hakikat manusia dan dengan demikian alienasi dari proses humanisasi. Alienasi proses pendidikan dari kebudayaan berarti menjauhkan pendidikan dari perwujudan nilai-nilai moral di dalam kehidupan manusia.

B. PERMASALAHAN DALAM PENDIDIKAN.
Pendidikan merupakan soal vital bagi tiap segi kemajuan dan perkembangan manusia, dan kedudukan dalam penentuan kebijakan nasional maupun internasional bertumbuh secara lunak.
• Untuk pertama kalinya dalam sejarah, Perkembangan Pendidikan secara keseluruhan cenderung mendahului perkembangan ekonomi.
• Untuk pertama kalinya dalam sejarah, pendidikan menyiapkan manusia, pria maupun wanita. Untuk memasuki jenis masyarakat yang baru sama sekali.
• Untuk pertama kalinya dalam sejarah, beberapa masyarakat mulai menolak banyak hal tentang “hasil yang telah terselesaikan” dari pendidikan formal.
Mengenai struktur sistem pendidikan, timbul berbagai keinginan dan kecenderungan. Pendidikan taman kanak-kanak yang masih tetap terbatas, umumnya merupakan bagian integral (menyeluruh) dari sistem persekolahan. Pendidikan dasar meluas dalam ruang lingkupnya dan anak-anak ingin mulai sekolah pada umur lebih muda.
Jumlah tahun yang digunakan untuk bersekolah juga meningkat, dan berubah atau perbaikan sering menjurus ke pemaduan ataupun penggandengan antara pendidikan dasar dan tahun-tahun pertama pendidikan menengah. Jumlah murid di sekolah juga makin meningkat, dan tidak hanya pada tingkat rendah, pendaftaran di sekolah-sekolah lebih tinggi sampai pada perguruan tinggi memperlihatkan peningkatan besar.
Namun, karena jumlah pelajar makin meningkat, maka yang putus sekolah (drop-outs) dan yang tinggal kelas juga makin banyak. Pada umumnya, yang paling banyak masuk terjadi pada tingkat terendah dari sistemnya dan yang paling banyak keluar adalah di tengah jalan (terutama karena gagal) atau di puncak, setelah menyelesaikan pelajaran dengan baik. Masuk dan keluar atau pindah di tengah-tengah pendidikan memang kurang, tetapi kini mulai banyak terjadi.
Di negara-negara lain, kecenderungan bergerak ke arah ke daerahkan, melonggarkan penguasaan pusat dan kemungkinan keanekaragaman yang lebih besar. Namun masih merupakan faktor bahwa banyak perkembangan memperlihatkan suatu konsistensi (ketetapan) yang memang aneh, karena berbagai keadaan atau situasi itu telah timbul secara perlahan di bawah teori, tantangan dan gerakan protes yang berbeda-beda.
1. Pembaharuan (reformasi) pendidikan.
Kecenderungan pertama ini bergerak ke arah perubahan atau penyusunan kembali (reorganisasi) struktur pendidikan yang ada dan memodernkan metode pengajaran. Dengan atau tanpa pengikut, perubahan struktur semacam itu, pada waktunya akan terjadi hampir dimana saja. Perubahan penting juga telah terjadi di negara-negara sedang berkembang, kebanyakan di selenggarakan oleh pemerintah pusat, meskipun kekurangan peralatan dan sistem birokrasi yang kurang sehat kadang kala sangat menghambat pembaharuan itu. Karena yang diserahi tugas itu sering ingin menunggu dahulu sampai hasil-hasil Perolehan di lain negara dapat dipelajari.
2. Perubahan (transformasi) struktur.
Di negara-negara yang telah menjalin peningkatan sosial dan politik pada tahun-tahun terakhir ini, kejadian-kejadian telah sering mengakibatkan perubahan struktur yang cukup besar dalam dunia pendidikan, yang mempengaruhi penerimaan mahasiswa, kemudahan memperoleh pendidikan pada berbagai tingkat, perubahan kurikulum meskipun belum sangat mendalam juga mempengaruhi modernisasi metode pengajaran.
3. Kritik Radikal.
Kritik secara jujur atau penolakan pendidikan yang “dilembagakan” mungkin menjurus ke perumusan jalan tengah, tetapi juga dapat ke arah rencana radikal tentang masyarakat “tanpa sekolah formal” sama sekali. Teori ekstrem itu didasari gagasan bahwa pendidikan adalah variabel tak terikat dalam tiap masyarakat, dan merupakan sebab langsung dari pertentangan sosial.
4. Ketidak puasan.
Kecenderungan keempat di sebabkan karena ketakpuasan pada yang berkenaan sendiri. Dan ini telah banyak berkembang di negara-negara tertentu yang pendidikannya menyangkut para ahli politik, ahli pendidikan, ahli penelitian dan para ilmuwan, maupun para siswa sendiri dan pula khalayak umum.
Mereka menjadi kecewa, merasa tertekan, membuang-buang tenaga, menjadi bosan atau menemukan jalan keluar bagi harapan dan cita-citanya. Keresahan mahasiswa sering merupakan tanda dalam sejarah, bila kritik secara luas mulai merongrong benteng pendidikan yang hingga waktu itu tak dapat ditembus. Meskipun demikian perhatian terhadap pendidikan belum pernah sebesar sekarang. Hai ini menjadi sebab pertikaian yang memuncak menjadi pertikaian politik atau ideologi. Dalam kenyataannya, hal-hal itu telah menjadi salah satu tema utama dari pada kritik sosial mengenai pengalaman dan ideologi.
Mengingat keadaan-keadaan negara dewasa ini, kita dapat dan harus menyelami arti sebenarnya pendidikan dalam dunia modern ini, tidak hanya dengan menetapkan kembali kewajiban dan tanggung jawabnya kepada generasi sekarang yang harus disiapkan untuk dunia di kemudian hari, melainkan juga menganalisa atau menelaah tenaga dan mitos yang mendasarinya, kemungkinan hari depannya dan tujuan serta sasaran utamanya.

BAB III
PENUTUP
A. KESIMPULAN
Berdasarkan uraian-uraian di atas, bisa ditarik beberapa kesimpulan sebagai berikut :
1. Era reformasi adalah era untuk terciptanya suatu masyarakat terbuka dan percaya kepada partisipasi masyarakat di dalam pengembangan dirinya sendiri.
2. Syarat-syarat untuk meningkatkan akuntabilitas pendidikan tinggi kita ialah semakin bosannya partisipasi masyarakat di dalam membangun pendidikan tingginya.
3. Pendekatan mengenai hakikat pendidikan dapat digolongkan atas dua kelompok besar, yaitu :
a. Pendekatan reduksionisme.
b. Pendekatan holistis integratif
4. Hakikat pendidikan adalah suatu proses menumbuhkembangkan eksistensi peserta didik yang memasyarakat, membudaya dalam tata kehidupan yang berdimensi lokal, nasional dan global.


DAFTAR PUSTAKA
Fernandez perez, Miguel . 1982 . Krisis Dalam Pendidikan . Jakarta : PN Balai Pustaka.
Prof . Dr. Tilaar , H.A.R.M.Sc.Ed. 2002 . Pendidikan dan Masyarakat madani Indonesia . Bandung : PT. Remaja Rosdakarya.

Faktor Ekologi dalam masyarakat dengan organisasi Sekolah

BAB I
PENDAHULUAN

A. Latar Belakang

Ekologi merupakan cabang ilmu yang masih relatif baru, yang baru muncul pada tahun 70-an. Akan tetapi, ekologi mempunyai pengaruh yang besar terhadap cabang biologinya. Ekologi mempelajari bagaimana makhluk hidup dapat mempertahankan kehidupannya dengan mengadakan hubungan atarmakhluk hidup dan dengan benda tak hidup di dalam tempat hidupnya atau lingkungannya.

Makalah ini berisi mengenai Faktor-Faktor Ekologi Dalam Masyarakat Dengan Organisasi Sekolah. Penyusun membagi pembahasan makalah ini menjadi beberapa bagian, bagian pertama membahas mengenai pengertian ekologi, bagian kedua membahas mengenai pengertian masyarakat, bagian ketiga membahas mengenai faktor-faktor ekologi dalam masyarakat dengan organisasi sekolah.

Adapun fungsi dari beberapa pembahasan tersebut di atas adalah agar kita mengetahui lebih dalam dan terperinci tentang Ilmu Sosiologi Pendidikan khususnya tentang Faktor-Faktor Ekologi Dalam Masyarakat Dengan Organisasi Sekolah.

Penyusun berharap dari kajian tentang Faktor-Faktor Ekologi Dalam Masyarakat Dengan Organisasi Sekolah ini dapat memberikan kita pemaham lebih dalam tentang Ilmu Sosiologi Pendidikan.



B. Rumusan masalah
Dari latar belakang tersebut, maka rumusan masalah yang muncul adalah:
1. Apa yang menjadi dasar dan tujuan peranan social profesi guru?

C. Tujuan
Dari rumusan masalah di atas, maka tujuan pembuatan makalah ini adalah:
1. Mengetahui yang menjadi dasar dan tujuan peranan social profesi guru.





















BAB II
PEMBAHASAN

A. Pengertian Ekologi.

Ekologi adalah ilmu yang mempelajari interaksi antara organisme dengan lingkungannya dan yang lainnya. Berasal dari kata Yunani oikos (“habitat”) dan logos (“ilmu”). Ekologi diartikan sebagai ilmu yang mempelajari baik interaksi antar makhluk hidup maupun interaksi antara makhluk hidup dan lingkungannya . Menurut istilah ekologi juga memiliki pengertian :
 Hubungan timbal balik antara mahluk hidup dan lingkungannya. Mahluk hidup : Manusia, Hewan, Tumbuhan, jasad renik. Linkungan : Fisik, Biologi, Soisal
 Hubungan timbal balik antara struktur dan fungsi.

EKOLOGI :
 ilmu tentang makhluk hidup dalam rumahnya atau ilmu tentang rumah tangga makhluk hidup,
 ilmu pengetahuan tentang hubungan antara organisme dan lingkungan,
 ilmu yang mencoba mempelajari hubungan antara tumbuhan, binatang dan manusia dengan lingkungan dimana mereka hidup, bagaimana kehidupannya dan mengapa mereka ada di situ,
 secara harfiah, ekologi adalah pengkajian hubungan organisme-organisme atau kelompok organisme terhadap lingkungannya…apa yang ada, apa yang terjadi di alam, tidak melakukan percobaan.
 Menurut Odum dan Cox (1971), ekologi adalah suatu studi yang mempelajari struktur dan fungsi ekosistem atau alam dimana manusia adalah bagian dari alam. Struktur mencirikan keadaan sistem tersebut. Fungsi menggambarkan hubungan sebab akibatnya. Jadi pokok utama ekologi adalah mencari pengertian bagaimana fungsi organisme di alam.
Pada dasarnya, ekologi adalah ilmu dasar yang tidak mempraktekkan sesuatunya, tempat mempertanyakan dan menyelidik, berkaitan dengan berbagai ilmu pengetahuan yang relevan dengan kehidupan (peradaban) manusia. Seorang yang belajar ekologi sebenarnya bertanya tentang berbagai hal, sebagai berikut. :
 Bagaimana alam bekerja
 Bagaimana suatu species beradaptasi dalam habitatnya
 Apa yang mereka perlukan dari habitatnya itu untuk dapat dimanfaatkan guna kelangsungan hidupnya
 Bagaimana mereka mencukupi kebutuhannya akan unsur hara (materi) dan energy
 Bagaimana mereka berinteraksi dengan species lainnya
 Bagaimana individu-individu dalam spesies itu diatur dan berfungsi sebagai populasi.
Ekologi merupakan disiplin ilmu baru dari biologi yang merupakan mata rantai fisik dan proses biologi serta bentuk-bentuk yang menjembatani antara ilmu alam dan ilmu sosial.

B. Pengertian Masyarakat.

Istilah Masyarakat berasal dari akar kata Arab “syaraka” yang berarti ikut serta, berpartisipasi. Dalam bahasa inggris dipakai istilah society yang berasal dari kata Latin socius, yang berarti kawan.

Ada beberapa para ahli yang memberikan definisi tentang masyarakat, antara lain sebagai berikut:
 Koentjaraningrat menyatakan masyarakat adalah kesatuan hidup manusia yang berinteraksi menurut suatu sistem adat istiadat tertentu yang bersifat kontinu, dan yang terikat oleh suatu rasa identitas bersama.
 Selo Soemardjan mengatakan bahwa masyarakat adalah orang-orang yang hidup bersama, yang menghasilkan kebudayaan.
 J.L Gillin dan J.P Gillin mengatakan bahwa masyarakat adalah kelompok manusia yang terbesar dan mempunyai kebiasaan, tradisi, sikap, dan perasaan persatuan yang sama.
 Ralph Linton menyebutkan bahwa masyarakat adalah setiap kelompok manusia yang telah hidup dan bekerja sama cukup lama sehingga mereka dapat mengatur diri sendiri dan menganggap diri mereka sebagai suatu kesatuan sosial dengan batas-batas yang dirumuskan dengan jelas.
 Emile Durkheim berpendapat bahwa masyarakat adalah suatu sisitem yang dibentuk dari hubungan antar anggota sehingga menampilkan suatu realitas tertentu yang mempunyai ciri-cirinya sendiri.
 M.J Herskovits mengemukakan bahwa masyarakat adalah kelompok individu yang diorganisasi dan mengikuti satu cara hidup tertentu.
 Mac Iver dan Page mengatakan bahwa masyarakat adalah suatu sistem dari kebiasaan dan tata cara, dari wewenang dan kerja sama antara berbagai kelompok dan penggolongan, dari pengawasan tingkah laku serta kebebasan manusia. Keseluruhan yang selalu berubah disebut masyarakat. Masyarakat merupakan jalinan hubungan sosial dan masyarakat selalu berubah.

Dari lahir sampai mati manusia hidup sebagai anggota masyarakat. Hidup dalam masyarakat berarti adanya interaksi sosial dengan orang-orang di sekitar dan dengan demikian mengalami pengaruh dan mempengaruhi orang lain. Interaksi manusia sangat utama dalam tiap masyarakat.

Manusia adalah mahluk sosial. Ia hidup dalam hubunganya dengan orang lain dan hidupnya bergantung pada orang lain. Karena itu manusia tak mungkin hidup layak diluar masyarakat.

