Introduction

Dear Children,

In this book, we will discover the marvels of creation in the living beings surrounding us. In the following pages, you will set out on a joyful journey in the company of many loveable living beings who will amaze you with their many interesting and astonishing characteristics.

While reading this book, you will see that Allah has created all living beings in perfect forms and that all of them are only manifestations of Allah's infinite beauty, power and knowledge.

"Do you know all the animals?" We can hear you saying, "Not really. Only some of them." Do you know about these creatures' lives? Do you know how they are born? How they live? How they protect themselves and find food? You probably have no idea about most of the details of these animals' lives. But don't worry! As you read this book, you will learn astounding things about them and be amazed at the various perfections and fine qualities Allah has given these living creatures.

You are already acquainted with many animals. But in this book, you will also get to know some other animals' secret and marvellous worlds, which you have most probably never heard about or seen. You will like them very much. As you continue reading, you will be amazed at the way these animals can accomplish some of the tasks they do. You will see ostriches – the fastest runners in the world, tigers – some of the best sprinters, sharp-teethed squirrels, eye-catching peacocks and, as you meet them, you will come to know them better. Meanwhile, keep in mind that these are only some of the animals that exist in the world… Our planet abounds with countless other animal species.

While seeing the beauties of these creatures, keep in mind that Allah, the Creator of all these creatures, only wants us to think about the infinite might and art in His creation, recognise that He has created everything and that He is the owner of every living being. He also wants us to see the beauty in these living creatures, to take pleasure from their beauty and thereby love Allah and be grateful to Him because He has created all these splendid creatures.

The creation of all the universe, all the lovely animals, plants, night and day and everything surrounding you serves a single purpose: to come to be able to see the sublime and flawless creation of Allah. The purpose is simply to make us, human beings, say, "How graciously Allah has created!" Reading The World of Animals will provide this outlook on the living creatures you see around you.

Are you ready? Now, turn the page and embark on The World of Animals! There is a whole world of wonderful animals waiting for you inside!

The Squirrel: The Walnut-Lover

In this section, we are going to learn about some of the very interesting qualities Allah has given squirrels. We are sure what you will read about these loveable little beings will also amaze your friends.

Squirrels live mostly in the forests of Europe and north America. They are about 25 centimetres (10 inches)long. That is the size of two of your hands. Behind them and often suspended over their backs are their tails, wide, upright and furry, and almost the same size as their length. There is surely a purpose why Allah, Who creates everything with a purpose, has given squirrels such a tail: Thanks to this long tail, a squirrel can jump from one tree to another without losing its balance.

The sharp little nails of a squirrel allow it to climb trees without difficulty. It can readily run along branches, hang upside-down and move while in this position. A grey squirrel in particular can jump from the tip of a branch to the branch of another tree four metres (13 feet)away. While jumping, it extends its fore and hind limbs and glides. Meanwhile, its flattened tail both maintains its balance and serves as a rudder to steer it. It can even experience free-fall from a branch nine metres (30 feet) above the ground and land smoothly on the ground on four feet.

Now, let's consider once again what these loveable squirrels can accomplish. You already know that squirrels can perform gymnastic moves in the air quite easily, such as jumping from one tree to another without falling and, furthermore, target very tiny branches from a distance and skilfully hold on to them like a trapeze artist.

But how? Well, squirrels can achieve all these feats by using their hind limbs, their keen eyes, which make good adjustments for distances, their strong paws, and their tails, which enable them to maintain balance. But, have you ever thought who has given squirrels these features and taught them how to use them? Since it is impossible for a squirrel family to take a ruler and measure the heights of trees and lengths of branches, how do they measure distances as they jump from one tree to another? Furthermore, how do they jump and bounce so fast without getting hurt or crippled?

No doubt, it is Allah Who has created these animals together with the features they have and taught them how to use them. Furthermore, squirrels possess all the necessary skills and physical attributes to reach walnuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts and pine nuts, the hard-shelled fruits that grow on top of high trees. As with all other animals in nature, Allah specially created squirrels so that they can readily attain the kind of food they need.

