Introduction

Almost every newborn creature is weak and helpless, unaware of the dangers that surround it. It is very unlikely that it could survive and grow on its own. From the moment it is born it will always have adults nearby to feed it, protect it from danger and, if necessary, sacrifice their own lives for it.

Young animals can survive only if they are looked after by strong grown-ups. A gazelle abandoned at birth or bird's eggs left uncared for have no possibility of survival. But young animals usually can survive because they have careful parents who do not neglect their responsibilities, even before their young are still in the egg or the womb. Many creatures go to a lot of trouble to protect their eggs, hiding them where they will not get broken, keeping them warm and when necessary, protecting them from too much heat. They will guard over their eggs for weeks and even carry them around in their mouths without harming them in any way.

This book documents the tenderness that creatures have for their young and the conscious acts of self-sacrifice performed throughout the animal world. You will read about the great care taken by animal parents to build comfortable nests for their young. You will learn how they clean their offspring, how hard they work to feed them, protect them from cold, and even how they place their own lives in danger when an enemy is nearby.

But why do these creatures work so tirelessly on behalf of their young? Why don't they leave them on their own, instead of dutifully attending to all their needs? Do they do so consciously? For example, is it reasonable to think that a bird can be consciously determined to risk its own death to protect its young? Of course not! An animal cannot possess such feelings of tenderness and compassion on its own. The plain fact is that Allah has inspired in these creatures a wondrous sense of tenderness and parental love. And one of creation's greatest wonders is the self-sacrifice of parents for their babies.

Another wonder is how cute all young animals are, as some examples in the following pages will show. Babies of most species usually have big eyes and round faces; and an expression that we humans interpret as innocent, helpless, and bewildered. Also, their behavior makes them loveable and awakens in us the instinct to protect them.

… when everything in the heavens and Earth, willingly or unwillingly, submits to Him and to Him you will be returned... (Surah Al 'Imran: 83)

Intelligent Design, in other words Creation

In order to create, Allah has no need to design

It's important that the word "design" be properly understood. That Allah has created a flawless design does not mean that He first made a plan and then followed it. Allah, the Lord of the Earth and the heavens, needs no "designs" in order to create. Allah is exalted above all such deficiencies. His planning and creation take place at the same instant.

Whenever Allah wills a thing to come about, it is enough for Him just to say, "Be!" As we are told in the verses of the Qur'an:

His command when He desires a thing is just to say to it, "Be!" and it is. (Surah Ya Sin: 82)

[Allah is] the Originator of the heavens and Earth. When He decides on something, He just says to it, "Be!" and it is. (Surat al-Baqara: 117)

The Wondrous Beauty in Animals 1/4

Newborn kittens are blind and defenseless. They weigh about 100 grams, and their mother cat gets very little sleep as she looks after her tiny babies. She keeps her kittens close beside her so that they are always kept warm and so that she can nurse them when they are hungry. Although their eyes are closed for the first week, her kittens have no trouble finding the nipples where they can get life-giving milk—their mother's milk—exactly what they need in order to live and grow. It is rich in nutrients and contains some special chemical ingredients that protect the kitten from getting sick.

Nine days later, their eyes open, but the kittens are able to fend for themselves only after eight weeks. Until then, their mothers look after them with great care and carry them to secure places to play and to rest.

Allah shows favor to mankind but most of them are not thankful. (Surat an-Naml: 73)

The devotion of these unthinking and unreasoning creatures to their young should make every intelligent individual pause to consider. Their behavior can come only from the inspiration of Allah, the Ruler of all living things:

There is no creature on the Earth which is not dependent upon Allah for its provision. He knows where it lives and where it dies. They are all in a Clear Book.  (Surah Hud: 6)

Self-Sacrifice in Nature Proves Darwinism to be False

The theory of evolution claims that the natural world is the scene of merciless competition, and the theory's supporters try to inculcate this idea into the minds of others. Actually, the erroneous belief that nature is simply an arena of struggle has been a part of the theory since evolution was first proposed. The mechanism of "natural selection" promulgated by Darwin, the theory's author, proposes that creatures strong enough to adapt to their natural environment are able to survive and reproduce, while those that are too weak die off. According to this idea of "natural selection," nature is a savage battleground where creatures contend with one another in merciless struggles for survival, and where the weak is killed by the strong.

