Water: Design & Beauty
"We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?”
"And it is He who sends the winds as good tidings before His mercy,
and We send down from the sky pure water"
"As soon as We shower it with water, the earth vibrates with life."
Why doesn’t water act normally?
Why does it suddenly begin to expand at 4°C after having contracted the way it should?
That is a question that nobody
has ever been able to answer.
Water is the matrix of Life. Nothing is softer or more flexible & submissive than water, yet nothing can resist it. We all love it. Humans (made up of 70% water) need to imbibe the characteristics of water...submissive, flexible. Water has a message for humanity. It is telling us to look at ourselves. When we look through water at ourselves, the message becomes crystal clear. The quality of human life is intimately connected with the quality of our water. “Water is the foundation of life, the connective might of the universe. Therefore sustaining the water systems must be the foundation of planning & development.” – Betsy Damon. The earth is called the “Water Planet” because 70% of its surface is covered with water. The oceans have long drawn people to its shores to marvel at its wonder & beauty, its ability to provide & its power to destroy. For thousands of years people have taken to the seas to find food, fortune & adventure. Those who meet the waters find themselves moved by its music, mystery & depth. Few can turn their backs on it without leaving behind a piece of their heart. Water is the source of all life on the planet – its purity & integrity being vital to all forms of life. The body is like a sponge or a honeycomb. It is composed of chambers called cells that hold liquid. Protoplasm is the basis of all living matter, and the vital power of protoplasm depends on the constant presence of water. God speaks with the power of a tidal force: “It is He Who has created man from water...” (Quran 25:54)
Water...is more than a mere commodity & is, in fact, God’s gift for life...His greatest gift. Water is magic. Source of life, instrument of purification, fountain of pleasure, quenching thirst. Your morning shower & cup of tea. These are sacramental moments, refreshing, renewing & bringing life. As you go out with your watering can into the yard, here too you experience a sacramental moment as you sprinkle the plants & flowers with water & give them life.
As a result, its scarcity can only be a sign of divine wrath, a consequence of man’s mismanagement of the precious gift or of his ill-conceived projects, since God created all things in due measure, without excess but also without parsimony: Water is the symbol of life. Every drop counts. As a source, water is purity. As a stream, it is rushing. As a pond, it is calm, light greyish blue or heavy dark green-blue, changing with the light of day. As an ocean, water evokes the immensity & the movement by its incessant changes. The universal truth, that water is the source of all life, explains why the word water is feminine in practically all languages.
The Quran tackles the different types of waters & categorizes them according to the degree of purity. The Quran identifies the “distilled” water which is rainwater as the pure water, names the water that we drink from rivers & wells the “sweet” water & names the sea water that holds a high percentage of saltiness as “bitter” water. It has been established scientifically the distinction between these kinds. Let’s take a closer look.
“And We send down from the sky PURE water” The Criterion, 48. The word “Tahura” (purified) in the language means the removal of dirt & impurities. It is noticeable that the Quran differentiates between the word “Tahur”/pure and “Furat”/sweet in its verses. God says: “...and have given you to drink sweet water.” Al-Mursalat, 27. The water we drink from the rivers, springs & wells is acceptable & taste sweet because it contains a quantity of minerals, like iron, that causes the water to taste sweet. This definition suits the expression “Furatan”/sweet. The term “Furat”/sweet water in the language is the water with acceptable taste as described in the linguistic dictionaries. While the descending water from the sky is distilled water which possesses the characteristics of sterilization & cleansing & carries not taste! Therefore the Divine described it as “Tahura.” A miraculous differentiation!
God says: “And not alike are the two bodies of water. One is fresh and sweet, palatable for drinking, and one is salty and bitter.) Fater,12. You must be wondering why God associated each kind with two attributes, “Fresh and Sweet” & “Salty and Bitter”. We know that river water is “fresh”, so why did God add another attribute “sweet”? Whereas God describes seawater as “Salty” but why did He assign to it another attribute “Bitter”? Remember God assigned rainwater just one attribute “Pure” ...because the rainwater is pure, distilled and has neither taste nor smell, thus a single attribute suffices it.