In wintertime it becomes hard for squirrels to find food, so in summer they gather food to eat in the long, cold months ahead. Squirrels are among those living beings that store food for winter.

However, squirrels are very careful while gathering their food. They don't store fruits and meat, the kind of food that decays quickly. If they gathered them, they would become hungry in the wintertime. For this reason, squirrels collect only durable dry fruits like walnuts, hazelnuts and cones.

Teeth That Are Renewed When Broken Squirrels have strong sharp teeth such as human beings never possess. Located at the front of their mouth are incisor teeth that enable them to gnaw and break hard substances. Located behind them are the molar teeth. When we want to break a walnut, we either use a big stone or a device especially designed for this purpose. These little animals, however, can readily accomplish this with their sharp teeth. Have you ever wondered how squirrels' teeth stay strong throughout a lifetime and how squirrels whose teeth are broken manage to eat hazelnuts or walnuts? Allah, Who has created everything in perfect harmony, has given their teeth a very important characteristic. You will indeed be very astonished when you hear this! Even if squirrels' teeth break or wear out, new teeth grow immediately. Worn-out teeth are continually replaced by growing ones. Moreover, Allah has not only given this characteristic to squirrels but also to all creatures who have to gnaw their food.

It is Allah Who gives this knowledge to squirrels at birth and enables them to take their nutrition. Here, we witness one of the attributes of Allah: Allah is "ar-Razzaq", that is, "the One Who continually provides sustenance to every living being He has created".

Squirrels store their food for winter by burying it in various places. Thanks to their perfect sense of smell, they can detect the smell of nuts covered by 30 centimetres (12 inches)of snow.

Squirrels carry their food in their sacs and take them to their nests. In their nests, there are more than one store, most of which they have forgotten. Certainly there is also a divine reason for this, because in time the dry fruits forgotten by squirrels under the earth grow into new trees.

Like most other animals, squirrels do have methods of communication with one another. Red squirrels, for example, upon seeing an enemy, shake their tails and begin to make excited noises.

Squirrels, who can run on high tree branches also use their tails for balance. They change their direction by rotating their tails. The tails of squirrels serve the same function as the rudder of a vessel. The whiskers of a squirrel also play a major role in their keeping their balance. When squirrels' whiskers are cut, they cannot maintain their balance. This aside, they also use their whiskers to sense the objects around them at nights.

Children! Do you know that some squirrel species can also fly? All the "flying squirrel" species in Australia, whose heights vary from 45 to 90 centimetres (18 to 35 inches), live on trees. We cannot say that they really fly. They make long jumps from one tree to another. These creatures, who move among trees like gliders, have no wings but "flying membranes". The "sugar glider", a kind of flying squirrel with a flying membrane that extends from the fore to hind limbs, has a narrow body and long tassel-like hairs. In some species, the flying membrane is made up of furry skin. This membrane extends to the wrist of the forelimb. The gliding squirrel jumps from the trunk of a tree and can traverse about 30 metres (100 feet) at a time by means of a glide-like effect produced by its stretched membrane. In some cases, they can even make six successive glides, covering a total distance of 530 metres (1,740 feet).

When they don't move, the bodies of these small animals quickly lose heat and they become vulnerable to freezing. For this reason, sleeping is a great threat to squirrels. However, Allah has created various protective mechanisms for every species, enabling them to survive under unfavourable environmental conditions. During sleep, for instance, squirrels just curl their fluffy tails tightly around their bodies. The tail of the squirrel is just like a coat. On wintry days, their tails save them from freezing.

Rabbits Like Carrots!

Would you like to learn a bit more about rabbits, the loveable little living creatures we sometimes keep in our houses as pets? We always think of them with their snow-white fur, which we take such pleasure in stroking, and the way they gnaw carrots. Let's explore some of the interesting characteristics of these animals with which we are not familiar:

If you try to approach a rabbit, you will immediately recognise how fast it escapes. Do you know that these creatures can readily sense their enemies with their long ears even while their heads are down eating grass? Owing to this keen sense of hearing, you can hardly approach them without them noticing you. Before long, they will perceive a minor noise or movement and will run away.