According to this idea, every creature must be strong enough to overcome others, if its species is to survive. In such an environment, there is no room for self-sacrifice, altruism, or cooperation because these could prove disadvantageous. Accordingly, every creature must be entirely selfish, concerned only for its own personal food, security, and well-being.

But, is the natural world really an environment where creatures engage in pitiless combat with one another, where cruelly selfish individuals strive to outdo everyone else and destroy them?

No! The observations made in this regard do not agree with evolution. Nature is not merely the place of competition that evolutionists claim. On the contrary, many species offer countless instances of intelligent cooperation: One animal may sacrifice its own well-being to the point of risking death; yet another may put itself in danger for the sake of the flock or herd, with no possible promise of reward. In his book entitled Evrim Kurami ve Bagnazlik (The Theory of Evolution and Bigotry) Dr. Cemal Yildirim, a professor and himself an evolutionist, explains why Darwin and other evolutionists of his time thought as they did:

Scientists of the nineteenth century were easily misled into adopting the thesis that nature is a battlefield, because more often than not, they were imprisoned in their studies or laboratories and generally didn't bother to acquaint themselves with nature directly. Not even a respectable scientist like Huxley could exempt himself from this error.1

In his book, Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution, the evolutionist Peter Kropotkin writes about the support that animals give to one another, citing the error that Darwin and his followers fell into:

... the numberless followers of Darwin reduced the notion of struggle for existence to its narrowest limits. They came to conceive the animal world as a world of perpetual struggle among half-starved individuals, thirsting for one another's blood… In fact, if we take Huxley, who certainly is considered as one of the ablest exponents of the theory of evolution, were we not taught by him, in a paper on the "Struggle for Existence and its Bearing upon Man," that, "from the point of view of the moralist, the animal world is on about the same level as a gladiators' show. The creatures are fairly well treated, and set to, fight hereby the strongest, the swiftest, and the cunningest live to fight another day."… [I]t may be remarked at once that Huxley's view of nature had as little claim to be taken as a scientific deduction.2

Allah is the Creator of everything and He is Guardian over everything. (Surat az-Zumar: 62)

True; there is a struggle and conflict in the natural world. But along with this fact, there is also self-sacrifice, enough to prove that the idea of natural selection, so basic to the theory of evolution, is totally groundless. Natural selection does not add any new features to any given species, nor can it change existing features to create an entirely new species. These facts stop evolutionists in their tracks; and their stalemate in this regard is discussed in the journal Bilim ve Teknik (Science and Technology):

The question is, why do living beings help one another? According to Darwin's theory, every animal is fighting for its own survival and the continuation of its species. Helping other creatures would decrease its own probability of surviving, and therefore, evolution should have eliminated this type of behavior, whereas we observe that animals can indeed behave selflessly.3

These facts about the natural world completely invalidate evolutionists' claim that nature is an arena of self-interested struggle, where the individual who best protects his own interests comes out on top. With regard to these characteristics of living creatures, John Maynard Smith poses a question to his fellow evolutionists:

Here one of the key questions has to do with altruism: How is it that natural selection can favor patterns of behavior that apparently do not favor the survival of the individual?4

John Maynard Smith is an evolutionist scientist and evolutionists cannot give an answer in the name of their theory to the question he has asked. (For examples of the extraordinary self-sacrifice and mutual assistance among creatures in the world of nature, see Harun Yahya's, Devotion Among Animals Revealing the Work of Allah, Global Publishing, Istanbul: 2004)

Evolution Cannot Explain Instinct

Another deception evolutionists resort to is pointing to the similarities between animal and human behavior. On this basis; they claim that human beings and animals are descended from a common ancestor and that similar behaviors have been passed down from that ancestor to subsequent generations. Some evolutionists, viewing aggressive behavior as a universally inherited impulse or instinct, maintain that we humans have not yet found a way to suppress it in our daily lives. This intentionally deceptive claim rests on no other foundation besides evolutionists' imagination. We must be careful to point out that actually, the impulse or instinct supposed to reside in both human beings and animals brings the theory of evolution to an impasse and is enough to demonstrate its invalidity.

