Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 52
52 how beautifully Islam has unveiled the truth and has explained the object of creating those things which appear at first sight to be harmful. It teaches that they have all been created for a useful purpose and that man ought to praise God for their creation. Considered in this light the whole position is reversed. Arsenic, strychnia and morphia are deadly poisons, yet how frequently are they used to relieve human distress and to combat disease? Do more men die of these poisons, or are more men saved through them? Millions of men are every year saved from the clutches of death by the use of these poisons. How can it then be said that these things are harmful or even useless? The same is the case with snakes, scorpions and other reptiles. Much attention has not yet been devoted to these creatures, but further research is bound to disclose the fact that their existence is of great value from the scientific and medical points of view. Besides, as it appears from the Holy Quran, the creation of these insects, reptiles, etc. , was a preliminary to the creation of man, and they had a large share in the purification of the atmosphere of the earth. These insects and animals were in fact the first links in the creation of man. Not, however, in the sense in which evolution is generally understood in these days, but as indicating and representing the different stages of development through which the earth has passed. Again He says: