Another
amazing thing is that the foetus, just before delivery, turns upside down when
it gets larger and when the womb becomes too small for it, in preparation for
emerging into this world; it does this as if it is a sound-minded person who
thinks and plans ahead; then Allah guided it to cling to its mother’s nipple
for food; look how Allah shaped the breast and nipple in such a way that it is
perfectly suitable for the baby to feed from;
Look
how small the hole in the nipple is, so that the milk will not emerge without
suckling.
Allah
says:
Which
means:
“Has there [not] come upon man a period of time when he was not a thing [even]
mentioned? Indeed, We created man from a sperm-drop mixture that We may try him;
and We made him hearing and seeing. Indeed, We guide him to the way, be he
grateful or ungrateful.”
[Al-Insan: 1-3]
Note
the greatness of Allah in just one of His creations - man; and then there are
many wonders in the creation and structure of man which have not yet been
discovered! How then is the case regarding all the hidden and unknown matters
that Allah Has instilled in the earth, rivers, seas and mountains?
If
we take a look at some insects, we find amazing creations, such as the spider
who builds his web with a wonderfully engineered design. It goes to riverbanks
and looks for two close locations with a gap in between that is not more than
two to three feet apart, and then begins constructing its web from one end by
spiting its saliva, which is in the form of a thread, then goes to the other
end and then goes back and forth, constructing very accurate parallel lines in
a beautiful symmetric manner; then it constructs lines that are at right-angles
to form the shape of a net. After it finishes, it sits at one end of the net awaiting
for a fly or other flying insects that it eats to fall into the trap (i.e., its
net) and then it attacks it and eats it.
If
it fails to catch anything, it goes to the corner of the web and drops a thread
from it, then it hangs itself from it upside down, and if a fly flies by, throws
itself on it, binds it with the thread, and eats it.
Regardless
of how small or big a creature is, one will find many amazing things regarding it
which cannot be enumerated … did such creatures teach themselves all these
amazing things? Did other humans teach them?
Anyone
with vision will definitely realize the greatness of Allah in these small
creatures and realizes the perfect ability and wisdom of Allah. Man is far more
complicated and amazing in his creation than animals, and yet when man sees a
strange worm or animal, he becomes astonished by its creation more than he does
by his own amazing structure!
Allah
Has commanded us to contemplate over His creation and encouraged us to contemplate
over the creation of man, the seas, the heavens and the earth, but why is this so?
Shaykh ‘Abdur-Rahmaan As-Sa’di, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:
“Allah,
Has commanded this in order for man to discover the reason behind his creation,
which entails that contemplation is an act of worship that is performed only by
those whom Allah chooses, and when they do so, they realizes that they were not
created haphazardly.”
Some
people are only attracted to the final shape of the creation but never stop to
think about the reason for its creation and the great objective behind it,
which is to contemplate, and thus worship Allah.
Contemplating
over matters related to the Hereafter is a very important matter. We do not
have any of the fruits of Paradise, nor do we have any of the chains with which
people are punished in Hell, but we do have texts from the Qur’an and the
Sunnah describing to us in detail how things will be on the Day of
Resurrection, with all their descriptions; this is from the mercy of Allah, in
order for us to have something to contemplate over, because the more one knows
about the Hereafter, the more his heart will react.
Why
does Allah mention to us the preconditions of the Hour? He does so in order for
them to be something that we contemplate upon. We must always be concerned
about these matters. The problem is in man, who does not ponder or contemplate
about any of these matters; people have busied themselves nowadays thinking
about prohibited matters, like a lover, or about worldly pleasures; pleasure
has overwhelmed people’s lives, and thus contemplating over important matters,
which would result in true pleasure and happiness, has become rare.
Once
Sufyan, may Allah have mercy upon him, was in a gathering, when suddenly, the lamp
that was lighting the congregation ran out of oil, and so its flame went out;
after someone had added oil and re-ignited the lamp, they found that Sufyan,
may Allah have mercy upon him, had cried; so they asked him why he did so, and
he replied:
“This darkness reminded me of the grave.”
Due
to the hearts of such people being alive, anything around them caused them to
contemplate and connect that to the important matters which one ought to
contemplate over.
One
of the Salaf, may Allah have mercy upon him, was waiting for bread in a bakery,
when he began staring at the fire and crying like a baby. A man asked him why,
and he replied:
“I remembered the Hellfire."
‘Umar
ibn ‘Abdul-‘Aziz RA, said:
“Contemplation is one of the favors of Allah and one
of the best acts of worship that one can perform.”
‘Abdullah
ibn ‘Utbah, may Allah have mercy upon him, asked Umm Tharr, RA, about the best
act of worship that Abu Tharr, RA, would perform, she answered:
“Contemplation.”
Al-Hasan,
may Allah have mercy upon him, wrote to ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul-‘Aziz, RA, saying:
“Know
that contemplation encourages one to do good and encourages one to shun evil
and regret it.”
Muhammad
ibn Ka’b, RA, said: “To recite only chapter Az- Zalzalah and Al-Qari’ah all
night long with contemplation is dearer to me than reciting the entire Qur’an
without contemplation.”
One
must always contemplate, because this will lead him to performing things which please
Allah and which instil tranquillity in his heart, which would make him fearful
of Allah, give him wisdom, and revive his heart.