Evolutionist scientists use the word instinct to describe certain behavior patterns that animals are born with, but they leave unanswered the questions of how creatures came to possess this instinct, how the first instinctual behavior patterns came about, and by what mechanism they are passed on from one generation to another.

In his book, The Great Evolution Mystery the evolutionist and geneticist Gordon Rattray Taylor admits that with regard to instinct, there is an impasse in the theory:

If in fact behaviour is heritable, what are the units of behaviour which are passed on-for presumably there are units? No one has suggested an answer.5

Your god is Allah alone, there is no god but Him. He encompasses all things in His knowledge. (Surah Ta Ha: 98)

Unlike Taylor, many evolutionists cannot make this admission, remain silent on the question, and try to gloss over it, offering answers that make no real sense. Actually, Charles Darwin himself realized that animals' instinctive behavior posed a serious danger to his theory. In his book, The Origin of the Species, he actually admitted as much—several times. Here is one such:

So wonderful an instinct as that of the hive-bee making its cells will probably have occurred to many readers, as a difficulty sufficient to overthrow my whole theory.6

He is Allah. There is no God but Him. Praise be to Him in this world and the Hereafter. Judgment belongs to Him… (Surat al-Qasas: 70)

Darwinists commit another error by claiming that their supposed instinctual impulses have been passed down to us from preceding generations. From the scientific point of view, this "Lamarckian" way of thinking was proved to be false a century ago. So even evolutionist scientists themselves admit that instinctual impulses could not have evolved over generations! Gordon R. Taylor labels "pathetic" the claim that behavior patters are inherited by subsequent generations:

Biologists assume freely that such inheritance of specific behaviour patterns is possible, and indeed that it regularly occurs. Thus Dobzhansky roundly asserts: "All bodily structures and functions, without exception, are products of heredity realized in some sequence of environments. So are all forms of behaviour, without exception." This simply isn't true and it is lamentable that a man of Dobzhansky's standing should dogmatically assert it.7

Your Lord revealed to the bees: "Build dwellings in the mountains and the trees, and also in the structures which men erect. Then eat from every kind of fruit and travel the paths of your Lord, which have been made easy for you to follow." From inside them comes a drink of varying colors, containing healing for mankind. There is certainly a Sign in that for people who reflect.  (Surat an-Nahl: 68-69)

In Surat an-Nahl in the Qur'an, Allah gives the example of the honeybee to demonstrate the extraordinary secrets in the behavior of living creatures. Not only honeybees, but all living things behave according to Allah's inspiration. It is He Who inspires acts of self-sacrifice in living creatures and gives them their wonderful abilities.

Allah created the heavens and the Earth with truth. There is certainly a Sign in that for the believers (Surat al-‘Ankabut: 44)

Lions are among of the strongest predators in the African continent. They can be very savage towards their enemies and their prey, but very tender towards their own young. When baby lions are born, they are very small. They begin to eat meat at the age of three months, but the mother and other female lions in the pride continue to suckle them until they are six months old.

Lions, leopards and other big cats carry their young by the scruff of their neck, and while they are being carried, their babies stay completely still, allowing their mothers to carry them safely.

There are certainly Signs in the Earth for people with certainty. And in yourselves as well. Do you not then see? (Surat adh-Dhariyat: 20-21)

The care and tenderness that lions show for their young is only one of the proofs that invalidates the claims of evolutionists. They claim that in the natural world only the strong survive; the weak are eliminated and die off. The world of nature, they claim, is dominated by self-interest and a savage struggle for survival. Of course, creatures in their natural habitats hunt to provide themselves with food, and sometimes may even attack to defend themselves and ensure their security. But apart from this, the majority of animals in nature performs remarkable acts of self-sacrifice for their young, their families, and even for other members of their group, placing their own lives in danger.

Almighty Allah, the Creator of all things, teaches these creatures to be tender and compassionate towards their young, to protect other members of their herds or flocks, and to care for them.

