THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

s the rainy season approaches, there is a surge of activity in the dried-up ponds. These are ideal breeding places for the mosquitoes. At the bottom of ponds and in every hollow that is likely to fill up with water, mosquitoes can be seen on the move, but they are walking around rather than flying, as though intent on finding something.

Mosquitoes, normally thought of as fliers, present an interesting sight as they try to walk over obstacles that are like mountain peaks compared to their own size. All at once, thousands of mosquitoes go into action, as though they have received an order from somewhere. Now it is time for them to do their duty.

The long journey of the detector mosquitoes...

Mother mosquitoes have to find a suitable place for their eggs. The young emerging from their eggs need water in order to complete their stages of growth. This can be a muddy pool left by the rain, a swamp, a paddy field, a swimming pool or even a few drops of water in a tin can. Mosquitoes have a preference for still water, as this kind of water contains plants that can photosynthesise and thus enrich the water with oxygen, which is one of the most important requirements of the larvae.

The mosquito eggs can develop in any environment where there is water, but even so, a certain set of conditions is required. The hatching larvae have to go through various stages of development before they become mature mosquitoes, and at each stage the young mosquitoes have different needs. Moreover, drought or severe heat can hinder the development of the eggs. For this reason, the mother mosquito has to find an environment in which the young she will produce can comfortably complete their development.

So how does the mosquito find the most suitable environment? By sight, by smell, by guesswork, or by coincidence?

Let's illustrate with an example the difficulty the mosquito faces in finding the most suitable place for its eggs. Imagine you are trying to reach somewhere in a place that is full of hills, trees and hollows and you are walking under the hot sun without any means of help like a sunshade or a vehicle. You can imagine how tiring such a journey would be.

When we think how small a mosquito is, we can imagine how difficult, even impossible it could be to find a suitable place. However, the mosquito does this effortlessly and lays its eggs with ease. Thanks to a special receptor on the underside of its abdomen, it can determine whether the moisture content and temperature of the ground make it a suitable place for the eggs. It scans the ground tirelessly to find the most suitable place.

The arduous task begins…

Let's give some thought to how a creature such as the mosquito can carry out the task of measuring the moisture content and temperature of the ground.

Conducting research into earth is quite a painstaking task. Human beings make use of specially designed devices to ascertain the degree of moisture, the age and the fertility of the earth and to determine what minerals and materials it contains. Detectors are used or the earth is probed and samples examined in a laboratory, because it is somewhat difficult to obtain reliable results from an operation-such as digging-without knowing what there is, how deep it is and how much of it there is. A mistake results in wasted effort, time and money, which is difficult to recoup.

As for the mosquito, it first scans the ground to get a conclusive result. It obtains information on the general state of the ground, evaluates its findings and makes a decision according to the conclusion it comes to. At this point it should not be forgotten that we are not talking about a fully equipped technical device, but a little creature only 10 mm (0.4 inch) in length.

The talents of the mosquito

Let's go over what has been explained so far and think about how a mosquito manages to do this.

A creature 10 mm (0.4 inch) in length is making a conscious investigation. Its aim is to find an environment for its eggs which will meet the needs of the hatching young. The first thing we need to think about is how the mosquito knows what requirements its eggs have.

The mosquito has no knowledge of concepts such as temperature change and humidity rate. For example, it does not know the moisture content, the water content of a unit volume of earth. Nor does it know that the enzymes and proteins in the eggs will be activated by the right degree of moisture and heat. It would of course be unreasonable to think that the mosquito knows what protein and enzymes are, what they are for, under what conditions they will be activated to ensure the development of the egg, and how to look ahead and act on the basis of this knowledge.

In that case, how is it that a mosquito knows that it has to find the right degree of moisture and heat?

The mosquito is an insect with no capacity for such talents as thinking or learning. Nor is there any question of its receiving any kind of training. So what is the knowledge that makes this insect act in accordance with a specific aim?

The second important detail is the technical equipment the mosquito uses when conducting its research. The mosquito is created with an organ that is in exactly the right place to give an accurate assessment of heat and moisture.

But how did the mosquito come to acquire such an organ? Did the mosquito decide to fix a kind of "detector" to its body as a result of its observations and trials on the needs of its young? And then on the basis of this decision, did it make some changes to its own body? Or was it part of the imaginary "evolutionary process" that one day quite by chance an organ, which again by chance is capable of measuring heat and moisture, was appended to the body of the first mosquito to appear on the scene?

Naturally, none of these scenarios is plausible. They evoke hundreds of questions that invalidate the evolutionists' explanation of coincidence. Given the impossibility of the evolutionists' claims let us further emphasise their lack of logic by supposing that this organ appeared by chance. First of all, it is not only this sensitive receptor of the mosquito that needs to be perfect but all the other organs too. Because, an organ that is not in perfect working order or which makes incomplete measurements, for example only of moisture or heat, is of no use, for it would lead to the extinction of the species.

The next question that springs to mind is "How did the mosquito find out what this organ is for and how to use it?"

It is obvious that the mosquito is not able to install a special scanner in its own body any more than it can pass on information to future generations regarding the purpose and use of this scanner.

There is a perfect harmony in the characteristics of the mosquito, which could not be the product of coincidence. As will be seen from the examples given on the following pages, the mosquito has to emerge in a fully-fledged state, or it would not be possible for it to live. This means that the mosquito is created. It is God Who creates the mosquito in its perfect form. Each characteristic of the mosquito acquaints us with the incomparable creative art of God. In the following verses of the Qur'an, God gives an example to illustrate the perfection in His creation:

It was He Who created the seven heavens one above the other. You will not find any flaw in the creation of the All-Merciful. Look again-do you see any gaps? Then look again and again. Your eyes will in the end be dazzled and exhausted! (Qur'an, 67:3-4)