Rabbits become 50 to 70 centimetres (19 to 27 inches) long when they grow into adults. Their hind limbs are longer and stronger than their forelimbs. That is why they can run 60 to 70 kilometres (37 to 43 miles)per hour and can leap six metres (20 feet) forward at a time. A rabbit can move faster than a car travelling within the city does.

All rabbits possess these characteristics at birth. Allah has created them as fast runners and thus enabled them to escape their predators easily.

What do you think the answer of a rabbit would be if we were to ask it, "Which food do you like most?" Yes, you are right! He would certainly say "carrots." (Meanwhile, remember that carrots are good for our eyes.) Well, do you know that rabbits live in the warrens they dig under the ground, and that carrots grow towards the depths of the earth? As you may understand from this question, carrots have been created in the most appropriate way to meet rabbits' needs.

Also for us, human beings, Allah has made everything easy to use. Take, for instance, the orange you eat in wintertime. If it were not in segments, it would be very hard for you to eat it, because it is so juicy. However, Allah, Who has created everything you see around you, has also created this delicious fruit full of vitamin C in its segmented form, ready to eat, in its special package. Now back to rabbits! A rabbit can easily gnaw a carrot with its continually growing front teeth that give it such a lovely look.

Apart from their nutritional needs, Allah has given living creatures many features that make life easy for them. Various rabbit species with different characteristics live on earth. Rabbits living in cold regions, for example, are mostly white in colour. This is an important feature that makes them invisible on the snow and enables them to hide themselves effortlessly. Wild rabbits, which are relatively bigger than other rabbits, have longer limbs and ears. The desert American rabbit, on the other hand, has quite large ears. These ears help rabbits to keep themselves cool.

In nature, most animals live in particular territories they mark out for themselves. This is similar to us living in our comfortable homes surrounded by our family members. Animals and animal groups usually avoid entering other animals' territories. "Leaving a scent" is a method employed by animals to mark their territories. Gazelles, for instance, leave a substance with a scent similar to tar on long thin branches and grasses to mark their territory. This substance, secreted from the glands under their eyes, informs other gazelles that this field is already occupied. Reindeer, on the other hand, have scent glands on the tip of their hind feet with which they mark their territory. Rabbits mark their territories with glands on their chins.

As we have seen, Allah has created animals with very interesting and important characteristics. Learning all these makes us astonished at the flawless creation of Allah. We remember that Allah is our Creator and we feel grateful to Him. Remember that Allah has commanded people to think about His blessings and be thankful. In a verse of the Qur'an, Allah informs us that He will reward those who are thankful:

We will recompense the thankful. (Surah Al 'Imran: 145)

Children! So, you must also remember to be thankful for the blessings and beauty with which you are surrounded.

The Loyal Animal: The Dog

Dogs are smarter than most creatures. They are easy to educate. Well-educated dogs are sometimes used as watchdogs. A watchdog can render a creature that is five to six times bigger ineffective. It is interesting, though, that these dogs, which can become terrifyingly wild in times of danger, pose no harm to their owners. In the face of a threat, they put their lives in jeopardy to save their owners and under no circumstances do they abandon them.

The existence of hundreds of dog species of different colours and sizes is one of the signs of Allah's matchless creation. In the Qur'an, our Lord's unique creation is related as follows:

He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth. How could He have a son when He has no wife? He created all things and He has knowledge of all things. That is Allah, your Lord. There is no god but Him, the Creator of everything. So worship Him. He is responsible for everything. (Surat al-An'am: 101-102)

Let's consider the following: assume that you have never seen a dog before and somebody asks you to draw a picture of one. Would you be able to accomplish this? Of course not. No one could do this. Because, we cannot do anything unless Allah provides us an example in nature.

