Strengthening Faith Through Contemplation: From Feathers to Ants
The meditative contemplation of Islamic scholars: precise observations of creation, from feathers to ants, that strengthen faith.
When we read the works of contemplative Muslim scholars since the earliest generation of Islam, we can be easily astonished by their precise observations, especially when compared with what modern scientists have learned. For instance, following the theme of birds, al-Ghazali recorded in Al-Hikmah fi Makhluqat Allah his detailed contemplative observations of the intricate creation of birds in a manner similar to that of modern scientists:
Know, may God bless you, that the Almighty created the bird and made it light to help it fly, with nothing heavy to weigh it down…He created feet for the bird but no hands, making the skin of the legs coarse and well wrought…for it might need to alight in places where there is water and mud…Were the legs covered with feathers, they would be harmed by wetness and dirt…all this helps the bird in its flight. He created the chest semi-circular, to make it easier to pass through the air…so are the rounded tips of the wings. The Almighty made the roots of the feathers firm, woven upright to suit the coarse skin on the wings…He protected the bird with these feathers against the heat and the cold, and provided the wings with the strongest feathers, where they are well fixed, for they are needed most, while the rest of the body is covered with a different kind of lighter feathers for warmth, protection and beauty…Then contemplate a single feather, and you will see that it is woven, like cloth, from thin threads, strong enough to hold together, and flexible enough so that it does not break. The feathers are hollow to make flight easier…and they are not affected by wet weather, and dirt does not soil them. When sprayed with water, the slightest shake will get rid of the moisture, and the bird will be light again. The Almighty gave the bird one outlet in the body, for laying eggs and excretion, to lessen its weight. He also made the bird lay eggs and not bear offspring, for that would make the bird too heavy in flight. He created the tail feathers to help the bird fly steadily, otherwise the wings would pull right and left during flight, thus, the tail acts like a rudder that steadies the movement of a ship.
This example shows how deep, spiritually motivated meditation can bestow on such an ancient Muslim scholar the ability and knowledge to speak about the creation of the bird and its flight as if he were a modern specialist in aerodynamics. Birds are beautiful, graceful creatures that have always fascinated people by their ability to fly elegantly through the sky, to the extent that human beings tried to imitate the creation of the birds and finally achieved this ambition by inventing the aeroplane.
The next creatures to consider are tiny insects such as ants. The following is part of Mustafa Mahmud’s summary of the recent scientific studies on these amazing creatures:
A moment’s contemplation of one small ant is enough to cause great astonishment. How did this ant learn to build these complex geometrical houses, with their passageways, villages, warehouses and storage areas? How did the ant join in a community where specializations and functions are accurately assigned? How did it learn to catch other insects and herd them before it? The communication among these great numbers of ants in an organized community means that they have found some kind of a common language. The latest studies in this field show that the ants communicate among themselves, not through a spoken language or by signs, but through a chemical language. Observe an anthill. Every now and then, you will find two ants meeting and exchanging what look like kisses or whispers…In fact these are neither kisses nor whispers, but each ant secretes in the other ant’s mouth a special type of saliva with a chemical quality which means: “Let us do this or that…” There is another thing about the ants which we cannot call intellect, but looks more like insight…the ant stores up food, grains, crumbs and left-overs, then guards them against raiders in preparation for the winter which has not yet arrived…It does all this without having the ability to think or to imagine the future: its circumstances and needs. How does all this happen?
In a similar statement which reveals the depth of his contemplation and his astute observation, Ibn al-Qayyim wrote in Miftah Dar al-Sa’adah:
Think of this weak ant and its clever ways in gathering its food and storing it. You see signs and learn lessons in all that. Watch a group of ants going out to look for food. They work in two teams: one carries the food home, the other goes out searching for it. The two teams do not collide, but they look like two separate strings. If they find something too heavy to carry, a group of ants will come to help; then they divide the catch at the entrance of their house. Here is another amazing example of their cleverness: when they carry the grain to their holes, they break it into pieces to stop it from sprouting. If the grain has two halves that sprout, they will break the grain into four pieces. When the grain becomes damp, they take it outside to dry in the sun, then they take it in again. This is why you sometimes see a lot of broken grain near their holes, but you come back later to see that it is all gone.
In his discussion on ants, Ibn al-Qayyim relates an interesting anecdote reported by a worshipper who was deeply interested in observing and contemplating ants and their activities. He carried out a scientific experiment which led him to conclude that ants have a special language of communication, and that they impose a rigorous punishment upon the one who brings wrong information and, in doing so, misleads the community of ants. Ibn al-Qayyim wrote:
A worshipper related the following story to me: “I saw an ant finding a piece of a grasshopper and trying to haul it up but failing. Then it went away and came back with a group of ants to help. Before they arrived, I picked up the piece from the ground. When the ant and its companions returned, they all went in a circle around the place where the dead grasshopper was; but finding nothing, they went away. Then I put the slice back where it was, and the ant came back and tried to carry it away, but in vain. So, once again, it went to fetch some help, and, once again, I picked up the piece before they returned. When the group came back to find nothing, they encircled that ant, and before I could do anything to help it, they attacked it, tearing it to pieces, one limb after another, as I was watching in astonishment.”
In his Tafsir al-Kashshaf, the Muslim scholar, al-Zamakhshari, described insects that are so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye and, in doing so predicted the discovery of microscopic beings.
You may have noticed inside the folds of old books a minute insect that can hardly be discerned with the sharp naked eye, except when it moves. When it stops moving it becomes invisible. If you move your hand towards it, it moves away to avoid any probable harm. Glory be to Him Who perceives the form of that insect: its organs, whether visible or not, the details of its creation, its eyesight, and hidden intentions! Perhaps there are beings extremely minute and infinitesimal in his creation. “Glory be to God, Who created in pairs all things that the earth produces, as well as their own [human] kind, and things of which they have no knowledge” (Quran 36:36).
-Extracted from Contemplation; An Islamic Psychospritual Study, Dr Malik Badri. Translated by Abdul-Wahid Lu’lu’a.
Originally published on the Dhikr Substack.