The seawater is “bitter”. In the language the verb “Ujaj” means exceeded the limit, and this is what we find in seawater which has saltiness that exceeds the normal limit. Therefore God has described seawater as (Salty/Bitter) because the word (salty) is not enough as a description, but the fresh water does contain some salts but we don’t sense it! The Quran does not assign saltiness as an attribute on its own. It doesn’t state “This is salty” only, but on the contrary, it mentions “It is salty & bitter”. From a scientific point of view if we say that the water contains salts then this is ludicrous because all water types contain salts with varying degrees, therefore it is a must to describe the degree of saltiness, and this precisely is what the Quran did. The Quran is the first book that handles the disinfecting characteristic of rain water or distilled water and this attribute is not mentioned except in association with sky water. Whereas human writing does not differentiate between fresh water, sweet water and pure water while the Quran accurately made a distinction and positioned each term in its accurate place.
Water is essential to life. In so many ways it cleanses (wudu & ghusl) & gives life to us each day & in every moment. Yet we take it for granted, missing the richness of these sacramental moments that remind us constantly of our covenant with God & reassure us of the cleansing of souls that has taken place through prayer.
As the rain pours down, do not take this life force for granted. Its absence or scarcity is generally a death sentence. Man can actually go far longer without food, than without water. Each of the many properties of water are essential to life on Earth. Water is the only substance that has three separate forms at normal temperatures found on Earth; solid, liquid & gas. Water is a solid below 32 degrees F, is liquid between 32 degrees F & 212 degrees F, where it then becomes water vapor, or gas. Heat & wind cause water to evaporate, become clouds & travel the Earth, then fall back to the Earth as rain or snow – making a continuous source of fresh “purified” water. Each of the properties of water have been perfectly designed to maintain all living creatures. One of the more common properties of water is that it enhances beautiful scenery.
Most of our planet is covered with water. Oceans & seas make up three fourths of the earth’s surface while the land itself contains countless numbers of rivers & lakes. The snow & ice on the summits of lofty mountains is water in its frozen form. A substantial part of the earth’s water is in the sky: every cloud contains thousands – sometimes millions – of tons of water in the form of vapour. From time to time, some of this water vapour turns into drops of liquid & falls to the ground: in other words, it rains. Even the air you’re breathing now contains a certain amount of water vapour.
No matter where you may look on the surface of the earth, you’re certain to see water around somewhere. Indeed, the place you’re sitting in at this moment probably contains about forty to fifty liters of water in it. Look around. You can’t see it? Look again, more carefully, this time raising your eyes from these words and look at your hands, arms, legs, and body. That 40-50 liter mass of water is you! YOU...in the womb, we survive in the amniotic waters. It’s you because about 70% of the human body is water. Your body’s cells contain many things but nothing so much or so important as water. The biggest part of the blood that circulates everywhere in your body is of course water. This is true not just of yourself or of other people however: the bulk of the bodies of all living things is water. Without water, life is impossible. “God has created every animal from water: of them there are some that creep on their bellies; some that walk on two legs; and some that walk on four. God creates what He wills for verily God has power over all things.” (24:45)
Water is a substance that was specially designed so as to be the basis of life. Each & every one of its physical & chemical properties was specially created for life. Capillary action, one of the properties of water, causes water to climb against the pull of gravity, and is extremely high in water. This makes possible for water to circulate through the soil, and to rise up the roots of plants, climbing even the tallest trees. Without capillary action, water would just soak into the ground and quickly sink out of reach of plants and animals.
