Do Animals talk to one another?
By A.I MAKKI
The scientists working on animals are convinced that animals indeed talk to one another. However, there is no creature in the animal world that enjoys the advanced speech facilities of human beings. We have seen animals around us make sounds by which they communicate with each other and human beings. For instance, a dog may bark to express joy, to warn people of danger, or to express growl to express its anger and howl when it is lonely. We may have also noticed birds chattering unceasingly in their nests uttering sounds understood by its younger one’s and when teaching them to fly. It has also been noticed that monkeys can make different sounds in different situations that express different feelings. A calf can make known to its mother, when it is hungry.
Likewise, the neigh of a horse, the braying of a donkey, the moo of a cow, and the trumpeting of an elephant carry with them different feelings, meanings and emotions. Some of these can be understood by human beings, whereas most of the other language of the animals remains unknown to us. Nevertheless, studies reveal that animals can clearly communicate with each other, and make themselves understood to other animals of their own kind. In a jungle, animals can also communicate with other animals of the forest to warn them of an approaching danger. The other animals at least appear to understand their cries and take measures to safeguard their well-being.
Scientists studying insects have proved beyond doubt that even insects can communicate wonderfully with each other in their own special way. Insects like ants, bees, and wasps live in groups are called as social insects. They live in harmony with one another and share tasks with one another. They cannot do this unless they have a way of communicating or talking with one another. These insects possess long feelers by which they can touch others in a way and make certain things understood to others in their community.
These studies on animals have been carried out extensively by scientists in recent times. The Holy Qur’an had foretold that animals do talk to each other, as it is obvious from the following verses:
In the Chapter, 27:18 of the Holy Qur’an reads as follows, “At length, when they came to a valley of ants. One of the ants said: “O ye ants get into your habitations, lest Solomon and his hosts crush you under foot without knowing it.”
AllahTa’ala, in his wisdom gives us the example of a lowly insect like an ant and the following conclusions can be drawn from the verse quoted above.
The verse of the Holy Qur’an gives valuable insight into the world of ants. The verse tells that one of the ants “said” addressing an assembly of other ants to get into their habitations, if not Prophet Sulayman’s army would crush them to death.
The verse does not say that the ant communicated by other bodily gestures like signaling, waving, nodding, gesturing for them to hide. On the contrary, the words are “spoken out” in a way, in which it was audible to the other ants on a frequency by which they can speak to one another.
The verse also betrays the ‘anxiety’ of the ant to save itself and others of its kind from a certain death. This clearly shows the ant is afraid of death by “crushing,” and it not only wants to ward of the approaching danger on itself, but at this critical juncture it wants to do good to the others of its community by warning them of this danger.
Here the charitable qualities of this tiny insect and the community feeling of the ant clearly stand out to show that most of the animals as a rule are not selfish as they are made out to be by humans.
Another conclusion that can be drawn is the ant loves its life, as we all do. It is for this reason it wants to ward of a certain death on itself and save others also.
The verse also tells us that the ant knew that there was a retinue of soldiers accompanying Prophet Sulayman. It also understood that they might kill the ants unwittingly by crushing them to death.
The ant here appears to be well informed about its surroundings. For instance, it knew for certain, from a distance the army coming its way belonged to Prophet Sulayman [Solomon] and not anybody else. By these verses, Allah Ta’ala makes His signs clear that the Holy Qur’an as it was revealed 1400 years ago is indeed the Word of God.
By A.I MAKKI
