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Rain by Design
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By
Harun Yahya |
29/07/2004 |
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Rain
is indeed one of the most important factors for the permanence of life on earth.
It is a prerequisite for the continuation of activity in a region. Rain, which
carries great importance for all living things, including human beings, is
mentioned in various verses of the Qur’an, where substantial information is
given about the formation of rain, its proportion and effects. This information,
which never could have been known by the people of the time, shows us that the
Qur’an is the word of God.
Now,
let us examine the information given in the Qur’an about rain.
The
Proportion of Rain
In
the eleventh verse of Surat az-Zukhruf, rain is defined as water sent down in
“due measure”. The verse is as follows:
{He
sends down (from time to time) water from the sky in due measure, and We raise
to life therewith a land that is dead. Even so will you be raised (from the
dead)} (43: 11)
This
“measure” mentioned in the verse has to do with a couple of characteristics
of rain. First of all, the amount of rain that falls on the earth is always the
same. It is estimated that in one second, 16 million tons of water evaporate
from the earth. This number is equal to the amount of water that drops on the
earth in one second. This means that water continuously circulates in a balanced
cycle according to a “measure”.
Another
measure related with rain is about its falling speed. The minimum altitude of
rain clouds is 1,200 meters. When dropped from this height, an object having the
same weight and size as a rain drop, would continuously accelerate and fall on
the ground with a speed of 558 km/h. Certainly, any object that hits the ground
with that speed would cause great damage. If rain happened to fall in the same
way, all harvested lands would be destroyed, residential areas, houses, and cars
would be damaged, and people would not be able to walk around without taking
extra precautions. What is more, these calculations are made just for clouds at
a height of 1,200 meters; there are also rain clouds at altitudes of 10,000
meters. A raindrop falling from such a height could normally reach a very
destructive speed.
But
this is not how it works; no matter from what height they fall, the average
speed of raindrops is only 8-10 km/h when they reach the ground. The reason for
this is the special form they take. This special form increases the friction
effect of the atmosphere and prevents acceleration when the raindrops reach a
certain speed “limit”. (Today parachutes are designed by using this
technique.)
This
is not all about the “measures” of rain. For instance, in the atmospheric
layers where it starts to rain, the temperature may fall as low as 400 °C below
zero. Despite this, raindrops never turn into ice particles. (This would
certainly mean a fatal threat to the living things on earth.) The reason is that
the water in the atmosphere is pure water. As is well known, pure water hardly
freezes even at very low temperatures.
The
Formation of Rain
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Raindrops fall on the ground with a speed of 558 km/h. Any object that hits the ground with that speed would cause great damage.
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How
rain forms remained a great mystery for people for a long time. Only after
weather radar was invented, was it possible to discover the stages by which rain
is formed.
The
formation of rain takes place in three stages. First, the “raw material” of
rain rises up into the air. Later clouds are formed. Finally, raindrops appear.
These
stages were clearly defined in the Qur’an centuries ago where precise
information is given about the formation of rain:
{It
is God Who sends the Winds, and they raise the Clouds: then does He spread them
in the sky as He wills, and break them into fragments, until you see rain-drops
issue from the midst thereof: then when He has made them reach such of his
servants as He wills, behold, they do rejoice!} (30: 48)
Now,
let us look at the three stages mentioned in the verse:
1st
Stage: {It is God Who sends the
winds...}
Countless
air bubbles formed by the foaming in the oceans continuously burst and cause
water particles to be ejected towards the sky. These particles, which are rich
in salt, are then carried away by winds and move upwards in the atmosphere.
These particles, which are called aerosols, form clouds by collecting around
themselves the water vapor, which again ascends from the seas, as tiny drops by
a mechanism called “water trap”.
2nd
Stage: {...and they raise the
Clouds: then does He spread them in the sky as He wills, and break them into
fragments...}
The
clouds form from the water vapor that condenses around the salt crystals or the
dust particles in the air. Because the water drops in these are very small (with
a diameter between 0.01 and 0.02 mm), the clouds are suspended in the air and
they spread in the sky. Thus, the sky is covered with clouds.
3rd
Stage: {...until you see
rain-drops issue from the midst thereof}
Water
particles that surround salt crystals and dust particles thicken and form
raindrops. So the drops, which become heavier than air, depart from the clouds
and start to fall on the ground as rain.
Every
stage in the formation of rain is told in the verses of the Qur’an.
Furthermore, these stages are explained in the right sequence. Just as with many
other natural phenomena in the world, it is again the Qur’an that provides the
most correct explanation about this phenomenon, and more, it has announced these
facts to people centuries before they were discovered by science.
Life
Given to a Dead Land
In
the Qur’an, many verses call our attention to a particular function of rain,
which is {giving life to a dead land}:
{We
send down pure water from the sky. That with it We may give life to a dead land,
and slake the thirst of many beings We have created, beasts as well as humans}
(25: 48- 49)
In
addition to furnishing the earth with water, which is an inevitable need of
living beings, rain also has a fertilization effect.
Raindrops
that reach the clouds after being evaporated from the seas, contain certain
substances {that will give life} to a dead land. These “life-giving” drops
are called “surface tension drops”. Surface tension drops form on the top
level of the sea surface, which is called the “micro layer” by biologists.
In this layer, which is thinner than one tenth of a millimeter, there are many
organic leftovers caused by the pollution of microscopic algae and zooplankton.
Some of these leftovers select and collect within themselves some elements that
are very rare in seawater, such as phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and some
heavy metals like copper, zinc, cobalt and lead. These “fertilizer”-laden
drops are lifted up into the sky by the winds and after awhile they drop on the
ground inside the raindrops. Seeds and plants on the earth find numerous
metallic salts and elements essential for their growth here in these raindrops.
This event is revealed in another verse of the Qur’an:
{And
We send down from the sky rain laden with blessing, and We produce therewith
gardens and grain for harvests} (50: 9)
Salts
that fall with rain are small examples of certain elements (calcium, magnesium,
potassium, etc.) used for increasing fertility. The heavy metals found in these
types of aerosols are other elements that increase fertility in the development
and production of plants.
A
barren land can be furnished with all the essential elements for plants in a
100-year period just with these fertilizers dropped with the rain. Forests also
develop and are fed with the help of these sea-based aerosols. In this way, 150
million tons of fertilizer falls on the total land surface every year. If there
were no natural fertilization like this, there would be very little vegetation
on the earth, and the ecological balance would be impaired.
What
is more interesting is that this truth, which could only be discovered by modern
science, was revealed by God in the Qur’an centuries ago.
*
The author, who writes
under the pen-name Harun Yahya, has published many books on political,
faith-related and scientific issues. Some of the books of the author have been
translated into English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Albanian,
Arabic, Polish, Russian, Bosnian, Indonesian, Turkish, Tatar, Urdu and Malay and
published in the countries concerned. Visit his website at www.harunyahya.com
or contact him at info@harunyahya.com
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