Functions of water in the body: Cell membranes have specific enzyme transport proteins that specifically regulate water molecules into the cell, called aquaporins. The coiled DNA molecule (blueprint instructions directing the construction and activity of all cell components) is saturated with water at specific sites that are necessary for its structure, repair, replication, & function. Numerous chemical reactions depend on water & it is a factor itself in many biochemical reactions. Water availability is important to cells, and to the fluid surrounding the cells called interstitial fluids (fluids that surround joints, muscles & organs) & to the matrix of the blood.
Cell membranes contain hundreds of embedded large protein molecules (enzymes) that are responsible for recognizing hormones, transporting nutrients (vitamins, trace elements, salts), & water itself. Large molecules on cell surfaces & within the cell often attach water at specific locations & the water molecules assist in helping the molecules hold their shapes in order to function properly when necessary.
Fluids fill every space in cells & between them. As the primary fluid in the body, water serves as a solvent for minerals, vitamins, amino acids, glucose, and many other nutrients. Water also plays a key role in the digestion, absorption, transportation, and use of nutrients. Water is the medium for the sole elimination of toxins & waste products & whole body thermoregulation is critically dependent on it. From energy production to joint lubrication to reproduction, there is no system in the body that does not depend on water.
Other liquids freeze from the bottom up; water freezes from the top down. This is one of the most unusual properties of water and it is crucial for the existence of water on the surface of the earth. Were it not for this property, that is, if ice didn’t float, much of our planet’s water would be locked up in ice & life would be impossible in its seas, lakes, & rivers.
Let’s examine this in detail to see why. There are many places in the world where the temperature falls below 0°C in winter, often considerably below that. Such cold will of course affect the water in seas, lakes, etc. These bodies of water grow colder and colder and parts of them begin to freeze. If ice didn’t behave the way it does (if it didn’t float in other words) this ice would sink to the bottom while the warmer bits of water would rise to the surface and be exposed to the air. But the temperature of that air is still below freezing so these will freeze too and sink to the bottom. This process would continue until there was no liquid water left at all. But this isn’t what happens. What happens instead is this: As it gets colder, water grows heavier until it reaches 4°C at which point everything suddenly changes. After this, the water begins to expand & it becomes lighter as the temperature drops. As a result, the 4°C water remains on the bottom, the 3°C water above it, the 2°C water above that & so on. Only at the surface does the temperature of the water actually reach 0°C & there it freezes. But only the surface has frozen: the 4°C layer of water beneath the ice remains liquid & that is enough for underwater creatures & plants to continue to live.
We should note here that another property of water – the low thermal conductivity of ice & snow – is also crucial in this process. Because they are such poor conductors of heat, the layers of ice and snow keep the heat in the water below from escaping into the atmosphere. As a result of all this, even if the air temperature falls to -50°C, the layer of sea ice will never be more than a meter or two thick & there will be many fractures in it. Creatures such as seals & penguins that dwell in polar regions can take advantage of this to reach the water beneath the ice.
Again let us recall what would happen if water didn't behave this way & acted “normally” instead. Suppose water continued to become denser the lower its temperature became like all other liquids & ice sank to the bottom. What then?
In that case, the freezing process in the oceans & seas would start from the bottom & continue all the way to the top because there would be no layer of ice on the surface to prevent the remaining heat from escaping. In other words, most of earth’s lakes, seas & oceans would become solid ice with a layer of water perhaps a few meters deep on top of it. Even when the air temperature increased, the ice at the bottom would never melt completely. In the seas of such a world, no life could exist & in an ecological system with dead seas, life on land would be impossible. If water didn’t “misbehave” & acted normally, our planet would be a dead world.
Water is “just right” for life to a degree that cannot be compared with any other liquid. The larger part of this planet, a world whose other attributes (temperature, light, electromagnetic spectrum, atmosphere, surface) are all suitable for life, has been filled with just the right amount of water necessary for life. It should be obvious that this cannot all be accidental & that there must instead be intentional design. To put it another way, all the physical/chemical properties of water show us that it is created especially for life. The earth, purposefully created for mankind to live in, was brought to life with this water that was specially created to form the basis of human life. In water, God has given us life & with it He causes the food by which we are nourished to spring from the soil.