Aeroplanes, for example, are designed in imitation of the flying systems of birds. Robots are imitations of man's body systems. However, our Lord has created countless species without any previous example: Penguins living at the south pole, lions – the kings of the savannah, dolphins, butterflies, birds and bees, etc., in short, Allah created all creatures.

Allah, Who has given all creatures various features, has also given dogs physical characteristics that make them different from other living beings. For example, dogs have 42 teeth, that is, 10 more than human beings. This way, they can grind and break their food, especially bones, into pieces without difficulty. Moreover, thanks to the special creation of their eyes, in darkness dogs have better eyesight than human beings. They can perceive moving objects from farther away. Furthermore, because dogs can hear voices at frequencies beyond our threshold of hearing, they notice noises from distances four times farther away than we can. For example, a man cannot hear the extremely high-pitched sound of the dog whistle used to give commands to dogs while dogs can hear it easily.

The dog's sense of smell is also very keen. The olfactory centre – the centre for smelling – in its brain is forty times more developed than that of man. For this reason, their sense of smell is superior to man's.

By means of all these abilities, dogs can sense the smell of prey, trace it and fetch a hunter's catch even if it is kilometres away. A sniff of something belonging to a person suffices for a police dog to find its owner. Those huge flabby-cheeked dogs the Saint Bernards, for example, can easily detect injured people stuck beneath the snow with their sensitive noses and rescue them. This extraordinary sense of smell that dogs have is itself a miracle.

Dogs also use their noses to breathe air. Passing through the nose, air is filtered, warmed and moisturised and then it makes its way to the lungs.

Unlike human beings, these creatures do not sweat to regulate their body temperatures, because there are no sweat glands in their body. Regulation of body temperature is handled by the respiratory system. The hair covering the body isolates the skin from external heat. As the external temperature increases, a dog's body temperature also increases; a dog whose body temperature increases gets rid of this excess heat by sticking out its tongue. This way, in spite of their thick hair, they do not sweat on hot days. Allah has given them such a perfect system, whereas we, human beings, immediately sweat when we run even for half an hour. But dogs never sweat even if they run for hours. Now that you have learned this fact, you don't have to worry about dogs when you see them with their tongues lolling out on hot days.

Also, if you think about dogs, you will remember that their bodies are always very soft and bright. What gives this softness and brightness to their skin is its oil glands.

There are some special systems within dogs' bodies. Thanks to these systems, the paws of a dog are never hurt, nor do they wear out and their claws never become irritated. As you see, our Lord has solved even a minor problem of one creature by means of a protective mechanism He has designed for it. Our Lord creates everything in harmony. As this example also shows, Allah has equipped all creatures with the abilities they need. Such examples lead us to think and to realise the artistry in our Lord's creation.

Little White Lambs

You have most probably noticed that all lambs have tiny, cute innocent faces. There are also those bigger ones that closely resemble them. They are the mothers of the lambs, that is the ewes. Do you know that there are strong bonds between the lamb and her mother? These strong bonds are established by the time the ewes begin to feed the lambs.

By the time the ewe gives birth to her lamb, she never forgets its smell and the taste she senses while she cleans it with her tongue. That is why, she never accepts another lamb having a different taste and smell. This is really astonishing! While a mother in a hospital may well accept somebody else's baby given to her, a ewe can readily distinguish her own lamb from all others in a crowded flock.

However, the ewe has not much time to get to know her own young one; she has to manage this as soon as she delivers the lamb. Otherwise, she could never find her lamb in a crowded flock again. Yet, she is never afflicted with such a problem, because Allah inspires her to lick her offspring as soon as she gives birth to it so that she can know its taste and smell.

Well, do you know what protects a lamb from rain? Its skin! As lambskin consists of a soft fatty layer, it serves as a raincoat preventing the lamb from becoming wet. This makes its wool curl and remain dry on rainy days.

Besides, one of the most important characteristics of lambs is their rumination. Have you ever seen an animal ruminating? Let us tell you about it. Some animals that feed on grass ruminate. Characteristically, these animals have a stomach divided into four compartments. When the animal eats something, the food first goes to the stomach then comes back to the mouth again. After the animal chews it, it goes to the other chamber of the stomach. This process is called "rumination". Our Lord has given this capability to some animals the better to digest some indigestible foods.

