Blood that heals wounds

You must have observed that a slight skin wound stops bleeding spontaneously after a little while. This, in fact, is quite thought provoking since, under normal conditions, a liquid flowing from a hole cannot possibly stop flowing of its own accord. To have a better understanding of this fact, suppose that you have a balloon filled with water. If you make a little hole in this balloon using a needle, water will leak out of the balloon. Will it stop leaking after a while with no intervention of yours? Of course not. All the water will keep leaking until the balloon runs out of water. This applies to all liquids in closed spaces.

Blood leaks through the wound.

Blood surrounding the wound coagulates.

Cells close up the wound like a plug.

Blood moves through a closed circuit of veins and leaks out in case of even a slight cut. However, it is of great importance for our health to stop its flow. You may have heard of people who die of excessive blood loss in accidents or operations. Well then, what causes blood to stop flowing a little while after a wound starts to bleed?

This is called blood clotting, which is one of the automatic security systems in our bodies. Some substances existing in the blood stop and close the wound. Thanks to the clotting ability of blood, excessive bleeding is prevented. As shown in the illustration on the right, some cells in the blood are informed of the damaged vein and head for that site at once. First they align themselves along the wound and obstruct the flow of blood by weaving a web. This web stiffens in time and forms what we call a scar.

Now let's think together. Can this planned series of actions take place by chance? How is it that some blood cells are informed of damage somewhere in the blood vessels, which is like a gigantic world in relation to their size? Why do they strive to prevent the flow of blood? How do they know that they should close the wound in order to stop loss of blood? Who taught these cells that they should close the wound?

Cells could neither have learnt all these things by chance nor could they have accomplished them on their own. Even human beings, who have intelligence, cannot possibly originate such a detailed system and teach cells what to do. Certainly, the intelligence demonstrated by these cells does not belong to them. Allah inspires them and they act according to a perfect plan.

Allah informs us of the excellence in His creation as follows:

He created the seven heavens in layers. You will not find any flaw in the creation of the All-Merciful. Look again-do you see any gaps? Then look again and again. Your sight will return to you dazzled and exhausted! (Surat al-Mulk: 3-4)

A MIRACULOUS FLUID WITH NO REPRODUCIBLE EQUALS: BLOOD

Scientists have conducted many studies in order to produce a fluid similar to blood. However, having failed to do so, they gave up trying to imitate blood and focused on research in other fields.

Scientists cannot imitate blood because blood samples withdrawn from a blood vessel clot at once and the structure of the blood becomes unfit for examination. It does not work to preserve the samples in glass test tubes either, because blood cells do not completely survive in tubes. Therefore, scientists had to separate cells in the blood and examine them individually. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most unreasonable and illogical explanations in the world to claim that such a perfect substance, which cannot even be imitated with all the information human beings have gathered for years, came into existence spontaneously and by chance. Allah created blood as a matchless substance. A blood cell that has many amazing abilities is merely one of the manifestations of Allah's infinite wisdom in the human body.

THE MOTOR OF THE BODY: THE HEART

Have you ever thought how litres of blood circulate unceasingly through our body up and down? Every object needs a motor for continuous motion. Cars, aeroplanes, motorboats and even your remote-controlled toy cars move by means of motors. Likewise, blood circulating through our body needs a motor too. The motor that propels our blood night and day, for months and even for years is our heart.

Place your fingers on your wrist and wait for a while. You will feel the beating of your heart. Your heart beats 70 times in a minute, and pumps some 152 million litres (40 million gallons) of blood throughout your life. That much blood is an approximate equivalent of the amount 10,000 oil tankers will hold. These figures are astonishing, aren't they? Now suppose that you have to bail a cup of water from one bucket to the other, 70 times a minute. In the end your arm and hand muscles would ache and you would need to rest. However, your heart carries out this task all throughout your life and it never takes any rest.

THE MOST PERFECT PUMP

The most perfectly structured pump in the world is now beating on the left side of your chest. With its marvellous design and unceasing contractions, your heart makes the entire blood in your body complete 1,000 full cycles in a day.

The heart is a pump made of flesh, which is approximately as big as one's fist. Nevertheless, it is clearly the strongest, the most durable and the most efficient engine in the world with respect to its capacity. We have many reasons to express the strength of the heart in this way. Most important, the heart uses a great deal of energy when it beats. With the energy used by the heart, blood can be raised up to 3 metres high. It may be helpful to give an example in order to make it easier to comprehend the heart's capacity. In an hour the heart can produce an amount of energy that is enough to lift an average car approximately one metre above the ground.

Original Pumps in the Heart

The heart, which is a muscular organ of about the size of one's fist, consists of two halves. There are two pumps in these sections. The left pump, which is stronger, drives oxygen-rich blood to all parts of the body. The right pump is weaker than the former and pumps oxygen-poor blood to the lungs. This transport from the heart to the lungs is over a short distance and is, therefore, called the "small circulation". The former is called the "large circulation".

Each of these halves of the heart is divided into two further sections. Blood between them passes to the other section through heart valves. These pumps operate unceasingly with a great amount of energy, thanks to which blood circulates through our bodies 1,000 times a day.

The Heart Maintains Itself

Machinery needs routine maintenance. It may be necessary to maintain some machine parts or to replace those that are worn out. Machines need to be treated with oil after a certain period of operation, so as to lessen wearing down by friction.

Like machinery, the heart, which keeps operating all the time, requires maintenance too. However, the heart carries out its maintenance itself; it lubricates itself.

How do you think a heart lubricates itself? The answer to this question is hidden in the creation of the heart. The outer surface of heart is covered by a sac consisting of two membranes. Between these membranes is a greasy fluid. This fluid acts like motor oil and facilitates easy operation of the heart. This self-protective structure in the heart reveals once again how perfect and complete is Allah's artistry in creation.