Adeel Malik
As Muslims, or even simply as believers in God Almighty, we firmly believe that He is the One who created all life, including one of the most sophisticated machine – us! Allah says in the Qur’an (41:53):
“We (Allah) will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth.”
Let’s look at some of the facts of one of the most fundamental parts of our bodies – our brains. What goes through them? How does it all work? More importantly, who operates it? And as you read these facts, do reflect and ponder for that’s what the Creator wants us to do on a regular basis.
1) The human brain is not solid, it’s soft and squishy.
And so Al-Khaliq (Allah, The Creator) kept it hidden behind a skull, right at the top.
Yes, every part of our body has a function and so though the brain is one of most important limbs, it’s fragile in nature and is protected just like how the baby is safeguarded in the womb by a shield too.
2) The typical brain is about 2% of a body’s weight and consumes 20% of the total energy produced by the body.
This is physics at play here. Can you imagine having a heavy brain placed on the top of our body?
With everything that’s going inside the brain, how amazing is it that it weighs so less and doesn’t use more than just a quarter of the body’s energy?
If we were to make our computer systems this light in weight and not to consume so much battery life, wouldn’t you find that to be a miracle! Here is what Allah says in the Qur’an (6:73) about how He has proportioned all in the best way:
“It is He who created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions)…”
3) During early pregnancy, neurons (a specialized cell transmitting nerve impulses; a nerve cell) develop at the rate of 250,000 neurons per minute.
How and who is developing them, time after time? How can we take the hugely vital concept of human body creation to be a matter of coincidence with so much intricacy and marvel at stake.
4) There are approximately 100 billion neurons in the adult human brain.
Like wow! Take a step back and ponder over this number.
This system has been copied by those involved in the science and technology fields too, including the world renowned IBM who were noted:
“To capture the essence of intelligence, researchers turned to mimicking the brain. IBM has built artificial neurons that can fire and carry an electric pulse, recreating the biological processes happening in grey matter.”
5) Each neuron connects with approximately 40,000 synapses (a small gap at the end of a neuron that allows a signal to pass from one neuron to the next).
As you read this, the neurons in your brain are doing this right now!
A synapse consists of a tiny gap between two nerves, with one nerve serving as the transmitter and the other as the receiver.
When sending signals, the transmitting side of the synapse releases little packages of neurotransmitters, which traverse the gap (pictured) and bind to receptors on the receiving side, completing the information relay.
6) There are as many as 10,000 specific types of neurons in the brain.
Seriously, don’t these huge numbers bamboozle you?! How are they all functioning so smoothly?
7) Your brain has over 100,000 miles of axons. That’s enough to wrap around the earth 4 times.
An axon or nerve fiber, is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, that typically conducts electrical impulses known as action potentials, away from the nerve cell body. The function of the axon is to transmit information to different neurons, muscles, and glands. (Wiki)
How can so many of these axons be put with such accuracy and complexity into a brain of the size of a watermelon?! Again, take a moment in think.
8) Your brain can process information as fast as 432kph (268mph) – that’s faster than Formula 1 race cars which top out at 386kph (240mph)!
The fact is this, there is absolutely no chance all this marvel inside of us, the complexity and the fashioning couldn’t have just come from chance, there had to be a designer. And thus, Allah has described Himself as being Al-Musawwir (The Fashioner, The Shaper, The Designer), fittingly said in the Qur’an (95:4):
“Verily, We created man of the best stature (mould).”