Sheep and lambs have many uses for us. Every day they provide milk, and sheep milk is commonly drunk and used in many parts of the world. The calcium in milk is essential for the development of bones and teeth. Some basic foods such as yoghurt and cheese are made of milk. Milk is also used for making cakes, pastry and other dishes. In short, milk is one of the most useful nutriments that we use everyday. Furthermore, yarns produced from their wool are used in weaving cloth for us. Yarns and threads used in many other fields have made our lives easier. In the Qur'an, which is the Book Allah has sent down to people, the uses these animals provide men are related as follows:

Allah has made your houses places of rest for you and made houses for you out of cattle hides which are light for you to carry both when you are travelling and when you are staying in one place. And from their wool and fur and hair you obtain clothing and carpets and household utensils for a time. (Surat an-Nahl: 80)

We give you pure milk to drink, easy for drinkers to swallow. (Surat an-Nahl: 80)

As mentioned in these verses, we benefit from sheep and lambs. We should be very grateful for these blessings that Allah has created for us.

Our Faithful Friends: Horses

Do you know that after dogs, our most loyal friends are horses? Domestic horses never leave their owners if they are able not to.

These loyal friends can carry us kilometres without becoming tired. Horses are the animals that have helped man most throughout history.

Today, you can see thousands of cars on the streets and there are many motorways built for these cars. Cars, however, came into the service of man only in the last century. At the time your grandfather's grandfather was born, there were no cars. In those years, animals, especially horses, were used for transportation.

Do you know that you can identify the age of a horse by looking at its incisors? Indeed, since the grass on which horses feed contains sand and dust, their teeth wear out gradually and the degree of this indicates their age. Despite this, however, horses' teeth are very long. These teeth are similar to long strips buried deep in the roots of the jawbone. That is, compared to our teeth, the roots of horses' teeth reside deep inside. As the teeth wear out, the part remaining in the jawbone begins to emerge. In fact, the roots of the teeth of very old horses appear on the surface of the gum. Each tooth may wear out about two and a half to five centimetres (one to two inches) before it loses its ability to chew. Think for a moment: had our Lord not given this feature to horses, these animals would quickly lose their teeth and die of starvation.

Our Lord has also given another important ability to the hair of horses. Horsehair serves as a thermostat – a device used to regulate body temperature – for the animal. Their body must always remain at a constant body temperature of 38 degrees Centigrade (100.4 F). To maintain this temperature, the hair of the horse becomes longer in winter. In hot seasons, horses shed their hair, thereby maintaining this body temperature.

Here is another interesting feature of horses: Horses sleep on their feet! Do you know how they manage not to fall down? Because their leg bones have the ability to lock themselves while asleep. Thanks to this ability our Lord has given horses, they can sleep on their feet and also carry very heavy loads. The heads of human beings, however, fall down even when they fall asleep in an armchair.

Horses' legs are specially created not only to make them carry heavy loads but also to make them run very fast. Unlike other animals, horses do not have collarbones, a feature that enables them to take bigger steps. Besides, there is a bone-muscle mechanism in their limbs that, as they gain speed, decreases the amount of energy they spend and increases their ability to move. The functioning principles of this mechanism is similar to the gear mechanism in cars. Just as an accelerating car shifts to a higher gear, horses, too, shift to a higher gear when they want to run faster. While the force required for pushing decreases, the ability to move increases.

Well, why are horses' bodies designed in a way to make them carry heavy loads and run very fast? Actually, carrying heavy loads or running very fast are not skills that a horse needs for itself. So, why do horses have these abilities?

