> The Spider in the Qur'an

[salamfromrom]

Salam

I saw a picture of a spider's web and remembered there was an ayat about it in the Qur'an. After doing a bit of googling I found this explanation of the ayat in question and I liked it very much, so I thought about posting it here.

Surah 29:

[39] (Remember also) Qaroun, Pharaoh, and Haman: there came to them Moses with Clear Signs, but they behaved with insolence on the earth; yet they could not overreach (Us).

[40] Each one of them We seized for his crime: of them, against some We sent a violent tornado (with showers of stones); some were caught by a (mighty) Blast; some We caused the earth to swallow up; and some We drowned (in the waters): it was not Allah who injured (or oppressed) them: they injured (and oppressed) their own souls.

[41] The parable of those who take protectors other than Allah is that of the Spider, who builds (to itself) a house; but truly the flimsiest of houses is the Spider's house; if they but knew.

[42] Verily Allah doth know of (every thing) whatever that they call upon besides Him: and He is Exalted (in power), Wise.

[43] And such are the Parables We set forth for mankind, but only those understand them who have knowledge.

[44] Allah created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): verily in that is a Sign for those who believe.

N.B.: Qaroun and Haman were the best friends of the Pharaoh of Moses. Qaroun was a very wealthy and powerful Israelite but was pro-Pharaoh. Haman was a top Egyptian official, he was chief of the army and police. Both Qaroun and Haman are not mentioned in the Bible.

Back to the Spider, the Surah number 29 is named "Al-Ankaboot" which means the spider.

Naming the Surah with the singular form "Al-Ankaboot" indicates the solitary life of this animal, except at times of mating and egg hatching. This can be compared to the Surah "Al-Nahel" (The Bees) and the Surah "Al-Namel" (The Ants), where the names are plural since these insects live in social groups.

The word "Al-Ankaboot" is used for the feminine singular.

The verse indicates that the female spider is the one mainly undertaking the building of the house. Accordingly, building the spider's house is an assignment carried on by the female spiders. It is the female which has in its body the glands for secretion of the silk substance from which the spider’s house is made.

The spider’s house, from the physical point of view, is the weakest house of all, because it is made out of a number of very delicate silk threads. These threads are interwoven, leaving large separating spaces at most times. Therefore, they do not protect from the heat of the sun, or the extreme cold. These threads do not form adequate shade, nor protect from the rain, storming winds, or the dangers of attackers.



The Quran is very strict and clear when saying that the weakness is in the spider’s house and not the threads; (the flimsiest of houses).

the spider's house is the flimsiest house, whether physically or spiritually. This has been proven by the late studies in zoology. In other words, the Quran preceded the modern scientific findings by more than 1300 years.

The threads of the spider's house are made of very delicate silk. The thickness of one thread is usually one million of the squared inch, or one part of four thousand parts of the thickness of the ordinary human hair. Despite its delicacy, it is the strongest biological substance known to mankind so far. The silk threads which make up the spider’s web are considered stronger than steel, and their strength is surpassed only by the melted quartz. The thin thread stretches to five times its length before it is cut. Therefore, the scientists call it “biological steel” or “bio-steel”. It is twenty times stronger than the ordinary metal steel. Its tolerance measures 300,000 pound for the square inch. Hypothetically speaking, should there be a thick rope of the spider’s threads, in the size of the thumb, it can easily carry a "jumbo" jet.

In addition, the spider’s house, spiritually speaking, is the flimsiest of all houses, because it is deprived of all love and kindness, which are the pillars of any happy home. The female kills the male as soon as the fertilization takes place. Being larger in size and more violent, the female kills the male and eats its body. Also, the female eats its youngsters mercilessly. In some types, the female dies after fertilizing its eggs, which are usually fostered in a silk bag. When the eggs hatch, spider lings come out to find themselves in a very crowded place inside the eggs bag. The siblings then start to fight for food, space or both. The brother kills its brother and sister, and the sister kills its sister and brother, until the fight ends with a few spider lings remaining. These spider lings shed their skin and tear the eggs bag to come out one after the other with unhappy memories. They all then spread in the surrounding environment. Each female starts to build its house. On the road to achieve this goal, some of the spider lings die, whereas those who survive repeat the same tragedy. This makes the spider’s house the most violent and ruthless house, lacking all forms of kinship. Hence, Allah the Almighty sets it as a parable in its weakness and frailty because it lacks the simplest form of kindness between the husband and wife, the mother and her children, the brother and his siblings, and the sister and her siblings.

Some deep meaning of the verse:

A- The house of the spider is not merely its dwelling place. Being the sticky net it is, it constitutes a trap for flying insects such as flies and others. These insects are a prey on which the spider feeds. Similarly, those idolaters who revere gods besides Allah, and call people to those revered gods, are in fact calling them to an artful trap which leads them to their death and destruction in this life and the afterlife.

B- Warning against those with corrupt invocations who revere others besides Allah, whether money or whim. This warning is issued through indicating their hidden strings with which they hunt their victims. These strings can be money, sex, power, or any other hidden string which destroys the victim once it is trapped.

I hope the above does not contradict the traditional view of the scholars about this verse.

Salam