Fasting
of Silkworm
By: Dr. `Abd Al-Hakam `Abd Al-Latif As-Sa`idi
Lecturer of Entomology – Faculty of Agriculture – Al-Azhar
University
World of insects introduces us patterns of fasting that indicate Allah's
Omnipotence and Wonder in His creation. Although it is well known that
food is among the factors of growth for living organisms, silkworms prove
that fasting and abstaining absolutely from food and drink do not impair
the body. Rather, it reforms these creatures in a captivating and wondrous
way. In order to grasp the secrets of this fasting, firstly we should
delve into some facts about life cycle of this creature; this can be shown
as follows:
In the beginning of Spring, the eggs incubate small gluttonous larvae.
The newly hatched larvae does not take long before they feed on mulberry
leaves for five days. Their bodies, thereby, grow up too quickly to the
extent that their skin cannot bear this rapid development and thus be
replaced by another spacious one. Thus, they are obliged to observe fasting
for one or two days until their bodies are physiologically adapted to
cast away the old skin. This process recurs five times during the earliest
stage before the completion of this metamorphosis in a period amounting
to thirty days. Eventually, they will have completed the stage of development
and reached a remarkable bulk.
When the larva reaches this bulk, it inevitably enters into another kind
of fasting that extends for about six days. Thus, it takes shelter in
a quiet location to spin a covering for their pupal stage. Truly speaking,
it’s very captivating to know that the larva spins only one thread
of fine, strong, lustrous fiber whose length ranges from 400 to 1200 meters.
This covering is called cocoons, which are the source of commercial silk
that souls yearn to wear garments made of it but for Allah, Most High,
has prohibited it (silky clothes) to men and made it lawful for women.
At this very moment, we can say that the worm has entered into the no-feeding
stage (between the larva and adult in the metamorphosis of holometabolous
insects), during which the larva typically undergoes complete transformation
within a protective cocoon. The pupal stage needs complete quietness for
it is not actually one of the stages of development or hibernation however
it seems as such. Rather, it resembles an important stage in the life
of this wondrous insect, which is subject to various kinds of sequent
and rapid transformations. This stage prepares these insects to transform
and reshape into another following stage.
Eventually, the dormant fasting worm turns into a rebellious giant that
destroys fetters to get out into the spacious world. It secretes a caustic
liquid that dissolves a part of this cocoon to raise the covering, producing
a beautiful organism called the silkworm moth, which lays its eggs after
fertilization. It spends the remaining five days of its life in a state
of fasting after it lays its fertilized eggs, which will be hatched in
the coming spring to restart the cycle once again. Glory be to Allah,
the Originator, the Restorer!
Source: islamonline
Courtesy: www.everymuslim.com
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