The answer is obvious. These skills have been given to horses not to meet their own needs but to serve human beings. In other words, Allah has created horses with these abilities so that they can serve human beings. In the Qur'an, our Lord stresses that He has created animals to serve people:

And He created livestock. There is warmth for you in them, and various uses and some you eat. And there is beauty in them for you in the evening when you bring them home and in the morning when you drive them out to graze. They carry your loads to lands you would never reach except with great difficulty. Your Lord is All-Gentle, Most Merciful. And horses, mules and donkeys both to ride and for adornment. And He creates other things you do not know. (Surat an-Nahl: 5-8)

Horses In Stripes: Zebras

Zebras at first sight remind us of horses. As in the case of horses, zebras, too, have hair which we call a "mane". Their body structures are also very similar to horses and they run as fast as them.

Yet, their appearance is strikingly different. As you might also suppose, this difference lies in the straight stripes that cover their bodies from head to toe. Do not underestimate a stripe, since these stripes are different in every single zebra. Just like the fingerprint, which is unique to every person, the stripes of zebras are all different. Stripes provide identification data for a zebra just like an ID card does for humans. The vertical stripes of zebras are also an important element of defence. When they come together, tigers and lions perceive the herd as a whole. In this case, it becomes difficult for the predator to choose the individual zebra, which becomes a protection for the zebras.

There are two essential elements necessary for zebras to survive: water and grass.

At times, a zebra herd wanders for 50 kilometres (31 miles) to find water and grass. But at nights they return to their own places. That is because, as we mentioned earlier about other animals, each herd leads its life in a particular territory.

Do you know that zebras very much like to take dust-baths? Indeed, zebras are very fond of dust-baths. That is because, dust-baths remove the parasites living on their bodies. Apart from this, zebras have guests that accompany them and help them in their cleaning. Oxpeckers feed on the ticks found on the hides of zebras. This way, one by one they pick the parasites that make zebras sick and cause them to itch. As you see, our Lord, Who plans and controls the lives of all the creatures and makes them helpers for each other, has also assigned some animals as helpers of others.

About half an hour after birth, a new-born zebra stands up and begins to walk, though in a faltering trembling manner. No sooner do they walk than they begin to suck their mothers' milk. Milk is very beneficial for a new-born creature. This milk, which is pink in colour by a special creation of Allah, protects them from illnesses from birth onwards. Besides that, it secures the proper functioning of their intestines.

Zebras, as is the case with all other creatures under Allah's protection, are equipped with defence mechanisms that Allah has taught them. The first of these defence mechanisms is their very sensitive sensory organs, such as seeing, hearing and smell, which Allah has given them at birth. The sensitivity of these sensory organs enables zebras to notice their predators quickly and run away. No sooner do they begin to run than they reach an incredible speed. The second defence mechanism is the following: when the herd fall asleep, one or two zebras stay awake and watch out for possible threats.

Zebras employ the defence tactics that are similar to those of human beings. However, it is interesting that these animals live in harmony in herds and make a division of labour. It is obvious that it is Allah Who creates zebras, collects them together and provides their sustenance and Who commands them to make a division of labour. If this was not the case, no one would be able to explain why some zebras make sacrifices such as staying awake all night long to protect the others.

On the other hand, for the new-born zebra who has recently opened his eyes to this world, the defence tactics Allah has taught him are much simpler. All he has to do is stay close to his mother. That is because, it is impossible for a new-born zebra to see stealthy enemies with his newly opened eyes or run away from them with his weak, trembling limbs. You see, Allah has inspired the new-born zebra to remain next to his mother always until he grows up. Otherwise, how could he know that there are predators around waiting for him and that the most secure place for him is with his mother?

Most zebras live on open grasslands where there is not much possibility to hide. For this reason, in order to stay alive, they need to move very fast. All the body structure of a zebra is devised to meet this need. For instance, their limbs are very long; they can run very long distances without becoming exhausted or losing speed. Although light, the bones of zebras are very strong.

Zebras feel the need to drink water very often. In regions where water is scarce, they use their sharp sense of smell and dig a hole to reach fresh water. In moments of danger, mature zebras push young zebras into the middle of the herd to protect them. As the zebras run together, young animals always remain inside the herd and run close to their mothers for better protection.