By means of all the special attributes that He has created in living creatures, Allah shows us His eternal power and dominion over all living things.

When their young are in danger, mother animals behave differently than usual. Deer, for example, are usually timid and excitable creatures, but don't hesitate to use their sharp, cutting hooves against any fox or coyote that threatens their young. If they understand that they cannot repel an enemy threatening their fawns, they immediately throw themselves into the attacker's path, to divert the enemy away from their young.9

Everything in the heavens and everything in the Earth belongs to Allah... (Surah Al ‘Imran: 129)

Why do these animals put their own lives in danger to protect their young? As stated earlier, proponents of evolutionary theory assert that the world of nature is a battlefield, where creatures are in a constant struggle with one another in which the strong dominate and the weak are killed or die off. But this claim is very erroneous: As is the case with deer, many creatures are willing to risk their lives to protect their young, which fact by itself shows clearly how unreasonable the claims of evolutionists are.

With His supreme power, Allah has created gazelles, antelopes, elephants, birds and every other living thing. He is Lord of everything on Earth and in heaven.

For a few days after giving birth, a mother giraffe licks and sniffs at her baby. In this way, she both cleans it and learns its scent, which will later allow mother and baby to find each other in a large herd. If the young giraffe is in any kind of difficulty, it makes various vocalizations to attract the mother's attention. She immediately recognizes her baby's voice and runs to its assistance.

Your God is One God. There is no God but Him, the All-Merciful,the Most Merciful. (Surat al-Baqara: 163)

A mother giraffe never lets her young leave her side. If they are attacked, she pushes the baby under her body and strikes out at the enemy, hard, with her two front legs.

Giraffes live in small herds and look after their young together, and adults take turns caring for the young. Because of this cooperative system of "babysitting," other mother giraffes can leave their babies and go kilometers away in search of food.10

All the beautiful creatures in the natural world show us the majesty of Allah. And we must always be mindful of His existence and thank Him for all the blessings He has given us.

In the Qur'an, Allah has told us that we must be thankful to Him for everything:

Allah brought you out of your mothers' wombs knowing nothing at all, and gave you hearing, sight and hearts so that perhaps you would show thanks. (Surat an-Nahl: 78)

One factor that helps ducks swim so well is their webbed feet. When they push their feet out behind them, the webs spread out to give them more surface area to propel them. Baby ducklings have this ability from the moment of their birth. Allah, with His unlimited knowledge, has created ducks with everything they need to survive.

The feathers of a female duck are less colorful than those of the male. This difference in color is an important advantage for the females, who must sit on her eggs in the nest; their lack of bright color makes them less visible to predators as they wait for their eggs to hatch. They blend with their environment, and because of this camouflage it is harder for their enemies to notice them.

Allah, there is no God but Him, the Living, the Self-Sustaining. He is not subject to drowsiness or sleep. Everything in the heavens and the Earth belongs to Him… (Surat al-Baqara: 255)

On the other hand, a male duck uses his brightly colored feathers to protect his females, diverting the attention of enemies while she is building the nest or sitting on it.

If trouble approaches the nest, the male immediately takes flight, making a lot of noise; doing everything he can to lead the enemy away from the nest. These acts of self-sacrifice, vitally important for baby ducklings' survival, sometimes end with the death of a parent and provide yet another example of Allah's creative artistry.

One of the most noticeable characteristics of elephants is their attachment to one another. Acts of self-sacrifice and assistance occur not only among families but throughout the entire herd. For example, when hunters shoot at members of the herd, the other elephants do not flee but hurry toward those in danger.

Mankind! Worship your Lord, Who created you and those before you, so that hopefully you will guard against evil. (Surat al-Baqara: 21)

The young elephants are the reason behind this tightly knit cohesion of the whole group.11 A newborn elephant receives great love and tenderness from adults in the herd. If a mother elephant dies, another lactating elephant will continue to suckle it.12

For the first six months, a mother will follow her baby elephant wherever it goes. Each makes sounds that keep them continually in touch with each other. If the baby makes the indication that it's in any danger, all members of the herd come together to investigate the situation—a tactic that is quite good at dissuading enemies.13

This raises some questions: Why is it that all elephants act in concert on behalf of their young? How can they determine their needs? How do elephants and other animals understand one another since before they are born?