Masyarakat sangat luas dan dapat meliputi seluruh umat manusia, masyarakat terdiri dari berbagai kelompok yang besar maupun kecil bergantung pada jumlah anggotanya. Dua orang atau lebih dapat merupakan kelompok. Tiap oarang menjadi anggota kaluarga yang terdiri atas ibu, ayah dan anak. Sedangkan keluarga besar mencakup juga paman, kakek, cucu, dsb atau pada orang batak mencakup semarga.

Tiap anak diatas usia 6 tahun termasuk kelompok murid atau kelompok yang kecil lainya, apabila anak tersebut sudah besar maka ia akan menjadi anggota kelompok yang lebih besar lagi, dan itu merupakan pengaruh dari keadaan lingkungannya.

Dalam pengelompokan sering dibedakan menjadi kelompok primer dan kelompok sekunder.
 Adapun kelompok primer adalah kelompok pertama dimana seseorang akan memulai interaksidenganorang lain yaitu keluarga, kelompok sepermainan, dan lingkungan keluarga. Dalam kelompok primer terdapat hubungan tattap muka langsung dalam suasana akrab, dalam kelompok ini ia mempelajari kebiasaan yang fundamental seperti bahasa, soal baik buruk, kemampuan untuk mengurus diri sendiri, kerja sama dan bersaing, disiplin, dsb. Kelompok primer juga sering disebut Gemeinschaft.
 Kelompok sekunder dibentuk dengan sengaja atas pertimbangan tertentu berdasarkan kebutuhan tertentu seperti perkumpulan profesi, organisasi agama, partai politik, anggotanya mungkin tak pernah saling bertemu, dan kelompok sekunder ini dapat hidup lama melampau suatu generasi yang sering disebut Gesellscaft.
Penggolongan lain terutama berdasarkan funginya ialah kelompok” orang dalam” atau (in-group) dan kelompok ” orang luar” atau (out-group). Kelompok orang dalam yang terdapat dalam kelompok primer maupun sekunder adalah kelompok yang terhadap siapa kita merasa solider, setia, akrab, bersahabat, rapat, merasa bersatu, seperasaan, sepikiran, seperbuatan dengan mereka. Dan kita mampu memperhatikan, melindungi dan berkorban untuk mereka, serta kita merasa senang, saling memahami, penuh cinta dan simpati.

Sedangkan terrhadap kelompok luar justru berbalik dengan kelompok orang dalam, kita dapat merasa tidak senang, timbul rasa benci, menganggapnya sebagai saingan, lawan, dan ancaman. Prasangka biasanya ditujukann terhadap kelompok ini. Kita merasa bahwa kelompok kita lebih baik dari pada kelompok orang lain. Bangsa kita, agama kita, sekolah kita dirasa melebihi yang lain. Namun tidak selalu timbul rasa antipati terhadap setiap kelompok orang luar lainya. Banyak yang tidak kita acuhkan selama tidak kita anggap sebagai ancaman terhadap harga diri kita.

Rasa in-group sangat kuat dikalangan murid-murid, khususnya pada tingkat SMA, pertandingan antar sekolah sering berakhir dengan perkelahian yang berlarut-larut.

C. Faktor Ekologi Dalam Masyarakat Dengan Organisasi Sekolah.

Dalam perspektif yang lebih luas, model bimbingan perkembangan menempatkan anak sebagai target layanan bimbingan dan konseling tidak hanya terbatas pada perannya sebagai siswa di dalam organisasi sekolah, tetapi dalam perannya sebagai anggota berbagai macam organisasi kehidupan dan budaya. Model bimbingan perkembangan didasarkan atas asumsi bahwa perkembangan yang sehat akan terjadi dalam interaksi yang sehat antara individu dan lingkungannya. Kompatibilitas antara individu dengan lingkungannya menjadi inti penggerak peranan individu di dalam sistem. Oleh karena itu, bimbingan dan konseling seharusnya diarahkan pada upaya-upaya untuk membantu individu agar lebih menyadari dirinya dan caranya merespon lingkungannya untuk mengembangkan makna personal dari perilakunya bagi kehidupannya pada masa kini dan masa mendatang. Strategi layanan bimbingan dan konseling menjadi lebih berupa upaya untuk mengorganisasikan dan untuk menciptakan developmental human ecology.

Ekologi merupakan satu usaha ilmiah multidisipliner yang bertujuan untuk memahami interaksi yang dinamis dan kompleks antara organisme- organisme dan berbagai aspek lingkungannya. Dalam aplikasinya, ekologi terutama bertujuan untuk memahami dan memelihara keseimbangan yang terdapat di dalam lingkungan dan yang memungkinkan terpeliharanya properti yang memberikan kehidupan dan mendorong pertumbuhan. Dalam ekologi manusia (human ecology), bahwa permasalahan sentralnya lebih dari sekedar permasalahan yang terkait dengan kelangsungan hidup organisme secara fisik. Untuk mencapai potensinya secara penuh, manusia harus berinteraksi secara positif dengan lingkungannya, sering kali harus dilakukan sepanjang hidupnya. Oleh karena itu, di dalam suatu ekologi manusia, kita tidak hanya berkepentingan untuk memperhatikan faktor-faktor yang mempertahankan kehidupan dan menjamin kelangsungan hidup individu beserta seluruh spesies kehidupan secara fisik, tetapi kita juga berkepentingan untuk memperhatikan faktor-faktor nonfisik di dalam lingkungan yang menjamin kelangsungan pertumbuhan. Faktor-faktor tersebut adalah yang menjamin bahwa kelangsungan hidup akan juga mencakup perkembangan optimal dalam diri manusia secara individual maupun umat manusia secara keseluruhan di dalam organisasi budaya dan masyarakatnya.

Dengan demikian, developmental human ecology terutama memperhatikan transaksi antara individu dengan lingkungan belajarnya. Sebuah lingkungan belajar pada intinya adalah satu konteks fisik, sosial dan psikologis, di mana orang belajar perilaku baru. Dalam pengertian yang luas, kita semua berinteraksi dengan lingkungan belajar setiap saat. Dalam pengertian yang umum ini, setiap lingkungan merupakan lingkungan belajar. Akan tetapi, dalam pengertian yang terbatas, yang lebih relevan dengan perkembangan, lingkungan belajar memiliki beberapa karakteristik yang khusus dan unik. Lingkungan belajar terutama efektif dan instrumental dalam membentuk pola perilaku penting yang pada gilirannya menentukan arah bagi perkembangan jangka panjang. Lingkungan belajar mempunyai pengaruh yang kuat karena tiga alasan.

 Faktor-faktor di dalam sebuah lingkungan belajar memenuhi atau tidak memenuhi kebutuhan atau motif yang sangat mendasar. Keluarga merupakan lingkungan belajar yang sangat berpengaruh karena anggota-anggotanya berusaha memenuhi begitu banyak kebutuhan fisik maupun psikologis mendasar di dalam lingkungan tersebut.
 Lingkungan belajar itu intensif dan berkelanjutan; artinya, individu cenderung menghabiskan banyak waktunya di dalam lingkungan belajar itu dan melibatkan dirinya dalam berbagai macam peran di dalamnya. Dalam hal ini, lingkungan tempat tinggal merupakan lingkungan belajar yang kuat sekali pengaruhnya.
 Lingkungan belajar memberikan timing yang tepat untuk interaksi tertentu. Konsep tentang masa kritis merupakan konsep yang sangat penting dalam studi tentang perkembangan manusia. Masa tertentu dalam kehidupan seorang individu sangat penting untuk perkembangan pola-pola perilaku tertentu. Lingkungan belajar yang terekspos pada seorang individu dalam masa kritis tersebut sangat kuat pengaruhnya terhadap perkembangannya selanjutnya.

Ada tiga komponen penting dalam sebuah lingkungan belajar, yaitu (1) “opportunity structure”, (2) “support structure”, dan (3) “reward structure”. Penjelasan dari tiga komponen itu adalah :
1. Struktur kesempatan ditentukan oleh jumlah dan rentangan situasi di mana partisipan dapat mencobakan perilaku barunya yang dapat mengarah pada keberhasilan, penguasaan atau kontrol dalam situasi lingkungan yang bersangkutan. Misalnya, di dalam lingkungan kelas, setiap pelajaran matematika dapat menawarkan kesempatan baru untuk mencapai keberhasilan atau penguasaan melalui perolehan pengetahuan atau keterampilan baru dalam bidang matematika. Hakikat struktur kesempatan sebagian ditentukan oleh tingkat stimulasi yang tersedia di dalam lingkungan. Jadi, bila lingkungan itu sangat kaku dan statis, dengan sedikit sekali stimulasi yang terdapat di dalamnya, maka akan relatif sedikit pula kesempatan yang tersedia bagi individu untuk mencapai keberhasilan atau penguasaan.
2. Komponen kedua dari sebuah lingkungan belajar, yaitu struktur dukungan, adalah sistem pemberian bantuan kepada individu untuk mengatasi stress yang sering mengiringi kesempatan belajar individu. Struktur dukungan tersebut terdiri dari dua elemen :
a) Dukungan yang berupa jaringan hubungan antarmanusia (human relationships) yang positif, yang memberikan kehangatan, dorongan, empati, dan perhatian yang optimal, sehingga individu dapat melanjutkan kegiatan belajarnya meskipun dalam situasi stress.
b) Dukungan untuk memberikan strategi dan kerangka kerja kognitif, yang memungkinkan individu belajar cara-cara yang tepat dalam menghadapi tugas-tugas atau masalah-masalah yang penuh tantangan.
3. Komponen ketiga dari sebuah lingkungan belajar, yaitu struktur imbalan (reward structure), adalah komponen lingkungan yang merangsang individu untuk memiliki antusiasme dan komitmen untuk mengatasi tantangan dan menuntaskan tugas-tugasnya. Imbalan tersebut dapat bersifat intrinsik ataupun ekstrinsik, material ataupun psikologis. Bila imbalan tersebut jelas, bermakna dan dapat diandalkan, individu akan rela mengorbankan waktu, energi dan harga dirinya untuk memperolehnya.

Di depan telah dikemukakan bahwa ekologi manusia bertujuan untuk memahami dan memelihara keseimbangan yang terdapat di dalam lingkungan demi terpeliharanya kelangsungan pertumbuhan dan perkembangan. Berdasarkan komponen-komponen lingkungan yang potensial sebagaimana dipaparkan di atas, ada tiga prinsip dasar ekologi sebagai berikut:
 Agar sebuah lingkungan belajar dapat mempertahankan kelangsungan pertumbuhan dan perkembangan bagi anggota-anggotanya, maka di dalam lingkungan tersebut harus tersedia satu struktur kesempatan yang luas yang di dalamnya terdapat berbagai macam tantangan dan tugas baru di mana para anggota tersebut dapat menemukan cara-cara baru untuk mencapai keberhasilan dan penguasaan.
 Agar sebuah lingkungan belajar dapat mempertahankan kelangsungan pertumbuhan bagi para anggotanya, di dalam lingkungan tersebut harus terdapat jaringan dukungan dan sumber strategi atau kerangka kerja kognitif yang efektif untuk membantu para anggota lingkungan tersebut mengatasi stress, menghadapi berbagai tantangan, dan menyelesaikan tugas-tugasnya.
 Agar sebuah lingkungan belajar dapat mempertahankan kelangsungan pertumbuhan bagi para anggotanya, maka lingkungan tersebut harus memungkinkan anggota-anggotanya memperoleh imbalan yang signifikan, baik imbalan intrinsik dan psikologis maupun ekstrinsik dan material. Kemungkinan untuk diperolehnya imbalan tersebut harus jelas, konsisten, dan wajar, sesuai dengan usaha yang dilakukan dan harus terjangkau oleh semua anggota.
Model bimbingan perkembangan dengan pendekatan ekologi menawarkan perspektif baru di dalam memandang permasalahan dan perkembangan manusia. Di dalam pandangan ini perkembangan manusia dikonseptualisasikan sebagai produk proses interaksi seumur hidup antara individu dengan lingkungannya. Salah satu implikasi terpenting dari pandangan ini adalah kesadaran bahwa perilaku manusia hanya benar-benar dapat dipahami di dalam konteks hubungan antara orang dengan lingkungan naturalnya di mana perilaku tersebut terjadi. Di dalam pendekatan ekologi, persoalan individu dianalisis dari sudut pandang “ecosystem”. Bila kita menggunakan ekosistem sebagai satu unit analisis, kita harus memfokuskan perhatian pada konteks di mana perilaku itu terjadi. Misalnya, kita harus menganalisis perilaku membangkang yang sering ditunjukkan oleh seorang anak dalam kaitannya dengan kelasnya di mana dia selalu mengalami kegagalan atau diperolok-olok teman-teman sekelasnya. Contoh lain, kita dapat melihat sifat pasif dan ketergantungan seorang anak dari cara orang tuanya yang cenderung overprotektif. Dari perspektif ekologi ini, permasalahan atau disfungsi yang menghambat perkembangan dapat dipahami dengan sebaik-baiknya dan ditangani dengan seefektif mungkin hanya dalam konteks dan lingkungan tempat kejadiannya.















BAB III
PENUTUP
A. KESIMPULAN
Berdasarkan uraian-uraian di atas, bisa ditarik beberapa kesimpulan sebagai berikut :
1. Ekologi berasal dari bahasa Yunani, Oikos = rumah atau tempat hidup. Logos = ilmu. Menurut istilah ekologi juga memiliki pengertian yaitu :
 Hubungan timbal balik antara mahluk hidup dan lingkungannya. Mahluk hidup : Manusia, Hewan, Tumbuhan, jasad renik. Linkungan : Fisik, Biologi, Soisal
 Hubungan timbal balik antara struktur dan fungsi.
2. Masyarakat berasal dari akar kata Arab “syaraka” yang berarti ikut serta, berpartisipasi. Dalam bahasa inggris dipakai istilah society yang berasal dari kata Latin socius, yang berarti kawan. Menurut istillah adalah kesatuan hidup manusia yang berinteraksi menurut suatu sistem adat istiadat tertentu yang bersifat kontinu, dan yang terikat oleh suatu rasa identitas bersama.
3. Ekologi merupakan satu usaha ilmiah multidisipliner yang bertujuan untuk memahami interaksi yang dinamis dan kompleks antara organisme- organisme dan berbagai aspek lingkungannya. Dalam aplikasinya, ekologi terutama bertujuan untuk memahami dan memelihara keseimbangan yang terdapat di dalam lingkungan dan yang memungkinkan terpeliharanya properti yang memberikan kehidupan dan mendorong pertumbuhan. Dalam ekologi manusia (human ecology), bahwa permasalahan sentralnya lebih dari sekedar permasalahan yang terkait dengan kelangsungan hidup organisme secara fisik. Untuk mencapai potensinya secara penuh, manusia harus berinteraksi secara positif dengan lingkungannya, sering kali harus dilakukan sepanjang hidupnya. Oleh karena itu, di dalam suatu ekologi manusia, kita tidak hanya berkepentingan untuk memperhatikan faktor-faktor yang mempertahankan kehidupan dan menjamin kelangsungan hidup individu beserta seluruh spesies kehidupan secara fisik, tetapi kita juga berkepentingan untuk memperhatikan faktor-faktor nonfisik di dalam lingkungan yang menjamin kelangsungan pertumbuhan. Faktor-faktor tersebut adalah yang menjamin bahwa kelangsungan hidup akan juga mencakup perkembangan optimal dalam diri manusia secara individual maupun umat manusia secara keseluruhan di dalam organisasi budaya dan masyarakatnya.



