By Zahid Ikram
THE FOOD CYCLE
سُوۡرَةُ الاٴنعَام
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ فَالِقُ ٱلۡحَبِّ وَٱلنَّوَىٰۖ يُخۡرِجُ
ٱلۡحَىَّ مِنَ ٱلۡمَيِّتِ وَمُخۡرِجُ ٱلۡمَيِّتِ مِنَ
ٱلۡحَىِّۚ ذَٲلِكُمُ ٱللَّهُۖ فَأَنَّىٰ تُؤۡفَكُونَ (٩٥)
Allah
splits the seed and kernel. He brings forth the living from
the dead, and produces the dead out of the living. That
is Allah, so how are you misguided? (Quran,
6:95)
بے شک خدا ہی دانے اور گٹھلی کو پھاڑ کر (ان سے درخت وغیرہ)
اگاتا ہے وہی جاندار کو بے جان سے نکالتا ہے اور وہی بےجان کا
جاندار سے نکالنے والا ہے۔ یہی تو خدا ہے۔ پھر تم کہاں بہکے
پھرتے ہو (۹۵)
In the above verse, our attention is drawn to a food
cycle of which people at the time of the
Quran's revelation could have known nothing.
When a living thing dies,
micro-organisms quickly cause it to decompose. The dead body
is thus divided up into organic molecules that mix with the
soil and form the basic source of food for
plants, animals, and, ultimately, humanity. Were it not
for this nutritional cycle, life would not be possible.
As shown in the diagram, dead plants and animals are
broken down by bacteria and transformed into minerals. This
organic waste absorbed into the soil constitutes the basic
foodstuff of plants. This nutritional cycle is therefore of
vital importance for all living things.
Bacteria are responsible for meeting all living things'
mineral and food needs. Plants and some animals, which
remain almost dead (hibernation) throughout the
winter, revive in the summer and meet all of their mineral
and food requirements through the activities of bacteria
during the winter. Throughout the winter, bacteria separate
organic wastes (i.e., dead plants and animals) and turn them
into minerals. Thus, when living things reawaken in spring,
they find food ready and waiting for them. Thanks to
bacteria, a "spring cleaning" has been carried out in
their environment and the necessary amount of food has been
prepared for nature as it returns to life in the spring.
As we have seen, dead creatures play a vital role in the
emergence of new ones. This transition, indicated in the
Quran as "He
brings forth the living from the dead, and produces the dead
out of the living," is carried out in the most
perfect manner. This is one of the proofs that the Quran is
the Word of Allah.