None of these creatures can manage these accomplishments through their own intelligence and willpower. The fact that elephants in every part of the world assist one another in these ways is an indication that a single Creator created them all; and that Creator is Allah with His limitless power. The amazing acts of self-sacrifice among animals form one of the wonders of His creation. In the Qur'an, Allah says:

The kingdom of the heavens and Earth belongs to Allah. Allah has power over all things. (Surah Al 'Imran: 189)

A mother zebra will risk her life to save her baby. If an enemy attacks, she uses her body as a shield between her foal and the attacker. Although she can run much faster, she runs much more slowly so that, if a predator animal catches up with them, she will be killed and not her baby. As a result of one of these dangerous encounters, the mother zebra may expose herself to death and even lose her life to protect her baby—behavior that cannot be explained by the imaginary theory of evolution.

And horses, mules and donkeys both to ride and for adornment. And He creates other things you do not know. (Surat an-Nahl: 8)

All animals in the natural world are engaged in a struggle. They hunt to survive and may attack when they have to defend themselves. Evolutionists take only these characteristics into account, disregarding the acts of self-sacrifice that animals employ to protect their young. In addition, behavioral patterns of cooperation, support and concern for the welfare of other creatures are frequently encountered in the animal world.

Because the theory of evolution regards the natural world as a battlefield, it can't explain the instances of self-sacrifice that occur there. The way animals live in the natural world clearly invalidates the basic claim of this theory. It cannot explain why a zebra that had run away to safety from its enemies returns at the risk of its own life and rescues other zebras surrounded by those enemies.

The self-sacrificial and cooperative behavior exhibited by animals is clear proof of the fact that the theory of evolution is untenable. Allah is the Supreme Creator Who has made the universe and every creature acts by His inspiration:

Allah created every animal from water. Some of them go on their bellies, some of them on two legs, and some on four. Allah creates whatever He wills. Allah has power over all things. (Surat an-Nur: 45)

It is unthinkable that acts of self-sacrifice by living creatures could result from millions of years of evolution. The intelligent behavior exhibited by animals is not a strategy they have developed over time, nor a solution produced by chance. We can't possibly expect intelligent, self-sacrificial behavior from a creature that is supposedly the product of natural selection, struggling to prolong its own lifespan in a savage world. The evident foresight and planning that animals display destroys Darwinism's basic assumption, that every creature is engaged in a self-centered battle for its own individual survival.

Creation is the only way to explain all of these animals' special characteristics. The instances of mutual support and intelligent strategy in every species clearly demonstrate Allah's dominion over living creatures. All the abilities they possess, as well as their intelligent behavior, are taught to them by Allah, the Creator of all, Who teaches them and shows them how to use their abilities. In His endless compassion and mercy, He protects and looks after all His creatures.

Footnotes

1. Cemal Yildirim, Evrim Kurami ve Bagnazlik [The Theory of Evolution and Bigotry], p. 49.

2. Peter Kropotkin, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, 1902, Chapter I.

3. Bilim ve Teknik [Science and Technology] - Turkish Scientific Journal, no.190, p. 4.

4. John Maynard Smith, "The Evolution of Behavior," Scientific American, December, 1978, volume 239, no.3, p. 176.

5. Gordon R. Taylor, The Great Evolution Mystery, Sphere Books, London: 1984, p. 221.

6. Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species: A Facsimile of the First Edition, Harvard University Press, 1964, p. 233.

7. Gordon Taylor, The Great Evolution Mystery, p. 221.

8. Janine M. Benyus, The Secret Language and Remarkable Behavior of Animals, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers Inc, New York: 2002, p. 133.