DAFTAR PUSTAKA
http://irwanto shut.web s.com
http://d-tarsidi.blogspot.com/2008/01/intervensi-bimbingan-dan-konseling.html
http://www.google.2388150-Dasardasar-Ekologi.com
http://id.shvoong.com/exact-sciences/agronomy-agriculture/1933979-pengertian-ekologi/
http://www.google.Definisi-Masyarkat.com
Nasution, S, Sosiologi Pendidikan, Bumi Aksara, Jakarta : 2009

ALLAH’S ART OF DETAIL

INTRODUCTION


Anyone who carefully considers this world and the things that enable him to live for even a few minutes will be completely astonished. Our planet, which was specially created for life in one of the giant galaxies in the endless void of space, constantly revolves within that boundless void. The Sun, just one of the universe’s billions of stars, sends its rays to Earth within that same void. As a result, our planet is warmed; the various food, water, and nitrogen cycles occur, and human beings, animals, plants, and micro-organisms are able to survive due to the countless conditions that make their continued life possible. Countless details have been combined and presented to human beings in the most beautiful and flawless manner to meet the requirements of human life and/or to bestow beauty and blessings. Each detail, which has its own artistry, is a distinct marvel of creation. Sometimes, these details are so crucial that life would cease without them and Earth would become a dead planet. Scientists cannot come anywhere close to creating or imitating most of them, let alone create them out of nothing.
Allah (God) bestows blessings on human beings at all times. For example, people survive thanks to their DNA (which is copied every moment), their continual and uninterrupted process of breathing, their always-beating hearts, the ever-revolving Earth, the atoms’ non-stop motion, and countless other details. Various kinds of foods, the solar rays that give color to Earth, the plants that engage in photosynthesis, rain, the micro-organisms that feed plants, the oceans, and countless other blessings are all means whereby life survives. Earth’s location, the existence of the Sun and Moon, their distance from Earth, and their location within the Milky Way; their sizes, angles, and orbits; and the gasses, molecules, and atoms they contain have all been created in the most ideal form for humanity’s existence. People must reflect on how they have been created so flawlessly along with all of the blessings that ensure their continued survival, and how these things are all reminders of a most important truth:
It is Almighty Allah Who created all people out of nothing, Who created all of the beauty that surrounds them and all of the blessings of which they are aware or unaware. He constantly renews each of these blessings and creates the astonishing details in each one. This is Allah’s art of detail.
With His unbounded knowledge, Allah created systems that human beings cannot comprehend because they have not yet discovered their details. Inside each detail are even more delicate beauties that reveal His Greatness and Might.
This is a very simple matter for Almighty Allah, Who creates from nothing, sets a value on all things according to His will, and Who has the power to create them when He wills to do so. If He willed, he could dispose of them all while still creating. Our duty is to thank Him for these unconditional blessings, know that we need Him, and turn only to Him.
This book seeks to remind people of this important truth, which He revealed in the Qur’an:

Everything in the heavens and Earth glorifies Allah. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. The kingdom of the heavens and Earth belongs to Him. He gives life and causes to die. He has power over all things. He is the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward. He has knowledge of all things. It is He Who created the heavens and Earth in six days, then established Himself firmly on the Throne. He knows what goes into the ground and what comes out of it, what comes down from heaven and what goes up into it. He is with you wherever you are–Allah sees what you do. (Surat al-Hadid, 1-4)

Intelligent Design - in Other Words, Creation
In Order to Create, Allah Has No Need to Plan

It's important to properly understand the word "design." If Allah has created a flawless design that does not mean that He first conceived a plan and then followed it. Allah, the Lord of the Earth and the heavens, needs no "designs" in order to bring anything into existence. Allah is exalted above all such deficiencies. Both His planning and His creation take place at the same instant.
Whenever Allah wills a thing to come about, it is enough for Him just to say, "Be!" As verses of the Qur'an tell us:
His command when He desires a thing is just to say to it, "Be!" and it is. (Surah Ya Sin: 82)
[Allah is] the Originator of the heavens and Earth. When He decides on something, He just says to it, "Be!" and it is. (Surat al-Baqara: 117)

DNA: A Glorious Marvel of Creation
Each person has an average of 100 trillion cells, each of which contains a DNA molecule. Just one of these contains information regarding 3 billion different subjects, enough information to fill approximately 1,000 volumes of books, each one containing 1 million pages. If we were to lay these pages out side by side, they would stretch from the North Pole to the Equator. If we were to read it 24 hours a day, it would take 100 years to finish it. This glorious information belongs to a single DNA molecule, which exists everywhere in our body, such as in a single fingernail or a single hair.
How could such an incredible library have been squeezed into a minute hair too small to be seen with the naked eye? How could it have been packed into all of the cells that constitute that hair and all of the other cells that make up our body? How could so much information, which we could never carry on our own, have been installed in our bodies 100 trillion times? Could human beings manage to do this themselves? Can any known technology achieve such an amazing feat? Could this glorious information be present in the cells by chance?
Clearly, random events, human beings, and technology cannot produce such an astonishing work. This fact has been scientifically proven. This amazing work in our bodies belongs to Allah, Whose might makes all things according to His will:

We created humanity from a mingled drop to test him, and We made him hearing and seeing. We guided him on the Way, whether he is thankful or unthankful. (Surat al-Insan, 2-3)

The Atmosphere: A Perfect Protective Shield
In order for a living thing to survive on this planet, countless details must exist: Earth being located a specific distance from the Sun; a specific temperature range; the carbon, ozone, and water cycles; the minerals produced by micro-organisms; photosynthesis; Earth’s particular angle of inclination; gravity and other forces that keep atomic particles together; and many, many more. This world has been created in such a way that all of these conditions are maintained. If the atmosphere that surrounds this miraculous planet and maintains all of these balances were removed, life would end.
A specific range of temperature and light permits human beings to live on Earth. The flaming heat and freezing cold in space, and its deadly rays, only reach us through the filter-like atmosphere at levels sufficient to keep us alive. A single solar burst gives off a level of energy equivalent to a 100-billion-ton bomb of the kind that destroyed Hiroshima. Thanks to the atmosphere, this destructive force reaches Earth in the most ideal form. Were a slightly higher level of infrared and ultraviolet, gamma, and micro rays allowed through, all living things would cease to exist.
This shield has protected Earth for billions of years from these rays’ deadly effects. If the atmosphere were to stop functioning, could another protective shield be established to replace it? Is there any other method of protecting human beings from potentially lethal rays and blazing heat? The answers to both questions is “no,” for no human power or technology could devise such a flawless system. This being the case, how could anyone logically expect a new atmosphere to come into being by chance?
Nobody whose powers of reason are fully functional and who has a conscience could even admit the possibility of this flawless work coming into being by chance. There would also be no time for such a waiting period, since life would come to an end in the very first moment. In other words, our planet’s atmosphere is part of Almighty and All-Powerful Allah’s magnificent artistry, He Who reveals His greatness at all times and in all events:
We placed firmly embedded mountains on Earth so it would not move under them, and put broad valleys as roadways in it so that, perhaps, they might be guided. We made the sky a preserved and protected roof, yet still they turn away from Our Signs. (Surat al-Anbiya’, 31-32)

Enzymes: A Detail That Permits All Vital Functions
It takes just a few seconds to read a sentence. Yet if one of the body’s enzymes failed to work, it would take 1,500 years to read that same sentence. Enzymes activate cells and initiate and accelerate reactions up to 1010 (10 billion) times. In their absence, those cells that are waiting to go into action and perform many other reactions that keep you alive, even though they are unaware of each other and motionless, would start to die one by one before you even finished reading this sentence. As a result, you would die before you reached the end of this sentence.
Enzymes carry out all of a cell’s reactions. If they stopped working, it would be very difficult to restart them in a simultaneous and rapid manner. Despite today’s advanced medical science and impressive technology, scientists have failed to produce a comparable system. Evolutionists claim that such a magnificent mechanism came about by chance. But despite all of their knowledge and resources, scientists can neither copy this system nor produce a comparable one. In fact, they have been unable to manufacture a single model that can perform reactions as quickly as enzymes. This shows that it is impossible for all of these miraculous proteins, which initiate and accelerate the body’s chemical reactions and perform vital functions (e.g., reproduction, control, and copying) to have come into being spontaneously as the result of unconscious events.
Therefore, one needs to reflect on the fact that Allah, Lord of the universe and all of its details, creates each person and his or her body’s enzymes:

Do you not see that Allah has subjected to you everything in the heavens and Earth and has showered His blessings upon you, both outwardly and inwardly? Yet there are people who argue about Allah without knowledge or guidance or any illuminating Book. (Surah Luqman, 20)

A Fly’s Incredible Compound Eyes
The fly is a marvel of creation; its wings beat 500 times per second and, as a result, it has a glorious flying ability. Even more amazing are its eyes, each one of which has thousands of extraordinarily complex lenses. A fly has compound eyes on both sides of its head, each of which is divided into 4,000 sections, each of which, in turn, has a lens that perceives an image from a slightly different angle. When a fly looks at a flower, the full image appears separately in each of its 8,000 lenses. When these images reach the brain, they combine together like the components of a jigsaw puzzle. As a result, an image that is highly significant for the fly emerges.1
It is extraordinary that such a small creature should have thousands of lenses in its eyes and a cerebral system capable of interpreting what it sees. We can only acquire this information by studying the animal. Yet all flies have had this perfect structure since they were first created, for, like all the other living things, they are miracles created by Allah, matchless marvels of creation that amaze one the more one researches and studies them.
Scientists lack the knowledge and technology to install 8,000 lenses into an area just a few millimeters in size and to enable each one to see. None of them can produce a nervous system that will permit these lenses to perceive light and then make that perception visible in such a perfect way. Given these facts, could such a flawless structure have emerged by chance?
The answer is “of course not,” for chance cannot give rise to even one of a fly’s 8,000 lenses or even a single protein of these lenses’ countless cells. Only Almighty Allah, Who sees and observes all entities at all times, creates all beings with their perfect details, equips a tiny fly with such miraculous abilities, and bestows reason and conscience on human beings so that they can comprehend and reflect on these matters, can create in such a manner:
O humanity, an example has been made, so listen to it carefully. Those whom you call upon besides Allah are not even able to create a single fly, even if they were to join together to do it. And if a fly steals something from them, they cannot get it back. How feeble are both the seeker and the sought! (Surat al-Hajj, 73)

Humanity’s Magnificent Perception of Scent
A carnation always smells the same to you. The second time you smell a perfume, you recognize it immediately, because even if you only smell something once in your life, that smell always retains its place in your memory.
The human nose has around 1,000 different scent receptors. Human beings can perceive more than 10,000 different smells through combinations of these different receptors. When you smell a carnation, the molecules that allow you to perceive its fragrance combine with scent receptors and establish the carnation’s code. This code, which has long existed in your memory, reminds you that you are smelling a carnation.
What would happen if this system did not exist? Since the perception of taste is closely linked to the sense of smell, it is generally smell that causes you to realize that a piece of food has spoiled and should be spat out. If this sense ceased functioning, you would be unable to perceive the item’s full taste and thus would be unaware of this danger. You would not realize a fire had broken out in your home until you saw the smoke, for you would be unable to perceive the smell of burning things all around you.
The information stored in your memory consists solely of molecules. Nobody has the power and knowledge needed to install thousands of smells in your memory or to endow molecules with smells and make them compatible with the relevant parts of the brain. Only Allah, the Lord of all life, can do all of this; only He can create smells, the olfactory system, and the memory with its perfect characteristics:

He laid out Earth for all living creatures. In it are fruits and date-palms with covered spathes, and grains on leafy stems and fragrant herbs. So which of your Lord’s blessings do you both then deny? (Surat al-Rahman, 10-13)

The Body’s Flawless Stimuli Signals
People’s skin is in constant contact with many things for varying lengths of time (e.g., clothing, watches, and furniture), and yet they do not constantly perceive their presence. There is a very important reason for this: after a certain length of time, the skin’s receptors grow used to whatever is touching the skin and stop sending the relevant signals to the brain. This marvelous system, comprised of countless flawless details, enables people to live without constant discomfort.
Were it not for this familiarization system, even such an ordinary matter as wearing clothes would become a major concern. The receptors’ constant perception would turn wearing clothes into a torment, and we would find it hard to perceive the signals from other things that we touched. People might concentrate forever on how much their socks were squeezing their ankles or on how their wristwatches were sliding up and down their arms. In such a situation, one could neither sleep nor rest properly. In short, life would become very unpleasant.
Just as the sense of touch is a blessing, our gradually decreasing awareness of it is also a blessing. A single detail makes human life easier and provides a significant degree of comfort. Evolutionists’ imaginary mechanisms have no consciousness that can direct the body to feel or when to get used to that feeling. Only the Sufficient, Almighty Allah, Who bestows this blessing and meets the needs of everything that exists, can do so:

Any blessing you have is from Allah. Then when harm touches you, it is to Him you cry for help. (Surat al-Nahl, 53)

