The miracle of ants described in the Holy Koran
Ants are communities like you
New researches have confirmed that ants are like humans in many ways; they have a traffic system, wonderful geometry and can care and defend small ants. A new study has shown that ants have the ability to bluff and tomcheat and some ants tend to evil and violence. Researchers say that if you want to know about ants, then look at human life. God the Almighty says about these ants, “There is not a moving (living) creature on earth, nor a bird that flies with its two wings, but are communities like you. We have neglected nothing in the Book, then unto their Lord they (all) shall be gathered.” (Sura Al-An’am, ayah 38)
Ants possess the largest colony in the world
Can you imagine the existence of a colony of ants which extends for more than six thousand kilometers from Italy to Spain? Really, it is amazing, but it is the power of God Who is able to do anything in His world.
A group of scientists from Denmark, France and Switzerland had discovered the biggest colony in the world; its length is up to 6,000 kilometres as it starts from Italy and ends in Spain! Inside that colony there are billions of ants whom are working in harmony with each other. When scientists brought some ants from outside and put them inside that huge colony, the inhabitants started to attack and kill the new comers. But when they put ants from the same colony, scientists did not find any hostile attitude toward the new ants!
This is not a hill but an ant colony. Scientists say that it considered to be the best kind of house; it contains ventilation holes, it is high of the ground to avoid rains, inside there are rooms for young ones (nurseries), warehouses and stores. Glory to God Who taught and guided those creatures. The Almighty says, “Musa (Moses) said, “Our Lord is He Who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright.” (Sura Ta-Ha, ayah 50)
We ask: what are the methods of communication between ants for thousands of kilometres? What is the size and form of the complexities that connect ants with each other? How can they build these colonies - as scientists say, the effort to build one colony is more than the ability of humans? Indeed it is the ability of God the Almighty Who says, “The Work of Allah, Who perfected all things, verily He is Well-Acquainted with what you do.” (Sura An-Naml, ayah 88).
Ants emit sonic vibrations
Scientists put loudspeakers in an ant colony and discovered that ants talk to each other in a special language. The ant talks and sends signals which other ants can hear; we do not hear them but ants do. Scientists say that ants have many vocabularies and when they hear the voice of the queen they stop moving and if anyone comes closer to their colony they attack the approaching stranger. God the Almighty says about this, “Till, when they came to the valley of the ants, one of the ants said, “O ants! Enter your dwellings, lest Sulaiman (Solomon) and his hosts should crush you, while they perceive not.” (Sura An-Naml, ayah 18)
A magnificent photo for an ant that call the believer to glorify Allah the Creator
We see a small ant extracting honeydew from an aphid. The ant emits adhesive material to stick the aphid on the plant inside a determined circle the ant has selected, so that the aphid could not run away till the ant comes and sucks the honeydew from it! Do not you see that the ant is smarter than we think? God the Almighty says, “And no moving (living) creature is there on earth but its provision is due from Allah. And He knows its dwelling place and its deposit (in the uterus, grave). All is in a Clear Book (Al-Lauh Al-Mahfuz - the Book of Decrees with Allah).” (Sura Hud, ayah 6).
An ant carries the dead to the graveyard
When an ant dies in an ant nest or near one, its body is quickly picked up by living ants and removed from the colony, thus limiting the risk of infection of the colony by pathogens from the corpse.
Scientists who studied those insects said that the dead ants release chemicals created by decomposition (such as fatty acids) that signal their death to the colony's living ants.
Ants are small, six-legged insects that can grow up to two inches long. A logical question, is vague blind nature able to create a creature with that preciseness?
But a new paper has been published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in which the researchers report that all ants, both living and dead, have “death chemicals”, but that live ants have them along with other chemicals associated with life – the “life chemicals.” When an ant dies, its life chemicals dissipate or are degraded and only the death chemicals remain.
“It is because the dead ant no longer smells like a living ant that it gets carried to the graveyard, not because its body releases new, unique chemicals after death,” said Dong-Hwan Choe, the lead author of the research paper and a graduate student working towards his doctoral degree with Michael Rust, a professor of entomology at UCR.
Ants are like humans in carrying their dead to the graveyard. God says (meaning), “There is not a moving (living) creature on earth, nor a bird that flies with its two wings, but are communities like you. We have neglected nothing in the Book, then unto their Lord they (all) shall be gathered.” (Sura Al-An’am, ayah 38).
Also He says (meaning), “There is no mistaking that it is the dissipation of chemical signals associated with life rather than the increase of a decomposition product or ‘death cue’ that triggers necrophoric behavior by Argentine ants”. Along with Rust and UCR’s Jocelyn Millar, a professor of entomology, Choe used analytical chemistry techniques to identify the “signals of life” in the Argentine ant: the chemicals dolichodial and iridomyrmecin.
“Understanding the exact mechanism of ant necrophoresis will help researchers develop a more environmentally friendly pest management strategy by which we can achieve results with smaller amounts of insecticide,” Choe said. “A recent study on Argentine ants that we undertook in the laboratory indicated that nestmates can efficiently distribute slow-acting and non-repellent insecticides among themselves via necrophoresis. When an ant exposed to an insecticide dies in the nest, other ants carry its body around, with the insecticide transferring easily from the corpse to healthy ants.”
Ants are known by their love for group work, so it is not a surprise when scientists tell us that live ants carries their dead out of the colony.