9. Russell Freedman, How Animals Defend Their Young, E. Dutton, New York: 1978, p. 57.

10. Janine M. Benyus, The Secret Language and Remarkable Behavior of Animals, p.201

11. Janine M. Benyus, The Secret Language and Remarkable Behavior of Animals, p.136

12. David Attenborough, Trials of Life, William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd, London: 1990, p.50

13. Janine M. Benyus, The Secret Language and Remarkable Behavior of Animals, p. 155.

The Wondrous Beauty in Animals 2/4

In the middle of winter when brown bears are hibernating, their cubs are born blind and naked, without fur. They are the size of a chipmunk and have only enough strength to climb to the teats where they can find their milk. The female's milk is rich in calories and fat, and during the winter the cubs grow quickly. When their mother awakens up in the spring, the cubs are strong enough to follow her out of the den.

The cubs are very active and once outside, quite vulnerable. For a year they stay with their mother, who protects them from every danger while they learn how to look after themselves. Because they are fed constantly for a certain length of time, they grow quickly. Always playing games, they try to climb on top of their mother and wrestle with each other. Like other animal parents, mother bears can be very ferocious towards intruders who may want to harm their cubs. For three years, the mother bear looks after and protects her cubs constantly.14 (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/creature_feature/0010/brownbears2.html)

All That inhabits the night and the day belongs to Him. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (Surat al-An‘am: 13)

In the regions where seals live, spring temperatures seldom reach -5˚ C (23˚ F). But seals do not mind the cold, because their fur and stored body fat keeps them warm. Seals live in large herds, so how can a mother seal recognize her own cub in such a crowded environment? As do many other animals, she smells and fondles her baby after giving birth. Coming to recognize its scent, she never confuses it with other babies.

Baby seals are completely helpless and unable to protect themselves, but their mothers supply their every need. They are born covered with a layer of baby fat that insulates their tiny bodies and helps keep them always warm. The young of very few mammals grow as rapidly as baby seals do. Within three weeks, their weight increases three or four times! This is because seals' milk is twelve times fattier than cows' milk, with four times as much protein. This lets the babies grow very fast, and much of their mother's fatty milk is immediately transformed into a protective layer of fat in their bodies.15  (David Attenborough, The Trials of Life, pp. 36-38; Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, ZAP, "Bringing Up Baby;" http://www.kidszoo.com/pdfs/Br UpBaby.pdf)

Do you not know that Allah is He to Whom the kingdom of the heavens and the Earth belongs and that, besides Allah, you have no protector and no helper? (Surat al-Baqara: 107)

Allah has created every creature in the best way, supplying its daily food and looking after all its needs:

How many creatures do not carry their provision with them! Allah provides for them and He will for you. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (Surat al-'Ankabut: 60)

Beneath the skin of polar bears, a layer of fat 11 centimeters (4.3 inches) thick serves as insulation. This lets them swim continuously for 100 kilometers (62 miles) in icy water at a speed of 10 kmph (6.2 mph). Polar bears are also equipped with a very acute sense of smell; able to smell carrion—a dead whale, for example—from as far as 32 kilometers (20 miles) away, and can sniff out seal dens covered with snow.16  ("Polar Bears," SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Animal Information Database, http://www.seaworld.org/infobo oks/PolarBears/pbadaptations.ht ml; Stirling, 1988; "Polar Bear," www.wonderclub.com/Wildlife/ mammals/PolarBear.htm)

Everything in the heavens and Earth belongs to Him, and the religion belongs to Him, firmly and for ever. So why do you fear anyone other than Allah? (Surat an-Nahl: 52)

Polar bear babies are usually born in the middle of winter, very small, furless and blind. They need a den to live in order to survive the subzero winter cold. But female polar bears make dens only when they are pregnant or have babies. Under banks of snow, they make their dens—round spaces about half a meter (1.6 feet) in diameter which they enter through a tunnel two meters long (6.5 feet).

Usually polar bears make more than one room in their dens, and typically place them at a level higher than the den's entrance. In this way, the warm air in the rooms, which naturally rises, is prevented from escaping through the entrance—because at the entrance to their dens, the bears always leave a channel open wide enough for air to pass through it.17 A mother polar bear constructs the roof of her shelter to be from 75 centimeters (2.5 feet) to 2 meters(6.6 feet) thick. Because of this special construction design, heat is retained.18  (International Wildlife, November-December 94, p. 15.)