The Amazing Hatchet Fish
The hatchet fish, a great marvel of creation, lives at depths of around 1,000 m (3,280 ft). Its large eyes, which face upwards, enable it to see in the dark and hunt their prey, which passes overhead. However, these creatures also have to be invisible to threats that might arise from above. Their superior bodily structure, which is flat and silver colored, protects them from this danger by allowing them to camouflage themselves easily in the dark.
But how are they protected against potential threats coming from below, for those fish living at even greater depths are, thanks to their own large eyes, just as predatory. This problem is solved by a superb method of deception, thanks to special cells located in its stomach: photophores. These extraordinary cells, which produce a biological light by combining two chemical substances to initiate the necessary reaction, imitate the changing color of the light filtering down from above and emit light of exactly the same color. As a result, predators below cannot see the hatchet fish’s shadow as it passes over them.
You may never have heard of this fish or what it looks like or how it lives. So how does knowledge of its magnificent features benefit you? Had Allah so willed, He could have created this fish without all of its attributes or willed to not create any of the countless attributes necessary for its survival.
The details that His creatures display for human beings may transform them from discontented and restless individuals chasing after worldly interests into happy and contented people with faith and hope in the Hereafter. It is enough to see His blessings in everything and to consider His absolute existence for this to happen. Every beauty and detail belong to Allah, Who constantly bestows them upon us:

And in your creation and all the creatures He has spread about, there are Signs for people with certainty. (Surat al-Jathiyyah, 4)

The Water That Always Returns to Us
Allah gives people knowledge and possibilities in a wide range of fields. For example, modern-day technology allows us to observe the formation of many things in a laboratory environment. However, some fundamental events can neither be brought about nor even observed in such an environment. One of these great blessings is water, which covers much of Earth and meets our most basic needs. During the Earth’s formation, water was created, and then its production period ended.
In order for hydrogen and oxygen molecules to create water, they first have to collide so that their bonds will weaken and enable the atoms that make up these molecules to combine into a new molecule: H2O (water). Such a collision can only occur at a very high temperature and energy level. As Earth does not possess a sufficiently high temperature to permit water’s formation, no new water can be formed. As stated above, all water that exists was created during our planet’s formation. In other words, its amount never changes. The water we drink and use is always exactly the same water, because it evaporates and then returns as rain. Allah has revealed this in His verses:

Have you thought about the water that you drink? Is it you who sent it down from the clouds, or are We the Sender? (Surat al-Waqi‘ah, 68-69)

If the water that Allah created in a ready state on Earth were to dry up and disappear, nothing could bring it back. If Allah willed to suspend the water cycle of evaporation, it would never rain again: All blessings come from Allah. It is Almighty Allah Who constantly places blessings at human beings’ disposal and Who creates them out of nothing.

We sent down a measured amount of water from heaven and lodged it firmly in the ground, and We are well able to remove it. (Surat al-Mu’minun, 18)

The Sublime System of Photosynthesis
Pick up a leaf and look at it closely. Although it appears quite ordinary, what you cannot see are the wide-ranging and magnificent chemical processes that enable it to carry out photosynthesis. Its countless factories, which are invisible to the naked eye, accomplish in seconds a process that is so sublime that scientists equipped with the most modern laboratory facilities cannot replicate it. This chemical process, which is performed very quietly by a usually unnoticed part of creation, is one of the main reasons why humanity is still present on this planet.
Every square millimeter of each leaf contains around 500,000 chlorophylls, the magnificent molecules that are necessary for photosynthesis. Were we able to examine this molecule, a great many more details would become apparent. For example, the entire photosynthesis process that takes place inside this particular molecule occurs within one ten-millionth of a second. In other words, the complex process initiated by the light reaching a leaf’s water and then activating the relevant subatomic particles and changing their orbits is repeated 10 million times a second. In addition, this process takes place separately in each chlorophyll molecule.
If Allah willed chlorophyll molecules to cease their activities or the wavelength of the light reaching the leaf to change, no means of locating another source of oxygen would exist. If photosynthesis stopped, there would be no other way to convert into oxygen the carbon dioxide that human beings and animals exhale. It would be illogical to expect a chlorophyll molecule, which is essential for continued life, to come into being and set about cleaning the air and giving rise to nutrients all by itself.
The fact that a plant can consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen is a great miracle. This extraordinary system is a great blessing and astonishing work of Allah, the Lord of the Worlds:
Good land yields up its plants by its Lord’s permission, but that which is bad only yields up scantily. In this way, We vary the Signs for people who are thankful. (Surat al-A‘raf, 58)

The Honeybees’ Superior Architectural Abilities
When it comes to making contiguous hexagons with an exact angle of 109 degrees and 28 minutes, one would need compasses and set squares to produce the various angular measurements and regularity necessary for devising the angles that determine these shapes. In the absence of such tools, there is both a considerable likelihood of error as well as the need to make various adjustments and redraw some of the hexagons. All of this would probably take a considerable amount of time. While this is a difficult matter for human beings, who possess reason and consciousness the same task is carried out by honeybees, who possess no reason or consciousness, in a perfect and continuous manner without any compasses or set squares. All honeybees build their combs using this flawless angle. Although there are hundreds of bees around the hive, there is no deviation from the angles of 109 degrees and 28 minutes and 70 degrees and 32 minutes when building their honeycombs. The combs are built by bringing in their edges by 13 degrees, which prevents the honey from pouring out.
If you stand close to a honeycomb, all you will see is honeybees flying around it. Yet every one of them is also an expert mathematician that knows where to stick the wax it is carrying and at what angle. How is this possible? Given that they possess no mathematical knowledge, did they learn to build these perfect combs by chance? Could each one of them, over the course of millions of years, have been born with this ability by chance, an ability that human beings never managed to acquire by chance? It is certainly impossible for a bee to possess an ability that human beings do not as the result of chance. It is Almighty Allah, the infinitely powerful, Who creates these creatures together with their superior abilities and Who inspires His own knowledge within them.

Your Lord revealed to the honeybees: “Build dwellings in the mountains and the trees, and also in the structures which men erect. Then eat from every kind of fruit and travel the paths of your Lord, which have been made easy for you to follow.” From inside them comes a drink of varying colors, containing healing for humanity. There is certainly a Sign in that for people who reflect. (Surat al-Nahl, 68-69)

Talented Liver Cells
Each liver cell carries out some 500 different chemical processes. Somehow, they are aware of each activity taking place in the body’s circulatory, digestive, excretory, and other systems. Due to these tasks that they perform, each cell is the site of intense and continuous activity.
If any part of the liver is damaged or extracted, its cells immediately switch to a new function—high-speed multiplication—to repair the affected part. As a result of the cells’ extraordinary abilities, the liver is the only bodily organ that can reconstitute itself. When the liver regains its normal size and is fixed, the cells suddenly cease this activity.
There is no difference between liver cells and those in your finger tips, for both sets carry exactly the same information. What makes them different is what part of that information they use. A single cell, invisible to the naked eye, knows that the reproduction process has to begin and so begins copying itself. When it learns that the regeneration process has been completed, it and all other cells stop this activity in a perfectly orderly manner that betrays no haphazardness. During reproduction, no cell decides to postpone the other functions and thereby cause interruptions in the system. No new copied cell is told what to do. Nonetheless, every new cell unhesitatingly begins its work inside the liver.
This wide-ranging system does not belong to human beings. Evolutionists, however, must first account for how a single liver cell came into existence if they are to defend their claims that this complex system is the result of chance. That they have been unable to do so is hardly surprising, for only the Omniscient Allah Who creates all living things and their cells, and Who controls and supervises them at every moment, can perform such a miracle. This miraculous system is the work of Almighty Allah, Who remains unchanging, Omniscient, and All-powerful:

O humanity, if you are in any doubt about the Rising, know that We created you from dust then from a drop of sperm, then from a clot of blood, then from a lump of flesh, formed yet unformed, so that We may make things clear to you. (Surat al-Hajj, 5)

Genes: An Important Detail in the Cell,
Yet Invisible to the Naked Eye
Human beings cannot control the beating of their hearts, manage their salivary glands while eating, or remember to breathe every few seconds. Countless such vital functions take place without any human intervention at all. Yet despite this lack of personal supervision, all bodily systems function flawlessly.
An individual’s chromosomes contain information regarding that person. Each of the forty-six chromosomes in the nucleus possesses genes that, utilizing the framework of the blueprint contained therein, construct each bodily organ according to His will. For example, a person’s skin is controlled by 2.559 genes, the brain by 29.930, the eye by 1.794, the salivary glands by 186, the heart by 6.216, the breast by 4.001, the lung by 11.581, the liver by 2.309, the intestines by 3.838, the skeletal muscles by 1.911, and the blood cells by 22.092 genes.
The way that countless tiny components hidden inside a cell that is invisible to the naked eye supervises a person’s bodily systems is a great miracle. It is extraordinary that this system is never interrupted and that the same genes control the same systems and organs in every new-born human being.
Despite the vital functions for which they are responsible, genes consist of nothing but blind and unconscious atoms. Therefore, how can the superior consciousness and flawless regulation visible here belong to them? Each gene, which is an amazing marvel of creation, acts according to His will instead of some posited model. Proof for this statement is all around us, for how could an unconscious gene accomplish such miraculous deeds if Allah did not will it to be so? This state of affairs makes itself crystal clear in every detail in the universe. Everything is a manifestation of Allah’s sublime creation. Genes are able to control everything related to the body’s systems at every moment.
This sublime control belongs to Allah, the Elevated One, the true Lord of this entire system:

Allah, there is no deity but Him, the Living, the Self-Sustaining. He is not subject to drowsiness or sleep. Everything in the heavens and Earth belongs to Him. Who can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, but they cannot grasp any of His knowledge, except for what He wills. His Footstool encompasses the heavens and Earth, and their preservation does not tire Him. He is the Most High, the Magnificent. (Surat al-Baqarah, 255)

The Amphipod: A Detail Living in the Depths of the Oceans
Human beings cannot breathe oxygen dissolved in water or withstand the pressure under water, which is some 1,300 times heavier than air. Moreover, this pressure rises rapidly the further down one goes, approximately 1 atmosphere for every 10 m (32.8 ft) of depth. When one descends to 150 m (492 ft) under water, the veins may collapse and the lungs contract to the size of a soda can. Thus, in the absence of man-made technology, human beings can live only on dry land.
Human beings are exceedingly vulnerable to water pressure. However, there are other life forms on Earth that, thanks to their special equipment, possess qualities that are far superior to those of human beings.
For example, the Mariana Trench, the Pacific Ocean’s deepest point, is home to colonies of amphipods, which are shrimp-like transparent crustaceans. This area lies some 11.3 km (7 miles) below the ocean’s surface. Even the intense pressure at 4 km (2.5 miles), the average ocean depth, is equivalent to that applied by the weight of fourteen cement trucks loaded with concrete. This creature, about which almost nothing is known to us, can survive under even harsher conditions. The animal itself is unaware that it lives many kilometers below the surface of the ocean and can survive under a pressure that would kill a human being. The way that it remains alive at depths we cannot reach is one of the proofs that all living things, whether in the ground, in the depths of the ocean, or in the highest skies, are created through Allah’s sublime artistry.
A person may see and appreciate His greatness by looking at such a creature and understanding that only He can create blessings and everything that exists. To that end, it is enough to reflect on just one feature. People are responsible for seeing the proofs set out before them and realizing that Allah is the Lord of all that exists:

(People with intelligence are) those who remember Allah [while] standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and Earth: “Our Lord, You have not created this for nothing. Glory be to You! Safeguard us from the punishment of the Fire.” (Surah Al ‘Imran, 191)

Miraculous Molecules
All mountains, water, our own bodies, poisonous and health-giving plants, furniture, buildings, sweet and sour tastes, pleasant smells, beautiful colors—in fact, everything that exists—is made up of various combinations of only 109 atoms. This is one of Allah’s greatest miracles.
When atoms come together, they give rise to molecules that enable very different physical characteristics to emerge. A pen, your hand, and water are all the result of different combinations of similar atoms. Sometimes an atom is added to a molecule, with the result that ordinary drinking water can become a poison. One atom added to or removed from a molecule can turn something inedible into something edible, or turn a harsh and unpleasant smell into the glorious perfume of a rose. Depending upon how the same atoms bond to each other, a molecule’s color can change or a fluid can turn into a solid.
The variety of life on Earth is quite extraordinary. By giving various properties to molecules, Allah exhibits a most sublime artistry. For example, an apple’s sweetness, a stone’s hardness, and cotton’s softness are all great miracles that He displays in invisible atoms. Allah created the world out of nothing, made atoms (which are 99.99999% empty) the basic constituents of all beings, and exhibits an astonishing artistry in this world that is invisible to the naked eye.
People must realize that they need Him at every moment, cannot do anything unless He wills it, understand His bestowed blessings, and discover that whatever they possess actually belong to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. If they can reach this point, they will experience the joy of faith because of the blessings they enjoy in this world, and will also experience the highest level of these blessings in the Hereafter:

And the Garden will be brought up close to the heedful, not far away: “This is what you were promised. It is for every careful penitent: those who fear [and respect] the All-Merciful in the Unseen and come with a contrite heart. Enter it in peace. This is the Day of Timeless Eternity.” They will have there everything they want, and with Us there is still more. (Surah Qaf, 31-35)

The Big Bang: One of the Proofs of Creation
It is quite hard to upset the equilibrium between the elements that are essential to life on Earth. You do not suddenly start breathing carbon monoxide or floating away from your chair into space due to a decrease in the force of gravity. Sunlight does not suddenly damage your eyes and skin, and oxygen levels do not rise so high that your lungs begin to burn. There are many reasons for this. However, the interesting thing is that all balances assumed their present forms due to the Big Bang, defined as the explosion of a single point of zero volume that contained all matter in the universe.
Countless conditions combined in order to maintain this equilibrium. For example, if the rate of the universe’s post-Big Bang expansion had been just 1 in 1 billion billion (1/1018) different, the universe would not have emerged. If the universe had expanded just slightly more slowly, it would have imploded due to the gravitational force; if it had expanded a little more quickly, all cosmic matter would have dispersed and vanished. If a 1/1018 difference in the explosion’s speed had arisen just when that speed had reached a particular level, the equilibrium in question would have been destroyed. If just one of these minute variations had arisen, the universe would have disappeared.
Let’s take a look around us. Everything is in an extraordinary state of stasis, calm, and perfection, because nothing in the universe is coincidental. In fact, everything depends on a flawless and perfect level and the extraordinarily delicate balances created and set into motion by Almighty Allah, Who rules everything, created a flawless artistry and miracle via a single explosion, and is all-giving:

