Design in Religion: The 'perfect' animal

I was just having a thought or two on how religion has an impact on design, whether be it the design of things, of nature, or whatever else. I remembered an article that I read in the local Malay newspapers on how God has created an almost 'perfect' animal, one that wouldn't seem to be much in its appearance, but if you look at the different functionality of the sum total of all its 'parts' in its design, one would actually be able to see the richness and supreme intelligence of its design on the part of its Creator. Here's the article taken from the theistunited.com website:

Fifty-five degrees Celsius is a baking-hot temperature.Endless sand-dunes stretch away into the distance. There are sand-storms that swallow up everything they come across, and make breathing impossible.

Apart from a few insects, reptiles, and some other tiny animals, no animal can live there.

The camel is the only large creature to survive there.

Allah has created it especially to live in the desert and to serve mankind. In fact, Allah draws attention to the creation of the camel in the verse

… "Have they not looked at the camel - how it was created?" (Surat al-Ghashiyah: 17)

When we look at how the camel was created, we see that every detail of it is a miracle of creation.

The most important thing in the burning heat of the desert is to drink, but it is difficult to find water there.

It is also practically impossible to find anything to eat in the endless sand.

That being the case, any animal that can live there has to be able to withstand hunger and thirst. And indeed, the camel has been created resistant to both.

The camel can survive up to eight days in 50-degree temperatures without eating or drinking.

When the camel, which can go without drinking for long periods, does find a source of water it stores it up. Camels can drink up to a third of their body weight of water in ten minutes.

That means up to 130 litres in one go.

The storage area is the camel’s hump. Some 40 kilograms of fat are stored there. Thanks to this, the camel can travel for days in the desert without eating anything.

Most of the food sources in the desert are dry and thorny.

Yet the camel’s digestive system has been created according to these harsh conditions. The animal’s teeth and lips are constructed to enable the animal to eat even sharp thorns with ease. Its stomach, which has a special design of its own, is strong enough to digest almost all plants in the desert.

Desert winds suddenly arise, generally in the wake of sand-storms.The sharp sand suffocates and blinds.

But Allah has created a special protective system in the camel to enable it to withstand these difficult conditions.

The eyelids of the camel protect the animal’s eyes from dust and grains of sand. However, they are also transparent and that enables it to see even with its eyes closed. Its long, thick eyelashes are created so as to prevent dust from getting into the eyes.

There is also a special design in the camel’s nose. When sandstorms blow, it closes its nostrils with special lids.

One of the greatest dangers facing any vehicle travelling in the desert is becoming stuck in the sand.

But no such danger faces the camel, even though it carries loads weighing hundreds of kilograms,. because the camel’s feet are specially created for the desert.

The animal’s wide toes stop it sinking in the sand, and function just like snowshoes. Its long legs keep its body away from the burning heat of the desert floor.

Its body is covered in thick, hard fur. This protects the animal both from the burning rays of the sun, and from the desert chill after the sun sets.

Some parts of its body are covered in thick, protective layers of skin . These thick layers are placed in those regions that will come into contact with the ground when it sits on the scorching sand. This prevents the camel’s skin from burning.

These thick layers of skin are not calluses that develop over time; the camel is born with them. This special design brings out the perfection of creation in the camel.

Let us consider all the features of the camel at which we have been looking: The special systems that enable it to withstand thirst, the humps that enables it to go without eating, its foot structure that stops it sinking into the sand, its transparent eyelids and the eyelashes that protect its eyes from the sand, its nose with its special anti-sandstorm design, the structure of its mouth, lips and teeth which enables it to eat thorns and desert plants, its digestive system that permits it to digest almost anything, the special calluses that protect its skin from the scorching sand, the specially designed fur that protects it from both hot and cold.

None of these can be explained by the logic of the theory of evolution, and these and all its other features reveal one evident truth:

The camel was specially created by Allah to live in the desert and serve the people there.

Wallahu'alam