A researcher once put a heat-sensing device in the roof of a den, with some very interesting results. When the temperature outside fell to as much as -30˚ C (-22˚ F), the air in the den never went below 2 or 3˚ C (36-37˚ F). Of course, it's impossible that a polar bear could plan such a den on its own, much less ensure that it maintained the proper temperature. It is Allah, with His limitless knowledge and eternal power, Who teaches polar bears to do these things. In the Qur'an, He tells us about His sovereignty over living creatures:

Everyone in the heavens and Earth belongs to Him. All are submissive to Him.  (Surat ar-Rum: 26)

Shortly after mother penguins lay their eggs, winter comes. The females leave their nests to the male penguins and go back to the sea in search of food. In order to keep her egg from freezing, the father penguin carries it on the tops of his feet. His thick feathers will protect the egg from the cold.

This is a very difficult period for male penguins, since they must remain in the exact same place and cannot forage for food.

Tiny baby penguins are born in the spring. They have not yet developed the layer of fat that will protect them from the cold, so they remain on the top of their fathers' feet. Their first food is the gruel that their fathers have stored in their craw. Although the father penguin has not eaten in three months, he performs a great act of self-sacrifice by not swallowing the food stored in his craw, but keeps it for his offspring.

At exactly this time, the mother penguins return from the sea. They have not been idle for those three months, but have been hunting continually and bring back a store of food in their craws for their babies after they hatch. And as soon as they return andfeed their young, they return to the sea again—this time, to hunt for the fathers who have been without nourishment for four months now.19  (David Attenborough, The life of Birds, pp. 290-291.)

Why a penguin would remain without food for four months and endure the cold for four months for the sake of its young? Proponents of the theory of evolution cannot explain it. Who inspires all penguins to perform such great acts of self-sacrifice? Who makes the males shelter their young on their feet for four months? To these questions, there is only one answer: Allah has created penguins. He has taught them all to perform these extraordinary acts of self-sacrifice in order to perpetuate their species.

Allah says, “Do not take two Gods. He is only One God. So dread Me alone.” (Surat an-Nahl: 51)

The females of the musk ox, which lives in Alaska, northern Canada and Greenland, give birth to their young in May. Within one hour after its birth, baby musk oxen can stand up and follow their mothers around.

When they encounter an enemy, musk oxen face the aggressor, form a circle and push the young inside it. Each adult musk ox weighs between 350 and 400 kilograms (772 and 882 pounds), and by standing shoulder to shoulder, they form a veritable shield between their babies and any enemy. Every individual making up the circle will attack the enemy and return again to the circle so that it is not broken and the young remain protected. Evolutionists, who claim that nature is rife with cruelty and aggression, cannot explain this self-sacrificial behavior of musk oxen. There is only one explanation for this self-sacrifice: Allah, the Lord of all, in His supreme power has inspired in every creature these acts of self-sacrifice and extraordinary ways of protecting its young.20 (Russell Freedman, How Animals Defend Their Young, p. 75. )

Do they not see that Allah, Who created the heavens and Earth, has the power to create the like of them, and has appointed fixed terms for them of which there is no doubt? But the wrongdoers still spurn anything but disbelief. (Surat al-Isra’: 99)

All mammal babies spend a period of time in their mother's womb, and when they come into the world, not all are fully developed. A newborn kangaroo is no bigger than a bean, and its legs have only just begun to develop. When first born, baby kangaroos are blind. For this reason, the mother kangaroo's furry pouch is a very important place of security for the babies. This pouch expands as the baby grows and there are special muscles at its entrance that prevents the babies from falling out. When the mother goes into the water, these muscles prevent it from entering the pouch.21  (Creation, vol. 20, no. 3, June- August 1998, p.29; Kathy & Tara Darling, Kangaroos on Location, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, New York: 1993. )

And in your creation and all the creatures He has spread about there are Signs for people with certainty. (Surat al-Jathiyya: 4)

The kangaroo's milk is exactly what her baby needs. Over time, as the baby grows, the proportion of fat and other nutrients in the composition of the milk changes.