… He Who created the seven heavens in layers. You will not find any flaw in the creation of the All-Merciful. Look again – do you see any gaps? Then look again and again. Your sight will return to you, dazzled and exhausted! (Surat al-Mulk, 3-4)

Allah’s Sublime Artistry Prevails in All Things
Human beings breathe as a reflex; dolphins do so consciously. In the same way that we decide to walk, they decide to breathe. When they rise to the surface, they fill 80-90% of their lungs with air so that they can stay underwater for a long time. Breathing while asleep is no problem for them, for they use their brain’s right and left lobes alternately for 15-minute periods. While one lobe sleeps, the other is on duty so that the dolphin can ascend to the surface and breathe.
Human beings are not the only entities on Earth with complex features. Just about everywhere you research and investigate, you can see countless complex and varied life forms flying in the sky or living in the depths of the oceans. The way that they have been created differently from us and from each other, as well as in different kingdoms, is part of the wisdom of Allah , the Creator of all distinct works and beauties.
Human beings cannot equip living things to breathe underwater or enable them to fill their lungs with air to a specific level. They cannot endow anything with the ability to control its cerebral lobes, or teach it how to operate the systems it needs to sustain life, while asleep. They cannot bestow upon any living thing the most appropriate means and features to survive in their various environment. In fact, human beings cannot do these things even for themselves.
Given these facts, how can blind chance and coincidence accomplish that which conscious human beings cannot? The theory of evolution, which makes chance its deity and maintains that everything came into being in a random manner, has completely collapsed in the face of modern science’s ongoing revelations of these previously unknown complex structures.
Only Almighty Allah can give life, endow living entities with what they need to survive, bestow blessings upon them, and equip them accordingly. People, who encounter these blessings at all moments, need to reflect on our Lord’s mercy and blessings and to turn to Him:

In the creation of the heavens and Earth, and the alternation of the night and day, and the ships that sail the seas to people’s benefit, and the water that Allah sends down from the sky–by which He brings the ground to life when it was dead and scatters about in it creatures of every kind–and the varying direction of the winds, and the clouds [that are] subservient between heaven and Earth, there are Signs for people who use their intellect. (Surat al-Baqarah, 164)

The Miraculously Renewed Body
No one’s body is ever the same as it was the day before, for some of its cells have been renewed or have died. Only the soul is unchanging. Scientists have proven that the body’s tissues are constantly regenerated. In order to bring this about, 200 million cells are born each minute to replace those that have died. Allah has willed a single hormone called thyroxin to regulate this flawless phenomenon.
Thyroxin monitors the body, identifies cells that have come to the end of their life spans, and forwards the command for new production to the units concerned. The whole process of bodily renewal depends upon this hormone. If it did not calculate the number of missing hormones and thus produced more or fewer than were needed, the resulting state of confusion would cause the body’s external appearance to age and its organs to cease functioning. Excessive production would result in uncontrolled organ growth and tumors, leading to rapid death. Is it logical for such a vital process to be controlled by a single hormone that, according to evolutionists, acts in a supposedly unconscious manner and functions purely by chance? Even if such were the case, could a single hormone calculate how many cells have died and produce enough new ones to fill the gap?
Clearly, such a hormone cannot come into being by chance and spontaneously decide to manage production within the body. If someone imagines that the body’s perfect internal balance belongs to a hormone that emerged by chance and acts in a random manner, that person will spend his or her life in a state of great unease. (In any case, a human body cannot survive long enough for a hormone to emerge, by chance, through random interventions. The random stages proposed by Darwin cannot account for the formation even of one protein in a single bacterium cell.) The human body’s systems are far too complex and detailed to permit even one random event. The Creator of all these systems is Allah, the Lord of everything that exists, Who keeps them under His control at all moments:

It is Allah Who created the seven heavens and of Earth the same number, the Command descending down through all of them, so that you might know that He has power over all things and encompasses all things in His knowledge. (Surat al-Talaq, 12)

The Extraordinary Details in Space
The larger a star is, the faster it burns. If the Sun, which warms us and provides us with food and life, were ten times larger than it actually is, it would have died 10 million (as opposed to 10 billion) years after its formation and we would not be here now. If our planet’s orbit were closer to the Sun than it actually is, everything would evaporate and vanish; if it were further away, everything would be covered in ice. The Sun is the ideal size and at the ideal distance from Earth to support life on our planet.
If Earth were just 1% further away from the Sun or 5% closer to it, our planet would be uninhabitable. The percentages in question are absolutely tiny when one considers the enormous numbers in the universe. For example, let’s consider Venus. The Sun’s warmth reaches Venus, the planet immediately closer to it than Earth, just two minutes before it reaches us. In terms of size and structure, Venus is relatively similar to Earth. However, a small difference in each planet’s orbit distance gives rise to a significant difference: Venus’ surface temperature reaches 470 degrees Celsius, high enough to melt lead. In addition, its surface atmospheric pressure is 90 times that of Earth’s, a fact that makes human life there impossible.1
Allah could have created life on each planet if He willed. However, He willed to do so only on Earth by making countless factors dependent upon the most sensitive balances. If even one of these balances were upset, human life on Earth would be impossible. However, since He created and maintains all of perfect flawless balances, our planet exists in a state of flawless creation:

It is He Who splits the sky at dawn, and appoints the night as a time of stillness and the Sun and Moon as a means of reckoning. That is what the Almighty, the All-Knowing has ordained. (Surat al-An‘am, 96)

The Human Brain’s Magnificent Neural Network
The global telecommunications network that enables hundreds of millions of telephone calls to be made simultaneously is something amazing. Yet in comparison to the network found in a person’s brain, it seems quite ordinary. A human brain contains, on the average, 100 billion neurons. We cite the following example to understand this perfect network better: if the brain’s neurons were laid end to end, they would stretch for several hundred thousand kilometers. This extraordinary network is a main reason why scientists describe the brain as one of the universe’s greatest mysteries.
There are around 100 trillion places in the brain, known as synapses, where chemical processes occur. Any bodily cell can establish a connection with 1,000 separate brain cells by utilizing these synapses. The speed of the resulting information processing is truly amazing—one single data byte can reach 100,000 neurons at the same time. As a result, the brain functions hundreds of thousands of times faster than the most advanced computer. Dr Kerry Bernstein, IBM’s director of technology, has said that it does not seem possible to make a similar device with the same speed and characteristics.1
Of course, it is impossible to build such a comprehensive network, squeeze it into a minute space, construct quadrillions of connections, and then ensure that they all work in milliseconds. Creating this perfect system, which has existed in each human being who has ever lived, is beyond human capability. The brain, this comprehensive and detailed miracle, was created so that people could realize this truth. This great gift belongs to Almighty Allah, Who provides all kinds of blessings without demanding any recompense. The existence of this sublime marvel of creation once again displays our Lord’s greatness and might:

We created humanity from the purest kind of clay, then made him a drop in a secure receptacle, then formed the drop into a clot, formed the clot into a lump, formed the lump into bones, clothed the bones in flesh, and then brought him into being as another creature. Blessed be Allah, the Best of Creators. (Surat al-Mu’minun, 12-14)


Wings That Beat 500 Times a Second
The mosquito beats its wings some 500 times a second; human beings can manage to wave their arms to a very limited extent in the same amount of time. If scientists could ever build such a powerful mechanism, it would soon burn up due to the intense friction. And yet a mosquito accomplishes this feat for as long as it lives, flying at a high speed in the direction it chooses and for as long as it desires. In addition, it has been endowed with the most perfect maneuvering and landing abilities.
A mosquito requires a high level of oxygen to beat its wings at this speed. Therefore, it has a special respiratory passage that immediately reaches every cell in its body. Since this passage is directly connected to the outside air, its cells engage in oxygen exchange without the need for any intermediate substances. As a result, a mosquito never becomes tired.
Creating such a wing in a creature that is less than 1 cm (0.4 inch) in size, together with a respiratory system that makes this possible, is a display of Allah’s astonishing artistry. No coincidence can give rise to such a perfect mechanism in such a complex life form and endow it with perfect functioning, or give it a pair of wings that can beat 500 times per second simultaneously. Such a flawless creature and its amazing wings could not have come into being through random stages, as proposed by Darwin:

Yes, indeed, everything in the heavens and on Earth belongs to Allah. Those who call on something other than Allah are not really following their partner-deities; they are only following [their own] conjecture. They are only guessing. (Surah Yunus, 66)

The Perfect System That Perceives Scent
When you take a deep breath, you simultaneously perceive various smells, for example, from the coffee you are drinking, the food cooking in the kitchen, the flowers in the vase, and the smoke outside. And yet you perceive them all individually, because your nose can analyze each smell it detects in thirty seconds and thus can distinguish among 3,000 scents.
Messages arriving from billions of scents are transmitted within a matter of minutes to tens of thousands of cells. The speed involved here is extraordinary. Several million pieces of data move from one cell to another in as little as one-thousandth of a second, never making a mistake. These processes allow you to identify a smell very quickly. In addition, the identification and organization of the transmitted data further increases scent sensitivity. The distinguishing and recognition of smells further increases scent sensitivity in the nose.1
We can explain the extraordinary nature of the flawless transmission as follows: Let’s assume that a specific piece of data is carried along a million telephone lines and that the number of these lines is suddenly reduced to a thousand. In that event, it is very likely that no matter how advanced the technology being used is, a loss or error in the original data will take place. Yet scent cells carry out the same task without error for as long as we live. The fact that we come into contact with a large number of scents at the same time does not prevent us from telling them apart; no matter how numerous they may be, we can distinguish one from another quite easily.
The fact that each person has such an amazing system may never have seemed surprising to us. A person finds nothing odd in recognizing the scent of a rose or of coffee and may never have wondered about the different stages involved in recognizing a particular fruit’s smell. Yet the complex systems in the nose’s olfactory area, which exists only because Allah wills it to and controls its flawless operation, make this possible throughout one’s life:

… that is the Knower of the Unseen and the Visible, the Almighty, the Most Merciful, He Who has created all things in the best possible way. He commenced the creation of humanity from clay. (Surat al-Sajdah, 6-7)

The Superior Details in Bacteria
Life on Earth could not survive in the absence of bacteria. All of the wastes we throw into the ground, certain that they will be broken down and rot away, disappear because of bacteria. Thus, all of our waste products can be processed and recycled. Bacteria break down each part of a dead substance into small minerals that living things can use as food. They purify our water, make our soil fertile, synthesize vitamins in our intestines, convert what we consume into useful sugars and polysaccharides (a carbohydrate group), and combat the harmful bacteria we ingest with our food.
The nitrogen cycle, which is of vital importance to Earth, depends entirely upon bacteria to take nitrogen from the air and convert it into nucleotides and amino acids, our own building blocks. This literally amazing process cannot be carried out by any other living thing, including humanity. Bacteria effortlessly carry out a process that can be achieved only at a temperature of 500 degrees Celsius and at a pressure 300 times greater than normal by using industrial techniques in a matter of seconds.
More important, bacteria provide us with the oxygen we breathe. In fact, much of Earth’s breathable oxygen is supplied by micro-organisms through photosynthesis. Cyanobacteria, algae, and other micro-organisms that fill the oceans, release some 150 billion kilos (331 billion lbs.) of oxygen every year.1
Bacteria, just one of the countless reasons why life exists on this planet, completely discredit Darwin’s theory of evolution. Darwin imagined, mistakenly, and therefore based his entire theory on the assumption that these life forms were primitive. However, twenty-first century technology clearly reveals that these life forms are perfect entities with such complex features and abilities that they could never have come into being by chance or spontaneously. In fact, the theory of evolution cannot account for the supposed random emergence of bacteria.
All of these things are manifestations of Allah’s artistry, for He created and brought together these awesome complexities, perfect structures, and flawless abilities. This example shows just how complex a single cell, described as the simplest form of life, can actually be and what superior characteristics it can actually possess. Allah reminds us that we live in need of a single-celled life form. Those who learn from this will strive to attain His mercy and Paradise and appreciate Him as is His due, for He created everything for a purpose:

The keys of the Unseen are in His possession. No one knows them but Him. He knows everything in the land and sea. No leaf falls without His knowing it. There is no seed in the darkness of the ground, and nothing moist or dry that is not in a Clear Book. (Surat al-An‘am, 59)

The Beauty in Earth and Sky
The universe’s dimensions and distances far surpass human understanding. Numbers that are very large in earthly terms are, in fact, minute when the universe as a whole is considered. For example, the universe is estimated to contain some 300 billion galaxies. Our own Milky Way galaxy, which is just one galaxy, contains about 250 billion stars. The diameter of the Sun, an average-sized star, is 103 times greater than Earth. Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun, is some 78,000 km (48,467 miles) distant from it.
Space and the billions of galaxies contained within it, the secrets of which are still a mystery, move in their determined courses and influence each other by means of enormous gravitational forces. With the giant scales involved in this magnificent universe, all of its contents act according to a destiny that has been determined for them. Each one’s movement, rotational speed, temperature, and distance has been determined in the Sight of Allah, Who creates a tiny creature, invisible to the naked eye, in the depths of the ground. The One Who appoints its destiny is also the One Who perfectly creates the giant stars and keeps them, as well as all that exists, constantly under His supervision. Allah demonstrates His might and greatness in both instances.
No matter what we may study on Earth and in the skies, we will always be confronted by His sublime and impeccable artistry. No entity can acquire any attribute by chance or maintain the existing order and balances by chance, for all of these are under the control of a sublime and boundless intelligence: Almighty Allah, the Lord of the worlds.


