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