FORMATION OF MILK

66- And surely in the livestock there is a lesson for you, We give
you to drink of that which is in their bellies from the midst of
digested food and blood, pure milk palatable for the drinkers.
16-The Honeybee, 66

We often see goats, sheep and cows eat grass, and yet it rarely
occurs to any of us to establish a link between this process and
the milk and the dairy products we consume. God lets them feed
on this grass, its ultimate transformation to be milk, one of the
basic nutriments. William Harvey discovered the circulation of
blood almost a millennium after the Prophet’s decease. At the
time of the Prophet, the fact that the blood carried the nutriments
absorbed from digested food into its constituents to mammary
glands for production of milk was not known. The new material
transformed from pasture into assimilated food and blood
becomes a nutritious food.

The Quran not only draws attention to truths unknown at the time,
but also displays facts to derive lessons from. The blood collects
and transports the substances formed by digested food to organs;
among others, to mammary glands. This process is initiated by
blood coming into contact with the contents of intestines, on their
walls. Before continuing its journey, carried by blood, part of the
digested food is absorbed by the intestines. This information is
the result of modern research in biology, chemistry and in the
physiology of digestion.
THE RICHEST OF PRODUCTS EASY TO OBTAIN
Milk is the first food of the newborn mammal. It is a fluid secreted
by the mammary glands of mammalians as food for their young in
the period immediately after birth. From the young of whales to
human infants, all mammals feed on their mother’s milk. The
young animals and the babies obtain their supply of excellent
nourishment without any toil. Milk is the best product for infants.
No other nourishment can replace what is provided by it. We can
identify thousands of nutritious food items in the world. Had the
universe been the outcome of happy coincidences and had there
been no ingeniously designed creation, there would have been no
particular reason for the mother’s milk to be the best and most
carefully selected nutriment. This perfect order designed for every
mammal, including man, is a proof of the Creator’s inimitable
forethought. Materials digested to become blood turn into milk in
the mother’s breast and are offered to the newborn by its Creator.
Whether ratiocinated or mathematically calculated, it is impossible
to assert that this is the outcome of fortuitous events which have
nothing to do with a designed purpose. The infant practices
sucking its finger in the womb to be prepared for drinking milk as
soon as it is delivered. The fact that mother’s milk comes exactly
in the amount of the baby’s need without spurting is also carefully
planned.
The milk we first taste from our mother’s breast will continue
throughout our lives to be consumed by us to meet the
requirements of a healthy constitution. Milk is a whitish liquid
consisting of small globules of fat suspended in a watery solution
containing proteins, lactose sugar and minerals like calcium,
casein and phosphorous, plus vitamins. Cheese, butter and
yogurt are all made with milk, the basic nutriment of man. The
benefits that our body derives from its contents, like minerals and
vitamins are more than the present book can contain. When we
consume it, we should remember always its Creator.

18- Then which of the favors of your Lord will you deny?
55-Gracious, 18
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