The Ant’s Glorious Nervous System
A tiny ant, which has around 500,000 nerve cells, is a great sign leading to faith. Even in such a creature as this, which has almost no other aim in life than to survive by gathering food, Allah has created a perfect structure, a superior communication system, and a miraculous neural network. Thanks to this extraordinary neural network, ants use various modes of communication to find their prey, follow each other, build their nests, and fight their enemies. Thanks to their superior abilities, they are able to survive in a perfect way without any need for assistance.
Yet the ant is completely unaware of its 500,000 nerve cells. Neither scientists nor random events can endow it with this comprehensive equipment so that it can continue to live. The random mutations envisaged by Darwin cannot produce a single cell in this magnificent system; chance cannot know what a living thing needs to sense and from where, and thus cannot give rise to a new bodily system. Given that the evolutionists’ proposed evolutionary mechanisms can only harm the existing complex system in question, unconscious chance cannot be the reason behind this special system.
Ants have always had this comprehensive neural network, because they, like all other living things, are the work of our Lord, Who reveals His greatness in every detail, gives life to all things, and exhibits His Almighty artistry in the most perfect form even in a single form:

Blessed be He Who placed constellations in the sky and put a blazing lamp and shining Moon among them. It is He Who made night and day succeed each other for those who want to pay heed or to give thanks. (Surat al-Furqan, 61-62)

The Size of the Earth
When people stand up and begin walking, they feel no pressure in an upward or downward direction. Sitting, walking, and running are exceedingly mundane activities. Yet each time people engage in such activities, they are completely unaware that they are resisting a very powerful gravitational force.
The most important reason for this is the size of Earth. If it were just slightly smaller, gravity would be far weaker, the planet’s atmosphere would fragment and disappear, and we would be unable to remain stable in the world. If the Earth were larger, gravity would increase considerably and various poisonous gases would make our atmosphere lethal. Even if we managed to protect ourselves from these gasses, we would be unable to move.
Yet such a problem never arises, because Earth’s size has been determined in a manner that makes human life possible. The conditions that combine are so delicate that there is no way even one of them could have come about by chance. Scientists have calculated the odds of such an event as 1 in 10123.1 Clearly, the accidental formation of an environment suited to life is impossible.
Were Allah willed so, He could make each star and planet suitable for life, arrange matters so that human beings had no need to eat or drink, breathe gasses in specific proportions, or gravity or the Sun. But Allah, Who created all that exists, willed to bring together all of the astonishingly detailed conditions necessary for life to remind people that He created and controls everything and to give us the opportunity to appreciate His infinite might and turn to Him:

He to Whom the kingdom of the heavens and Earth belongs. He does not have a son, and He has no partner in the Kingdom. He created everything and determined it most exactly. (Surat al-Furqan, 2)
The Perfect and Astonishing Details in the Human Eye
Even when you look at the pen in your hand for just a few seconds, hundreds of billions of processes take place in your eye. Light passes through its cornea and pupil and then the lens, where light-sensitive cells convert it into electrical signals to be transmitted to the nerve endings as impulses. The image reaching the retina is reversed and upside down, and yet the brain can interpret it and provide a normal image by collecting the separate images from both eyes, identifying all of the object’s features, and combining the images from both eyes into a single picture. It also determines the object’s nature, color, and distance. The eyes do all of this in as little as a tenth of a second.
The same processes take place in the brain whether you look at a tiny dot or a large ship, and the resulting image forms in a 1 mm (0.0393 in) point. You can never be sure that the pen in your hand is close to you or that a far-off ship is larger than a pencil, for the size of the place where these images form is exactly the same. Yet there is a sense of distance in everything you look at, for how else could you so easily stretch out your hand to pick up a glass? Allah, Who created this flawless organ, has equipped it with unimaginably fine detail and enabled the brain see an object where it is and in full detail. The extraordinarily complex human eye is just one of His sublime works.
No human technology can duplicate such feats. Constant research is being carried out to unravel how the eye can do such incredible things, and scientists are attempting to understand just how it shows us a brightly colored world. Of course, neither the eye, which is just a few centimeters in size, nor the millimeter-sized region in which the image forms have the power to form a colored world. It is the soul that sees all of the matter existing on the outside and that reinterprets this inside the brain. Allah, the Almighty, enables people to see, perceive, and sense by breathing His own spirit into them at birth and makes these things dependent upon extraordinary conditions. The image created, the astonishing eyes that perceive it, and the countless systems involved in all of this exist only because Allah so wills it.

The Brain’s Superior Nerve Cells
Everything that you do, think, say, or feel takes place inside the brain. Nerves belonging to the brain, known as neurons, make such communication possible. An average neuron is 10 microns in size, and a micron is equivalent to .001 millimeter. They are so small that 50 average-sized ones could fit into the period at the end of this sentence. The brain contains an average of 100 billion neurons. It would take us 3,171 years to count all of them; if we laid them out end to end, they would stretch for 1,000 kms (621.4 miles). The presence of such an extensive communication network in an organ that represents only 2% of a human being’s body weight is certainly a wondrous miracle.1
Even if we were to bring together all man-made communication networks in the world, we could never obtain such a systematic, complex, flawless, and rapid system. This system must function in an incredible state of activity to produce even the smallest movement that we wish to make. Each person was given this flawless communication system while in the womb. No technology in the world can compare with the sublime, complex co-ordination displayed in the human brain.
If even a small component of this perfect system is damaged or if a single neuron fails to function properly, the brain’s electrical transmission may be damaged, which leads to losses of feeling and sensation. In that event, any random event that occurs in this extraordinarily delicate system could do away with the majority, or even all, of its cerebral functions. Given this fact, how could such an incomparable communication network, the secrets of which have still to be unraveled, come into being by chance? This extraordinary structure belongs to Allah, Lord of Majesty and Greatness, Who creates all the living cells and makes them a means by which life is bestowed:

Say: “Travel throughout the land and see how He brought creation out of nothing. Then later Allah will bring about the next existence. Allah has power over all things.’ (Surat al-‘Ankabut, 20)

The Miraculous Atom: The Building Block of All Things
When a living thing dies, its atoms disperse and become components of something else, such as a tree, a bacterium, or a raindrop. These fundamental building blocks of absolutely everything are so minute that 500,000 of them laid one on top of the other could still be hidden behind a single hair. In other words, it is next to impossible to imagine just how small one atom is. The following comparison may be cited to allow us to understand this:
A millimeter is a line this long “- ”. Let us imagine that you have divided that line into 1000 equal parts. Each one of these parts is 1 micron long. This is the size of micro-organisms. A typical paramecium is 2 microns in size. In other words, it is really minuscule. If you wanted to see this organism inside a drop of water you would have to magnify the drop so that it was 12 m (39.4 ft) or so in diameter. Yet if you wanted to see the atoms in that same drop of water you would have to make it 24 km (14.91 miles) in diameter. To put it another way, atoms exist on an entirely different size dimension. In order to go down to the atomic level you would have to take each one of these 1-micron slivers and further subdivide them 10,000 times. The size of an atom is this: One 10 millionth of a millimeter. The following comparison will help us understand this better: The size of an atom compared to a line just 1 mm(0.0393 in) in length is equivalent to that of the thickness of a piece of paper compared to the height of the Empire State Building, one of the tallest buildings in the USA.1
By His will, everything that exists is made up of atoms of this incredible size. Even more amazingly, 99.9999% of each atom is actually empty. The only reason why atoms combine to form molecules is the presence of electrons, which take up only a minute space inside this mass that is 99.9999% empty. That is what lies behind the existence of the universe, suns, lions, rabbits, mountains, skyscrapers, planes, human beings, and everything else.
Is there any possibility that a scientist who investigates his own cells and his own atoms in the laboratory could produce a single atom? Of course not, for scientists are still very far away from discovering all of the details of subatomic particles. That being the case, the sublime might and creative artistry of Allah, Who creates galaxies billions of kilometers in size out of components just one 10 millionth of a millimeter in size, is clear for all thinking people to see.
Almighty Allah creates entities by telling them to Be! and bestows miraculous details upon them. Everything constituted by atoms, meaning all that exists, is a great proof of this wondrous creation:

It is He Who created the heavens and Earth with truth. The day He says ‘Be!’ it is. His speech is Truth. The Kingdom will be His on the Day the Trumpet is blown, the Knower of the Unseen and the Visible. He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware. (Surat al-An‘am, 73)

The Incredible Seed
The way that plants, with all their different beauties, emerge out of the soil is a great miracle. It is astonishing how a plant turns toward the Sun and reaches upward, how its branches thicken, and how it possesses a system capable of carrying water and minerals upward against the force of gravity. There is something quite extraordinary in how fresh green leaves sprout from a plant’s dry branches, how flowers with stunning colors and matchless perfumes appear from among them, and how fruit specially created for humanity in terms of its taste, smell, and benefit then appears. There is sublime artistry in the way that a seed, just 1-2 cm (0.4-0.78 in) in diameter, causes all of these miracles that occur in each plant.
Allah hides every piece of information about a plant inside the tiny seed from which it grows: each branch and leaf and their shape and color, the thickness of their outer casing, the width and quantity of the ducts that carry food and water, the plant’s height, whether it will bear fruit or not, and that fruit’s taste, scent, shape, and color. Evolutionists, who invent implausible scenarios to explain such miracles away, cannot appreciate His sublime artistry and might and thus fail to understand that He wills such complexities to exist. They seek to ignore that they are unable to create even a single fruit, leaf, seed, or living cell. Only Almighty Allah, Who creates the world, exhibits His artistry within it, and constantly carries out this creation can do this. His knowledge and artistry are everywhere. Faced by the matchless works of the Sublime and Mighty Allah, evolutionists are constantly condemned to defeat:

Have you thought about what you cultivate? Is it you who make it germinate, or are We the Germinator? If We willed, We could have made it broken stubble. You would then be left devoid of crops, distraught. (Surat al-Waqi‘ah, 63-65)

The Striking Detail in Living Things
Capable of Perceiving Electricity
Living things emit electricity as well as heat. It may be difficult for you to feel this electricity, because air is an insulator. A conductive environment and special equipment are necessary for this electricity to be felt. Water, a natural conductor, and certain life forms that live in water and use the electrical currents in their bodies are examples of this. A living thing that can detect electricity in water and acts according to that sensation has a very effective sense.
For example, sharks can detect all vibrations in water, changes in water temperature and salinity level, and minute changes in the electrical field set up by moving organisms. In addition, their large number of gel-filled cavities (Lorenzini ampules) are perfect electricity detectors. Along with rough rays, they use these detectors to hunt their prey and can perceive currents as small as one 20 billionth of a volt, a truly glorious ability. Imagine the batteries in an average house. Sharks would be able to detect the current emitted by just two 1.5 volt batteries beneath the sea from a distance of 3,000 km (1,864 miles) away.1
The fact that this animal has been equipped with such an exceptionally special system, one that is ideally suited to its environment and crucial to its survival, is only possible by the will of an Almighty Power Who creates it, knows its needs and habitat, and is Mighty enough to create all these. That infinite Power belongs to Allah , the Almighty and Omniscient:
(Hud said:) “I have put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature He does not hold by the forelock. My Lord is on a Straight Path.” (Surah Hud, 56)

The Pituitary Gland: Regulator of the Human Body
The brain contains a pea-sized organ that weighs around 0.5 grams (0.017 ounce) and, amazingly enough, supervises and regulates the entire body. Known as the pituitary gland, this most complex, flawless, and vital administrator distributes jobs to countless hormones and monitors each one, all of which have their own appointed tasks, without interruption.
We move our heads and arms, see, hear, smile, speak, and touch all at the same time. We remember what people have said to us and analyze things. All of the sensations that reach us and our movements take place by means of hormones. The pituitary gland enables hundreds of processes to take place simultaneously, flawlessly, and without delay. There is no question of any hormone running late; being unable to transmit the messages that reach them; or, apart from exceptional cases of sickness, of hearing what a person who is talking to us only after several minutes have passed; or of not feeling the sensation of being burned before the burn appears on our hands. This is because the tiny pituitary gland, which consists of protein, water, and fat, flawlessly carries out all of its tasks because Allah, the Lord of the worlds, wills it to do so.
Anything that any entity does occurs only because of His will, for nothing is independent of His power and control. When Allah so wills, He manifests His Own might and greatness as He wills through a particular entity that He has created. Everything we see or do not see, but that we know about, is a separate manifestation of His infinite Greatness:

That is Allah, your Lord. There is no deity but Him, the Creator of everything. So worship Him. He is responsible for everything. Eyesight cannot perceive Him, but He perceives eyesight. He is the All-Penetrating, the All-Aware. “Clear insights have come to you from your Lord. Whoever sees clearly does so to his own benefit. Whoever is blind, it is to his own detriment. I am not here as your keeper.” (Surat al-An‘am, 102-04)

The Perfect Detail That Protects
Ice-Dwelling Polar Bears
The human body contains many extraordinary systems. How they work, function uninterruptedly, take precautions in the face of difficulties, and never make a mistake is beyond belief. However, all living things on Earth, from giant whales to ants, from single-celled algae to tigers, have equally amazing features. It is literally miraculous that anyone witnessing this extraordinary state of affairs should still deny His works:

Even if We sent down angels to them, and the dead spoke to them, and We gathered together everything in front of them right before their eyes, they would still not believe unless Allah willed. The truth is that most of them are ignorant. (Surat al-An‘am, 111)
Take the example of polar bears, who live in a cold ice-shrouded environment. By grasping the surface of the ice via a vacuum effect, thanks to the cavities between its toes, a polar bear can travel long distances on ice. This web-like structure between its toes also enables it to walk at a speed of 10 km per hour (6.2 mph) and travel 100 km (62 miles) without resting. The apparently white hairs in its special 5 cm (2 in) thick fur are actually transparent and, because of their fiber optic properties, prevent heat loss and transmit the Sun’s warmth to the black hairs beneath. Immediately under the fur is a 10 cm (4 in) thick layer of fat that provides further protection against the cold. When it swims, its hairs form a protective shield by adhering to one another and serving as a waterproof diving suit. Thanks to all of these features, a polar bear can maintain its 37-degree body temperature under water or on the ice.
Such highly detailed and flawless structures, all of which are of the greatest importance for continued life on Earth, reveal that they could not have come about by chance. Moreover, scientists cannot produce them. Allah flawlessly creates all things. In the case of the polar bear, He places this animal on the ice enables it to survive its harsh environment. This is a constant reminder of the greatness of Almighty Allah, Who creates the states and behavior of all things by His will:

And He has made everything in the heavens and on Earth subservient to you. It is all from Him. There are certainly Signs in that for people who reflect. (Surat al-Jathiyyah, 13)

The Superior Details in a Pair of Eyes
When you look at these lines, an electric current traveling at 500 km per hour (310.7 mph) begins moving from your eyes to your brain by any of its 600,000 nerves. When the current is transmitted, you begin reading the lines before you.
The eye is linked to the brain by 600,000 nerves, which simultaneously receive and arrange 1.5 million messages at the same time and send them to the brain at 500 km an hour (310,7 mph). When you look at a single point, you actually see hundreds of different details that the eye distinguishes from all of the massages reaching it and then analyzes and forwards to the brain. While this book you are holding is quite close to you, the scene you see in the background is, at the same time, comparatively far away. And yet you see both of them with the same clarity, for not a single point in your line of sight is overlooked or unclear. No matter how detailed the view you are looking at is, even the image of a small ant that happens to be in your line of sight reaches your brain.
No camera or television could provide such a high degree of clearness, and so all man-made technology is inferior to the human eye. If people are deprived of this blessing, they will be unable to see anything until this system is restored. And that can only happen by Allah ’s choosing.
This special blessing, created for human beings while they are still embryos, is a gift from Allah, Who is always needed and from Whom aid may be hoped for at all times:

