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Fasting of Snails
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Snails are small, snail-like gastropod mollusks. Some live in water, others on land. They have a slow-moving elongated body with a shell to protect them from danger.
Ground snails prefer damp areas. They bury themselves under the surface layer of the earth during broad daylight and become active at night and on cloudy days. They do so to avoid the heat and light of the sun so that their skin won’t dry.
Snails get their nutrition from plants and from organic substances in the soil. They are so greedy while eating that their bodies acquire extra fat.
Where winters are cold, snails hibernate like many other animals, fasting through the cold weather. But they also fast in hot weather.
Allah Almighty has provided theses creatures with the ability to secrete a mucus cover for themselves to protect their bodies from drying out. During hot, dry periods, snails are threatened with dehydration. So they seal themselves off with a parchmentlike membrane, and often attach themselves to tree trunks, fences or walls. During this time they fast until cooler, wetter weather comes. Both males and females do this.
When the cooler weather comes, snails come out of their shelters to seek their nutrition, declaring the end of their fast. At that time they have lost their extra fat and returned to their vitality.
Almighty Allah gives His slaves many examples of the variety of life and proofs of the oneness of the Creator.
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