2015_issue.pdf

Page 21

The Islamic Bulletin

Volume XXV No. 29

AGNIFICENT

REATION OF

THIS

TINY

OSQUITO

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(Qur’an 2:26).

Allah’s reference to the mosquito in the Qur’an is unique

among His references to animals. “Allah does not hesitate

to mention the mosquito as an example because of what is

carried above it.“ One of the strangest discoveries of mod-

ern science is that a very small microscopic insect lives on

the backs of mosquitos. 1400 years ago, the Qur’an told us

about this microscopic insect! In other verses in the Qur’an,

Allah mentions other small animals, like the fly and the

spider. However, when Allah narrates parables about them,

the idolaters objected. They think that they found what they

were looking for: the opportunity to discredit the truth of

the Qur’an.

Modern science discovered, much to its amazement, that

an adult female mosquito is an extremely complicated bio-

logical organism:

Anatomy:

The mosquito flaps its wings about 500

times per second to realize a speed of flight of approximate-

ly three miles per hour. Only the female mosquito sucks

blood, a thing she does to feed her eggs. She obtains her

own nourishment from the nectar of flowers. In its head, the

mosquito has 100 eyes, 48 teeth, and 6 cutting implements

in its snout—each with a unique function. In its torso, it has

3 complete hearts with 3 wings on the exterior

of its chest.

Chemical sensors:

By detecting carbon

dioxide and lactic acid, special chemical sensors

in the mosquito enable it to find prey which is

located up to 100 feet away from itself. Mam-

mals and birds give off these gases when they

breathe. Certain chemicals in mammalian sweat

also attract mosquitos.

Visual sensors:

Mosquitos can detect

color and color contrast. Thus, the wearing of

clothing that contrasts with the background, and moving

while wearing such clothing, facilitates the mosquito’s ability

to see and target its prey. If something moves, that means to

the mosquito that the thing is alive with the desired, needed

blood flowing in its veins. In the dark, the mosquito’s X-ray

vision distinguishing the skin of a human as a violet-col-

ored sheath. It then injects a liquid local anesthetic into the

human’s skin to help it insert its snout into the human’s skin

without its human prey feeling it. Then, the mosquito can

sucking the human’s blood uninterrupted. To provide for the

fact that it does not like all types of blood, it has the ability to

test its prey’s blood prior to extracting it. It also has the ability

to thin the blood to speed up its flow so that it can be drawn

out of the body faster, before the anesthetic wears off and the

person perceives the intrusion.

Heat sensors:

Mosquitos detect heat. These special

sensors help them find warm-blooded creatures, i.e., humans

and other mammals when they are within a certain distance.

Sensitive Receptors Sense the Location of Prey in the Dark

Even if a man is sleeping in a pitch-dark room, a mosquito

can find him easily. Even if a person’s entire body is under

their bed covers, with only a hand sticking out, the mosquito

can find that small piece of flesh and extract its blood, without

waking the person up. The mosquito has the ability, by the

Will of its Creator, to seize a prey millions of times larger than

itself—in the dark.

One of the ways the mosquito does this is with heat-sensitive

sensors; they perceive heat given off by the body. The mos-

quito’s heat-sensitive receptors are as effective as that of our

military technology, particularly in the dark. These organs,

known as “tarsi,” are located in the forelegs. When the tarsi

detect heat waves from a body, the mosquito is drawn to its

target unerringly. With heat detectors, the mosquito can also

find the areas under the skin where the blood is warmest, as

in the veins as compared to the tissue. In the pitch-dark, a

mosquito can locate the exposed parts of a sleeping person

and the veins closest to the skin.

Amino acids, amines, ammonia, and lactic acid found

in the blood also attract the mosquito. Even when these sub-

stances are diluted 2,000 times, the produce is 5 times more

attractive to mosquitos than distilled water. The

mosquito is like a warplane loaded with detectors

for heat, gas, humidity, and odor. The mosquito

can identify prey 25 to 30 meters (82-98 feet)

away. Such a unique and powerful structure

cannot be the result of a chain of coincidences.

Obviously, despite its tininess, the mosquito is not

insignificant but complex and fascinating,. In fact,

its tininess adds to the mystique of it unique form

of life. Thus, we can understand why Allah refers

to the mosquito as wondrous and miraculous.

We know the female mosquito sucks blood

for the protein needs of her eggs. To obtain that

blood, the mosquito must first find a source of

blood, i.e., prey. Evolutionary theory claims that the mosquito

acquired its attributes and skills in stages. But, the mosquito

could not afford to have thousands of years for its body to

acquire its heat receptors. It had to have its system of percep-

tion from the beginning for it to find its prey, or its eggs would

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