Say: “It is He Who brought you into being and gave you hearing, sight, and hearts. What little thanks you show!’ (Surat al-Mulk, 23)

The Superior Detail in Taste Perception Cells
We can remember the flavor of a food we enjoyed ten days ago. If we eat it again, we can perceive the same taste once again and experience the same enjoyment, because its taste is now familiar. However, the tongue’s taste cells are not the same as the ones that existed ten days ago. Every day our taste cells come into contact with acidic foods that are hotter or colder than the body’s temperature. Hot tea, an ice-cold fruit juice, thick coffee, or bitter grapefruit juice all damage these cells to some extent. But by His will, new cells mature in the taste buds to replace those that have completed their life’s work.
Even if people are unaware of them, these processes occur so quickly that the taste cells we use at dinner are not those we use at breakfast. And yet we do not imagine ourselves to be eating that food for the first time. We never confuse an apple’s flavor, because every new cell contains exactly the same knowledge as the old cell. In fact, all of our cells are constantly being renewed, and yet one’s nose never changes shape and one’s hair never changes color. New cells never install themselves in the wrong place, and thus everything always retains the same shape.
If the old taste cells were not renewed, we would be unable to taste anything. A delicious meal or a piece of wood would taste the same. We would forget what sweetness was and be unaware if a piece of food were poisonous or rotten, for only specially created taste cells can initiate this superior process and blessing. In fact, Almighty Allah, the Creator and Lord of all beings, has created these cells with a perfect memory and a sublime renewal system. This and thousands of other similar blessings are His gifts, for He is generous to His servants, forgives unrequitedly, and is all-compassionate:

Praise be to Allah, to Whom everything in the heavens and on Earth belongs. Praise be to Him in the Hereafter. He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware. (Surah Saba’, 1)

Water: One of His Greatest Blessings
Water makes up three-fourths of Earth and around 70% of the human body. It enters each cell and travels through every vein, carries food and gives oxygen and energy to all of our 100 trillion cells. Thus, it is an incomparable blessing for life.
If water were more fluid than it actually is, living things’ structures would be confronted by its destructive effect and soon collapse. In such a state, water could not support these delicate molecular structures, and so each cell’s delicate structure would collapse. If water were thicker than it actually is, the controlled actions of small organelles and such macromolecules as proteins and enzymes would cease and cell division would become impossible. All of a cell’s vital functions would freeze, and so the cells would begin to die one by one, making the organism’s death just a matter of time.
From the tiniest molecule to the whales in the oceans, everything on Earth needs water, and therefore water has been created with a specific level of viscosity specially designed to benefit all of them: Earth, living things, a living entity’s body, and even that particular body’s smallest molecule. Even with present-day technology, scientists cannot produce another fluid with the same properties and capable of reaching every cell.
Allah has made the glorious details that human beings lack the power to produce essential for all people and has bestowed them in abundance. Doing so reminds people who can think and reflect on His might, and dwelling on just one of these life-giving elements enables them to thank Him for His blessings and appreciate His greatness:

Allah sends down water from the sky and by it brings the dead ground back to life. There is certainly a Sign in that for people who hear. (Surat al-Nahl, 65)


The Human Brain’s Great Energy
The brain consists of approximately 80% water, 10% fat, 8% proteins, and small amounts of carbohydrates, salt, and other minerals. Each one of its nerves functions by receiving electrochemical signals. Neural networks store memories by weakening or strengthening their many connections, and the result is memory. Encountering unfamiliar situations or looking at a portrait for the first time, for example, causes the cells to make new arrangements among themselves. The relevant nerves immediately strengthen their connections and attempt to define the situation. The data recorded enable the process to be carried out faster when the same situation is repeated, for what was new before will now appear familiar. The brain stores processes repeated throughout one’s life as a general image. Every recorded moment comes about by means of the 1,000 to 500,000 connections that the brain’s 100 billion nerves establish at a speed of 400 km per hour (248.5 mph).
With this superb capacity, the brain uses enough energy to run a dim lamp. Although it constitutes only one-fiftieth of the body’s weight, it consumes one-fifth of the body’s entire oxygen and glucose supplies. So important is the brain that it receives the first blood emerging from the heart; if only a small amount of blood is left, it still seeks to keep the brain alive. The heart, blood vessels, and all other organs are literally aware of this fact.
The slightest brain damage can leave a person handicapped or even dead. In fact, this organ is so delicate that the failure of electrical signals to reach a single cell can cause the loss of one of the senses that enable us to perceive the outside world. No single point in it can come into being by chance, and its perfect organization and equipment cannot be altered in a random manner.
This perfection, a very great blessing, reflects the creative artistry of Allah, Who treats His servants well, the Beneficent Who creates to perfection, The Maker and He Who Reveals His Greatness in All:

It is He Who shows you His Signs and sends down provision to you out of heaven. But none pay heed save those who repent. (Surah Ghafir, 13)

The Atom’s Astonishing Detail
Each atom consists of protons and neutrons bonded together in the nucleus, around which electrons revolve rapidly. Since the neutron carries no electrical charge and the proton has a positive charge, the nucleus is positively charged. The electron, on the other hand, has a negative charge proportional to the proton’s positive charge. If the proton and the electron’s electrical charges were unequal, the proton’s greater electricity would cause all atoms to be positively charged and thus repel each other. As a result, everything on Earth, including human beings, the seas and mountains, and all the planets in the Solar System and all the heavenly bodies in the universe would suddenly break apart into countless minute particles and cease to exist.
Throughout their lives, human beings are unaware of the subatomic particles that attract each other, the electrons spinning rapidly around the nucleus, and their delicate internal balances and forces. Even its minutest components contains such breathtaking details that clearly only Allah, the Lord of absolute will and a force far greater than all known worldly forces, could have brought them into existence.
Despite living in such an exceedingly delicate and sensitive system, human beings never feel any difficulty or concern, because the system’s creation is flawless. And yet the majority of people are unaware of these blessings. If one of them were removed, they would see how helpless they actually are and would become aware of the great compassion that had formerly surrounded them. The important thing in this worldly life, which is no more than a test, is for people to be grateful as they enjoy His blessings and mercy and turn toward Him. One reason for our existence is to see who will appreciate these bestowed blessings and who will be heedless and ungrateful. Sincere believers need to know that only Almighty Allah can bestow these blessings; thus, they should be constantly grateful to Him for them.

Do the unbelievers not see that the heavens and Earth were sewn together and then We unstitched them, and that We made from water every living thing? So will they not believe? (Surat al-Anbiya’, 30)

A Mosquito’s Impressive Heat Receptors
A mosquito can detect the presence of any living thing due to its highly sensitive heat receptors that perceive the heat given off by a living entity in different colors, according to the heat the entity emits. Since this perception does not depend upon light, a mosquito easily finds blood vessels even if the entity is in a dark room. In fact, its heat detectors are so sensitive that they can determine temperature differences of just 0.05 degrees Celsius.1
Human beings have no such ability; Allah has bestowed it on this tiny creature—it is no larger than 1 cm (0.4 in)—so that it can find food and protect itself. Only Allah can create such a small and flawless heat-dependent mechanism in so tiny a creature and then bring it to life. Clearly, no one can claim that such a remarkable creature could have come into existence spontaneously as the result of chance.
Any thoughtful person knows that a random phenomenon will only damage and destroy a perfect complex system; it cannot bring any system into being. Only Almighty Allah, Lord of the worlds, Who creates the mosquito’s sublime heat perception system, shapes and forms all things, and controls everything at all moments can do this:

What is in the heavens and in the ground belongs to Allah. We have instructed those given the Book before you, and you yourselves, to fear [and respect] Allah. But if you do not believe, what is in the heavens and in the ground [stills] belongs to Allah. Allah is Rich Beyond Need, Praiseworthy. (Surat al-Nisa’, 131)

The Nutcracker’s Superior Memory
The nutcracker has the most powerful avian memory so far identified. Native to the large Rocky Mountains in North America and the Grand Canyon, it lives on pine nuts that are edible for only a few weeks in September. Therefore, it stores them for later consumption. The distance between the pine trees and the storage site may sometimes be as much as 20 km (12.4 miles). It buries the nuts by placing them in the hard soil in a single movement; sometimes it leaves a stone on top as a marker. Over the course of three hectic weeks, the nutcracker collects nuts constantly. As it flies, it remembers the land’s contours, the trees it has visited, and the rock faces, all of which it adds to its mental map.
The nutcracker has to remember where it has buried 100,000 nuts along a portion of the Grand Canyon that measures hundreds of kilometers throughout this short but productive period. This is how it survives for the rest of the year. During winter, it has to remember the markers like a photograph, because the snow changes the landscape and renders the markers invisible. Nevertheless, it manages to locate 90% of the buried 100,000 pine nuts.1
It is impossible for a bird to know that the food it needs will not be available after a certain period of time and that it has to collect and hide enough to survive. How did it learn how much food to collect at which time, where to store it, and how to find all of the 100,000 pine nuts again under the snow? Yet it does all of these things flawlessly, for like all other living entities, it acts according to Allah’s inspiration. Only the supervision and assistance of its Creator and the One Who inspires it to do certain things enables it to find its stored food, which has become invisible, without difficulty.
This amazing creation of Allah, Who observes all created entities and showers unlimited, boundless, and unknowable mercy upon them at all times, is plain for all to see. The details exhibited in such a tiny bird once again reveals His Might and greatness in the finest manner possible.

How many creatures do not carry their provision with them? Allah provides for them, and He will for you. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (Surat al-‘Ankabut, 60)

The Skin: An Amazing Detail and Blessing
The skin is a flawless casing that gives us a regular appearance; conceals the extraordinary activity going on inside our bodies; and makes touch, one of our most important senses, possible. Countless receptor nerves, circulatory channels, ventilation systems, heat and moisture detectors, and other manifestations of His artistry operate within it. The skin itself is both strong and elastic, two characteristics that are practically mutually exclusive.
Skin covers an area of 2m2 (21.5 ft2) and weights 3 kgs (6.6 lbs). Its cells live for about one week, after which they die and are replaced. During a person’s life, 20 kgs (44 lbs) of skin cells are manufactured. Every square centimeter of skin contains sense cells that permit touch perceptions and assume various tasks, depending on their location. For example, when your hand comes into contact with boiling water, the receptors cause you to feel a sensation of heat and then one of pain. Some 30,000 receptors perceive heat; 3.5 million feel pain.
This perfect casing and special organ, which is unaffected by external factors and has enormous elasticity, can transmit messages from every square millimeter to the nerves and thence to the brain. In fact, it consists of a network of nerves and blood vessels that is constantly being renewed. Allah bestowed this miracle upon each person and endowed even its smallest part with sensation. So perfect is this miracle that modern technology cannot produce a similar structure.
This flawless casing protects us, enables us to touch other things, and gives us a pleasing appearance. A perfect blessing and flawless detail, Allah, in His boundless knowledge, created it and then bestowed it upon us:

It is Allah Who made Earth a stable home for you and the sky a dome, and formed you, giving you the best of forms, and provided you with good and wholesome things. That is Allah, your Lord. Blessed be Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. (Surah Ghafir, 64)


Protein: The Cell’s Most Basic Detail
Proteins, the building blocks of all cells, emerge as the result of sequences of amino acids. Many basic conditions need to be met for a protein to form, among them the following: The amino acids have to be attached by a peptide bond, be left-handed, and be combined in a special sequence. These three conditions cannot form as the result of chance. Scientists who realized this fact performed calculations and determined that the odds were 1 in 10190 against such a series of events happening by chance. Even if a period of time as long as the age of our planet were allowed for this to take place, it would still be impossible for this protein to form by chance. Bearing in mind that, mathematically speaking, a probability of 1 in 1050 is regarded as zero, the fact of the matter emerges very clearly, because the number 10190 represents the number 1050x1050x1050x1040=10190.
Proteins, the basis of your body and of all life, represent both the cells’ building material and highly complex machinery. Although a single protein cannot come into being by chance or spontaneously, this perfect structure still represents the basis of the cell. Thus, many proteins combine together and are constantly being reproduced—an important proof that fundamentally invalidates the theory of evolution.
By introducing this perfect raw material, Allah shows the sublime nature of His creation. By reflecting for just a few seconds on the existence of the countless proteins that comprise our body, we can see that He creates miracles at every moment. Thus, we should always be grateful to Him:

(It is) so that He may know that they have indeed transmitted the Messages of their Lord. He (Allah) encompasses what is in their hands and has counted the exact number of everything. (Surat al-Jinn, 28)

The Kidneys’ Flawless Purification System
It is no easy task to invent a machine just 10 cm (4 in) in size and then establish a system to purify the blood, water, and other fluids inside it. A whole factory would be needed to accomplish these tasks. Even if one managed to do this in such a small space, the performance and results would still be inadequate. One might manage to purify water or other fluids, but doing so for blood, which is essential for human beings, has not yet been achieved in such a small device.
However, all human beings are actually perfect examples of this special purification system, thanks to the kidneys, each one of which is about 10 cm (4 in) in size and weighs 100 grams (3.5 ounce). This small space harbors around 1 million micro-purifiers that constantly clean the blood, which carries everything that makes continued life possible, and regulate the density of the water that reaches all of your cells and tissues. The kidneys, which know how much fluid is in your tissues as well as its level of concentration, carry out the necessary adjustments by His will so that we can go on living without difficulty.
Everybody more or less knows what happens when the kidneys fail to function: the person is hooked up to a dialysis machine several times a week until a new kidney can be transplanted. When the machine can no longer fulfill its purpose, the person dies. This example puts into stark relief the importance and miraculous aspect of this extraordinary purification plant. How can any logical person suggest, even though no scientist has ever been able to replicate this perfect organ, that it emerged by chance?
This extraordinarily detailed and flawless system represents the artistry of Allah, Who created humanity with a flawless perfection. This organ alone is enough for a person to see His greatness and turn to faith:

