Seventh Lecture
Some Examples of the Order of Creation

Order, purpose and planning are vividly observable in all of creation. Here are some striking examples.

Luckily, the doors of knowing God are open to us today due to the great advances in the physical sciences, the uncovering of the mysteries of the world, the vast knowledge of man’s anatomy and the structure of the bodies of animals and plants and our vast knowledge about the stars and galaxies. Now we could claim that all the books and resources dealing with the physical sciences are books on monotheism and on knowing God. These sources teach us the magnanimity of God. This is due to the fact that these books reveal the very nature of creatures in this world. They show us the Grandeur and Power of the Great Creator.

The Headquarters of the Territory of Man’s Body:

The inside of the skull is filled with a gray matter called the “brain” which is the most important organ in the body. This is because it commands all the activities of the organs of the body.

To appreciate the function of this vital organ, let us give you a piece of medical news:

Recently it was reported in the newspapers that an Iranian University student from Shiraz received a blow to his brain in a driving accident. All his organs seemed to be in good condition except for the fact that he had forgotten his entire past. He could not recognize his parents. He was taken to his house in Shiraz, but he was unable to remember any of the items he had worked with in his room. He declared that he could not recognize any of those items.

It was revealed by physicians that a blow to one specific location in his brain had deprived him of his recollections and memories.

Perhaps the damaged section in his brain was the size of the head of a pin but the impact was tremendous.

Our brain and nervous system consists of two distinct sections:

The sympathetic nerves have control over all the voluntary movements of our bodies, such as walking, looking, speaking, and the like.

2. The parasympathetic nervous system, controls the involuntary functions of the heart, stomach, and the like.

The Cerebrum, the Most Amazing Part of the Brain:

The cerebrum is the center of intelligence, will, and memory. It is the most amazing section of the brain. It controls most mental reactions, such as anger, fear and the like. If an animal’s cerebrum is removed but the nerves remain intact, it will continue to live, however it will lose its intelligence. The cerebrum of a pigeon was once removed, and then the pigeon was given seeds. It could not distinguish them despite the fact that it was hungry. When it was given the opportunity to fly, it continued to fly up to the point where it confronted an obstruction in its path.

Another Astonishing Section of the Brain is the Memory:

Have you realized the significance of memory in our lives? Have you realized how miserable we would be if we were deprived of our memory even for one hour?

The memory center, which forms a small section of our brain, files all the memories of our lives. It records all the features and traits of the people we have come in contact with during our lifetime. As soon as we come across a person we have already met, we will recognize him instantly. Then our mind tells us how to react towards him. If he happens to be a friend, we are told to respect him and if he is an enemy, we are told to keep our distance. However, all these reactions are spontaneous.

If we are asked to describe through pictures what we will have in our memory, we need to use hundreds of pages. Our memory, however, has done this filing with the easiest mechanisms available to it.

How Could Unconscious and Unintelligent Nature Create Intelligence?

Hundreds of books have already been written about the miracle of the human brain. Could we believe this highly delicate, precise, complicated and mysterious organ to be created by an unconscious nature? Nothing would be more amazing than to assume unintelligent nature to be the creator of human wisdom. Concerning this The Holy Qur’¡n says:

وَفِي أَنفُسِكُمْ أَفَلاَ تُبْصِرُونَ؟

And in your own souls too; will you not then see?” [Qur’¡n, 51:21]

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Eighth Lecture
A World of Wonder in a Small Flying Animal

Now we wish to leave the territory of our bodies and search for other signs of miracles in the wonderful creatures in our world.

If we gaze into the dark sky at night, we might be able to see a flying creature courageously searching the sky for its prey.

This creature is the bat which exhibits very strange behaviors, especially its flight during the dark and gloomy night.

The bat’s swift movement in the dark without striking any obstacle is wonderful indeed. The more we study this creature, the more the mysteries of this animal become apparent.

This animal flies in the dark sky with the same speed and courage as a pigeon in the daylight. If the bat knew it would collide with any obstacle, it would be more cautious, however, it has an apparatus which informs it of any imminent danger.

If a bat is left in a dark, winding tunnel, the walls of which are covered with soot, it would pass through the tunnel walls without having its wings blackened. A bat has a built-in apparatus like radar which helps it to find its way during the night.

Now let us think a little about this radar system to see how the bat makes use of it.

One of the subjects of physics is ultra-sound waves. These waves have frequencies that are inaudible to the human ear. For this reason they are called ultra-sound waves, for they are beyond the range of sound audible to the human ear.

When these waves are emitted from a strong transmitter, they travel in a straight line, but when they strike an obstacle such as an enemy airplane or other obstacle, they reflect back like a ball which bounces back if it strikes a wall. The time it takes for a beam of sound to strike an obstacle and then bounce back could be measured accurately.

Most military and commercial planes and ships use radar systems to identify the position of other planes and ships in the vicinity.

Scientists tell us there is an apparatus like a radar system built in the body of a bat. The presence of such a system could be shown by the following experiment. Let a bat fly in a room, then let a microphone change the ultra-sound waves into audible ones. Under these circumstances, the bat would emit ultra-sound waves with the frequencies between 30 and 60 hertz.

Now we would like to know which of the bat's organs are responsible for the creation of such waves.

Scientists inform us that these waves are produced by the strong muscles of the bat’s larynx and are sent out through its nostrils. Its rather large ears are the receivers for the in-coming waves.

Thus, a bat owes its nocturnal excursions to its large ears. A Russian scientist called Julian, has shown in some experiments that if the bat’s ears are removed, it could never fly without hitting obstacles. But if its eyes are removed, it could still skillfully move around. Thus, a bat “sees” with its ears, not with its eyes. This is strange indeed.

Now reflect on this question for a moment: who has installed this delicate apparatus inside this tiny animal? Who has taught the animal how to use this apparatus?

Could unconscious nature accomplish such a feat?

Imam `Al¢ (s), talking about the creation of bats in Nahj al-Bal¡ghah says:

لاَ تَمْتَنِعْ مِنَ الْمُضِيِّ فِيهِ لِغَسَقِ دَجْنَتِهِ... فَسُبْحَانَ البَارِئِ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلَى غَيْرِ مِثَالٍ

Never does the bat stop flying due to extreme darkness…Noble and immaculate is the God Who has created everything without previous models. [Nahj al-Bal¡ghah, Sermon 155]

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