But the most important aspect of all this is that this truth, which has been discovered by modern science, was revealed in the Quran, as a guide 14 centuries ago. Concerning water & mankind, God says: “It is He who sends down water from the sky. From it you drink & from it come the shrubs among which you graze your herds. By it He makes crops grow for you, olives, dates, grapes & fruit of every kind. There is certainly a Sign in that for people who reflect.” (an-Nahl: 10-11)
The following is very interesting & should become for Muslims an area of intense research.
Each Water Crystal is Unique: Water in the form of snow has been falling on the earth for a few million years, and each crystal has a different, unique shape & structure. If you freeze water & take a picture of the crystals that form, you get information about the water. Seeking a way to evaluate the quality & purity of water, a creative & visionary Japanese, Masaru Emoto, has taken over 10,000 photographs of frozen crystals of water. He has discovered fascinating differences in the crystalline structure of water from different sources and under different conditions. Water from clear, pure mountain springs & streams have an exquisitely-formed, geometric design in its crystals. Polluted water from industrial areas & stagnant water from storage dams & pipes have distorted, ill-formed crystalline structures
Water Responds to Its Environment: Water crystal pictures also provide startling, physical evidence that the vibration of music and words dramatically affect the crystal structure & health of water. Waters exposed to the music of Mozart, Bach & Beethoven have a beautiful, balanced, delicate crystal structure. When Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” is played to water, the crystals are clearly split in two in the photos. Do people become joyous & encouraged when listening to joyous music and encouraging words because the water that is 70% of our body goes through a positive change? Water samples labeled with the words of Dirty, Demon & “I Hate You” do not even form crystalline shapes & are chaotic in structure. The scattered & fragmented uncrystallized structure of water labeled with the sentiment “You Fool” closely matches the unformed-crystal pictures of the water exposed to heavy metal music, which is full of harsh condemnations. Crystals in water labeled with Beauty, Angel & “I Love You” are intricately & gracefully formed. Our human words, intentions & actions can make the water we consume more beautiful, clean, healthy & harmonious to our well-being. When you express your love and gratitude for water, it responds by forming beautiful crystals which love and heal your body.
Now let your Islamic imagination run riot. Are there Muslim scientists who can check out samples of water after Surah Fatiha or Bismillah has been recited over it? Or The Verse of the Throne? What would the crystals look like? “He is the One Who created Heaven & Earth in six days. His Throne rises over the water.”
Each time waterdrops shatter they release negative ions into the air, which trap impurities. Throughout the city beautiful fountains should be installed. “Consider the water which you drink. Was it you that brought it down from the rain cloud or We? If We had pleased, We could make it bitter.” (56:68-70).
Saving water & safeguarding its purity were two important issues for the Prophet (p). We have seen that his concern about the sustainable use of water led to the creation of haram zones in the vicinity of water sources. But even when water was abundant, he advocated thriftiness. The Quran calls for proper governance of water & the equitable sharing of this vital resource when it says: “Announce to them how water must be shared among them; each will have their own special time to drink.” (54:28).
Water: If you are suffering from grief, worry, shattered expectations, or anger, get close to water. This will be a much-needed oasis to your soul. Go for a swim & let your skin be caressed by this sensuous element. Show gratitude for the gift of water...it will be spiritual rain that seeps into the dry and parched areas of your soul. Let’s praise God for this foundational element of life, for even though it defies human logic, it is truly beautiful.
Let us reflect on God’s scripture: “Recall that Moses sought water for his people. We said, ‘Strike the rock with your staff!’ Whereupon twelve springs gushed out there from. The members of each tribe knew their own water.” (7:160)
O People, strike your pockets with your hands & Give a gift of clean water!!! Save Precious Lives!!!
Which of your Lord’s marvels can you deny? O People: “Consider the water that you drink...”