He has given you everything for which you have asked Him. If you tried to number Allah’s blessings, you could never count them. Humanity is indeed wrongdoing, ungrateful. (Surah Ibrahim, 34)

The Superior Detail That Permits
Life under the Ice
People seldom wonder why water is transparent, how sand can become transparent glass and play an important role in our lives, or how a giant ship can sail without sinking. So familiar to us are all these things that perhaps no one has ever wondered what would happen if sand did not turn into glass at a sufficiently high temperature. A little consideration of such things will show that they have all been equipped with similar and sometimes vital details.
One such detail is water. At sub-zero temperatures, water turns into ice. This is just one of many natural phenomenon in our lives, and yet this transformation violates the known laws of physics. The special details in water, created by Allah for a specific purpose, are one of the reasons why life on Earth exists.
All known substances contract as their temperatures fall. As liquids contract and lose volume, their densities increase and their cold parts become heavier. This is why matter’s solid state is always heavier than its liquid state. We can cite the liquid and solid states of steel as an example of this. Contrary to all other known liquids, however, water contracts until it reaches a specific temperature (+4°C), after which it begins to expand until it freezes. Thus, water’s solid state is lighter than its liquid state. As a result, according to normal physical laws, ice should sink instead of floating. This is why the lower parts of frozen seas and lakes are covered in water at 4 degrees, which makes it possible for life to survive. If ice did not float, then most of the water on Earth would freeze entirely, no life would be left in any body of water, and the planet’s ecological equilibrium would be irreparably damaged. In other words, life as we know it would come to an end.
This important detail, an amazing blessing for human beings, makes those who are aware of it more sensitive to the blessings created by Allah, the Creator of each physical law. However, He can create without physical causes, if He wills to do so, and is not bound by any law or rule. His sublime, detailed artistry prevails throughout all of creation:

Is He Who creates like him who does not create? So will you not pay heed? If you tried to number Allah’s blessings, you could never count them. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat al-Nahl, 17-18)

The Body’s Special Cleaning Unit
Cells are constantly nourished, multiply, and die in a miraculous manner, because each one has been created in such a way that it can copy, feed, and destroy itself. Dead cells need to be gathered and removed from the body. A series of proteins eliminate themselves when cells need to be eliminated. While the cell is useful to the body and fully functioning, these proteins are dormant. When it ages, however, or becomes sick, non-functioning, or malignant, these killer proteins are sent to kill it. The cell takes the right precautions at the right time, with the result that healthy cells remain alive while sick and elderly ones are constantly eliminated. The body always remains healthy, and dead cells are quickly replaced.
A very large number of elements have to combine in order for human beings to remain alive. Yet the individual remains unaware of these elements and the perfect system of regulation. Just when particular cells need to be manufactured and eliminated is decided with perfect timing and order, beyond human will and knowledge, because Allah, Who created them, supervises and controls them.
Each blessing bestowed upon humanity has a special purpose. When people realize that everything has been created with a direct cause and within a flawless system, and then bestowed upon them as a blessing, they will better comprehend His infinite Might and see the surrounding truth and beauty more clearly. The all-important truth is that Almighty Allah has created everything they possess and maintains these by His will. Allah’s mercy on humanity is very great:

Were it not for Allah’s favor to you and His mercy ... and that Allah is All-Gentle, Most Merciful. (Surat al-Nur, 20)

The Brain’s Impeccable Communication Network
Each glance, thought, or detection of a smell begins in our brain. The relevant nerves interpret the transmitted message via an electrical current. When we look at a glass, we recognize it as a glass only because the brain’s nerves interpret it as such. When we think about something, these nerves establish coordination with and pass electrical currents through each other. We imagine that the image of the glass forms in our brain; however, this image reaches the brain solely as an electrical signal. Moreover, the brain does not contain the slightest trace of this image. In other words, we perceive the outside world only through the processes taking place among these nerve cells. This being the case, the facts that 10 billion nerve cells have been carefully placed within the brain, are means by which everything related to us is controlled, and that they allow us to perceive a vivid world are great miracles. Such miracles are simple things for Almighty Allah, Who created humanity as well as the causes in question from nothing.
This system is a great secret that we are still striving to unravel. At a time when no scientist can claim to fully understand the brain and when the whole system points to a sublime creation, how can anyone seriously assert that blind chance is a creative force? With His mercy, Allah continually reminds us of His might and sublime creative artistry by means of the entities He creates. Believers who see and understand all of this will attain salvation in this world and in the Hereafter.

Everyone in the heavens and Earth requests His aid. Every day He is engaged in some affair. So which of your Lord’s blessings do you both then deny? (Surat al-Rahman, 29-30)

The Superior Detail in the White Shark’s Eyes
White sharks, which catch their prey by following it with their eyes, easily move around hot coral reefs. However, cold water causes them great trouble, for it usually retards chemical processes. But its eyes somehow manage to follow its fast-moving prey in cold ocean waters.
As we have seen many times before, Allah created an incomparable and amazing solution to this supposed problem: unlike the white shark itself, its eyes are not cold-blooded. As a result, the heat of its bodily muscles is transmitted directly to the eyes, thereby allowing it to catch fast-moving fish and even seals with great ease.
There are many thought-provoking details related to how a cold-blooded animal that cannot store heat in its body can transmit heat to its eyes. Such an incredible system shows once again that the works and power of Almighty Allah, Who created the animal’s habitat and its special equipment, prevail everywhere. This example of sublime creation is a great blessing for humanity, because all of the proofs in and around people enable them to see and comprehend His sublime existence. The presence in a white shark of such a complex and detailed system, of which the animal itself is unaware, reminds us of His existence.
Every proof of creation is a reason for people to draw closer to Allah and praise Him. The more they reflect upon these clear beauties and blessings, the more they will comprehend His Greatness. Any rational and conscious person can see the blessings that surround them; thus, they should constantly reflect on the fact that these are all reminders from Allah:

It is He Who is Allah in heaven and on Earth. He is the All-Wise, the All-Knowing. Blessed be Him to Whom belongs the sovereignty of the heavens and Earth and everything in between them. The knowledge of the Hour is with Him. You will be returned to Him. (Surat al-Zukhruf, 84-85)

The Flawless System in a Single Cell
Our bodies contain an estimated 30,000 different proteins. Amazingly, the functions of only 2% of them have been fully unraveled; the remaining 98% carry out very important but still unknown tasks. Just a single cell possesses more than 1 billion different kinds of proteins. At a rate of 1 per second, it would take 32 years to count, non-stop and without making any mistakes, all of the proteins contained in just one cell. If we add in such physical needs as sleeping and eating, we would certainly die before we could count all the cell’s proteins.
This complex creation is as it is solely because Allah wills it to be so. Everyone needs to know and see from these examples that Allah is powerful enough to create everything, and that no person has any real power over even a single cell. Every created entity and every flawless detail they possess, and even humanity itself, are great miracles.
People need to activate and then use their conscience to see and evaluate Allah’s blessings and understand the message they impart. However, sincere individuals can see and appreciate the sublimity in creation by looking at the countless details surrounding them:

It is He Who has created hearing, sight, and hearts for you. What little thanks you show! It is He Who dispersed you about Earth, and you will be gathered to Him. It is He Who gives life and causes to die, and His is the alternation of the night and day. So will you not use your intellect? (Surat al-Mu’minun, 78-80)

The Perfect Detail in Message-Transmitting Cells
The brain’s flawless system is, by itself, sufficient for us to realize His sublimity. As we stated above, it contains more than 100 billion nerve cells.1 In order for us to perceive, see, and feel our surroundings, communication has to be established among these 100 billion nerve cells. This is done by somehow making a total of 100 trillion connections.
The means by which this astonishing level of communication is established are exceedingly effective. A special fluid located between the nerve cells contains certain highly specialized chemical enzymes that make electron transport possible. When the electrical signal reaches a nerve ending, electrons are loaded onto these enzymes and then transmitted to other nerves by floating through the fluid between the nerves. The electrical current thus continues to flow by passing on to the next cell. This process takes place in microseconds and with no interruption in the electrical current.
If one of these enzymes fails to perform its function, the transmitted message cannot reach the brain. In other words, although you were looking at your hand, its image would fail to reach your brain.
Moreover, if the enzymes stopped functioning for any reason, the brain’s 100 billion nerve cells would also cease functioning. If these enzymes decided to distribute the massage randomly rather than taking it where it needs to go, the resulting chaos would overturn the entire sensory system and paralyze contact with the outside world.
According to the evolutionists’ logic, which regards everything as purely coincidental, such constant chaos should be unavoidable because conscious entities do not direct this special system. If, as they maintain, everything happens randomly, then countless consecutive chaotic events should occur during any random communication taking place in the cells. However, apart from the most exceptional circumstances, no such mental chaos ever arises and the whole system functions without error. These completely undermine the evolutionists’ logic. Enzymes are always on duty and do not make mistakes. Such a matchless task carried out by unconscious entities made up of proteins can only be inspired by Allah.
Every nerve in the brain and every enzyme, protein, and electron is the work of Allah. The example described here is just one of the countless details created by the One Who controls all entities at every moment and enfolds them with His mercy at all times:

It is Allah Who created the heavens with no support–you can see them–and cast firmly embedded mountains on Earth so that it would not move under you, and scattered about in it creatures of every kind. And We send down water from the sky and make every generous species grow in it. This is Allah’s creation. Show me, then, what those besides Him have created! The wrongdoers are clearly misguided. (Surah Luqman, 10-11)

Snowflakes: An Incomparable Miracle
The molecules and atoms that make up a substance assume their most regular forms when in a solid state. The shapes to which they give rise by bonding with each other are three-dimensional geometrical forms, the angles of which have specific rations in the successive prisms they produce. There is never any error, deviation, or alteration in this. If the atoms in a substance as small as 1 in 1 millionth of 3 cm (1.2 in) possess the perfect and flawless geometrical regularity in question, then that substance must be a crystal.
A snowflake is a crystal that begins forming around a minute dust particle that is just a few microns in size. This microscopic shape is hexagonal, and the crystal that forms grows by extending tiny arms from its corners. The crystal grows as the air chills and the environment changes, and capillary structures soon appear on the emerging structure. A snowflake’s atoms are attached to each other by loose bonds that cause crystals to bind to each other in different shapes. This difference is so great that it is difficult even to imagine the odds of two identical snowflakes falling to Earth.
Let’s consider the number of snowflakes that fall during just one year. We can barely estimate the number of snowflakes that fall during a single snow storm in just one area. Literally trillions of snowflakes falls every year, and all of them have different shapes. How is such an amazing miracle possible? Clearly, Allah creates every detail to display an extraordinary property. Who but Allah, the Creator of the universe, has the power to create such an immense diversity and then display His perfectly delicate artistry in microscopic details? Allah exhibits His might and the beauties He creates by displaying His artistic detail in all snowflakes, which fall as a blessing and source of beauty:

In the alternation of night and day, and in what Allah has created in the heavens and Earth, there are Signs for people who guard against evil. (Surah Yunus, 6)

There are countless proofs of Allah on display. In order to see these, people must turn to Him sincerely so that He may strengthen their sight, understanding, and appreciation. Otherwise, they will become blind and remain unaware of the beauty of the blessings bestowed. If this is the case, they will suffer disappointment in the Hereafter. Such a fate can be avoided only by turning to Allah, the true Lord of all exquisite blessings, with full sincerity of heart.


CONCLUSION


All living entities possess countless perfect details and miracles of creation. There are details in the structure of a micro-organism and an atom, the building block of all things. The sky has been created with extraordinary balances and organization. The universe, the human body, plants, the Sun, flowers, mountains, and the seas contain countless details and properties, all of which are full of His artistry. This is Allah’s art of detail.
However, we must never forget that Allah has no need of design or direct causes when He creates. There is no need for a living thing to have a complex visual system in order to see, for all of our personal information to be recorded in our DNA, for DNA to exist, for hydrogen and oxygen to collide to produce water, for plants to make photosynthesis, for an ant to have a neural network made up of 500,000 cells, for seeds to enable plants to emerge from beneath the ground and for those seeds to store information, or for living things in the depths of the ocean to produce light. Allah creates all of these without being dependent on direct causes, because He, the Creator of the heavens and Earth, is unfettered by such causes.
Whenever Allah wills something to exist, He merely tells it to Be. Whenever He wills something to come into being with all of its perfections, it is enough for Him to command it to do so:

Does He Who created the heavens and Earth not have the power to create the same again? Yes indeed! He is the Creator, the All-Knowing. His command when He wills a thing is just to say to it “Be!” and it is. (Surah Ya Sin, 81-82)

One of the wise aspects of Allah’s creation of details is that they cause us to think, to see and understand that He has created everything out of nothing and displays the proofs of His own existence. They are made for us to grasp the complexities in the building blocks that comprise us and to realize that we cannot understand the skills and abilities of even a bacterium, which are sometimes superior to our own … for us to see how much we are in need of Allah; to understand that we live on Earth by His will and permission, and that by His leave we will have an infinite life in the Hereafter; and to remind us that we will inevitably return to Him and be asked about what we saw and experienced in this world and about the proofs given to us. Allah created all of these various details for a variety of purposes. Of course, He could eliminate all of them and recreate them in even more perfect states in the Hereafter. Allah is great, Almighty, and Sublime. All things bow to Him. Everyone living today or who has ever lived, including you, the reader of these lines, will one day be raised to His Sight. Before that day comes, everyone must appreciate the proofs of His existence. Allah’s art of detail is displayed in a way designed to remind us of this fact:

Yes, everything in the heavens and Earth belongs to Allah. Yes, Allah’s promise is true, but most of them do not know it. He gives life and causes to die, and you will be returned to Him. (Surah Yunus, 55-56)




Glory be to You.
We have no knowledge except what You have taught us.
You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
(Surat al-Baqarah, 32)




It is Almighty Allah Who created all people out of nothing, Who created all of the beauty that surrounds them and all of the blessings of which they are aware or unaware. He constantly renews each of these blessings and creates the astonishing details in each one. This is Allah’s art of detail.

With His unbounded knowledge, Allah created systems that human beings cannot comprehend because they have not yet discovered their details. Inside each detail are even more delicate beauties that reveal His Greatness and Might. If He willed, He could dispose of them all. Our duty is to thank Him for these unconditional blessings, know that we need Him, and turn only to Him.

This book seeks to remind people of this important truth, which He revealed in the Qur’an.