When the first baby is born and begins to nurse a second baby kangaroo is born immediately afterwards, and it too receives precisely the kind of milk that it can digest most easily. Then when her third baby is born, the mother begins producing three different kinds of milk, each with different nutrients! Each baby can easily locate the milk especially prepared for it; there is no confusion. Clearly this feeding system is the result of a special creation. No mother kangaroo could possibly organize this system consciously.22  (David Attenborough, The Trials of Life, pp. 30-33. )

How is it that these three different kinds of milk are delivered through three different ducts? How can an animal unknowingly calculate the compositions of the milk needed by its three different-sized babies? Even if it could, how could it produce it in its own body?

Certainly, no kangaroo can perform any of this on its own; she does not even realize that her body produces three different kinds of milk. This extraordinary production is due to the wonder in Allah's creation of the kangaroos: 

… No female becomes pregnant or gives birth except with His knowledge. And no living thing lives long or has its life cut short without that being in a Book. That is easy for Allah.  (Surah Fatir: 11)

When baby raccoons are six months old, they leave their tree nests with their mother in search of food. Following the instructions their mothers give them, gradually they become skilled at hunting. Inspired by Allah, mother raccoons always look after their babies and protect them. Like all other animals, raccoons are under Allah's protection.

Even though baby deer can stand up right after they are born, they are essentially helpless and cannot walk until later. So meanwhile, how are they protected from their enemies?

Until it can run as fast as its mother, a baby deer's best protection is to hide. Because of the dead-leaf color of its fur and the spotted designs it is virtually invisible in its underbrush environment. The mother deer hides its baby in the forest where the white spots on the baby's reddish brown fur blend with dappled sunlight. When its mother is away foraging, the baby lies down and waits, motionless. Usually the mother deer is always somewhere nearby but, to avoid drawing attention to her baby, she rarely approaches it closely except for short visits.23  (Russell Freedman, How Animals Defend Their Young, pp. 47-48. )

What is in the heavens and in the Earth belongs to Allah. Allah suffices as a guardian. (Surat an-Nisa’: 132)

How does the baby deer know that it must hide to protect itself? How does it know that the spots of its fur will blend with the overhanging vegetation and that enemies will not perceive it if it stays completely still?

Surely, the baby cannot know these things by itself. These features and behavior are inspired in it by Almighty Allah, Who knows all creatures' needs and protects them:

Everything in the heavens and everything in the Earth belongs to Him. He is the Most High, the Magnificent.  (Surat ash-Shura: 4)

Shortly after birth, baby mountain goats must move on and follow their mothers, or they will remain unprotected. Allah has created every creature with perfection and has given it all the special characteristics it may require.

When baby mountain goats are born, they can hear and see. Their hair has already grown long enough to protect them against the cold, and they start to climb steep slopes with their mothers soon after they are born.24  (National Geographic Society, How Animals Care for Their Babies, s.8)

And He created livestock. There is warmth for you in them, and various uses and some you eat. (Surat an-Nahl: 5)

Footnotes

14. Catherine D. Hughes, "Brown Bears,"http://www.nationalgeogra pic.com/kids/creature_feature/00 10/brownbears2.html

15. David Attenborough, The Trials of Life, pp. 36-38; Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, ZAP, "Bringing Up Baby;" http://www.kidszoo.com/pdfs/Br UpBaby.pdf

16. "Polar Bears," SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Animal Information Database, http://www.seaworld.org/infobo oks/PolarBears/pbadaptations.ht ml; Stirling, 1988; "Polar Bear," www.wonderclub.com/Wildlife/ mammals/PolarBear.htm

17. Thor Larsen, "Polar Bear: Lonely Nomad of the North," National Geographic, April 1971, p. 574.

18. International Wildlife, November-December 94, p. 15.

19. David Attenborough, The life of Birds, pp. 290-291.

20. Russell Freedman, How Animals Defend Their Young, p. 75.

21. Creation, vol. 20, no. 3, June- August 1998, p.29; Kathy & Tara Darling, Kangaroos on Location, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, New York: 1993.

22. David Attenborough, The Trials of Life, pp. 30-33.

23. Russell Freedman, How Animals Defend Their Young, pp. 47-48.

24. Roger B. Hirschland, How Animals Care for Their Babies, National Geographic Society, Washington D.C.: 1987, p. 8.