DRAFT
And when I am ill, then He cures me, [Al-Quran 26:80]
Disease & Cure - XXIV
Abstract
Mosquitoes transmit many diseases. Mosquito is a vector. Presently, scientists are trying to tackle the issue by genetically modifying mosquitoes to destroy mosquito populations.
The Quran specifically uses the female gender of the mosquito (بَعُوضَةً), and the female pronoun (هَا) to specify the creature which is upon her. Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes are bred by injecting the mosquito eggs with the bacteria. This bacteria-infecting method affects the Mosquito Germline, as the Wolbachia manipulates the reproduction of its host, not allowing eggs that do not have Wolbachia from hatching.
There are biting creatures tinier than mosquitoes, who prey on mosquitoes and on other creatures, including humans.
Reading about mosquitoes brings to mind many ayaat of The Quran. Mosquitoes transmit disease primarily by getting infected from humans. Mosquitoes are only vectors. The real problem originates from within humans. Destroying mosquito populations and/or manipulating them will result in unknown outcomes, and perhaps newer problems.
Full Text
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي أَن يَضْرِبَ مَثَلًا مَّا بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَيَقُولُونَ مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَٰذَا مَثَلًا يُضِلُّ بِهِ كَثِيرًا وَيَهْدِي بِهِ كَثِيرًا وَمَا يُضِلُّ بِهِ إِلَّا الْفَاسِقِينَ
الَّذِينَ يَنقُضُونَ عَهْدَ اللَّهِ مِن بَعْدِ مِيثَاقِهِ وَيَقْطَعُونَ مَا أَمَرَ اللَّهُ بِهِ أَن يُوصَلَ وَيُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ
كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَاتًا فَأَحْيَاكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
Indeed, Allah (is) not ashamed to set forth an example (like) even (of) a mosquito and (even) something above it. Then as for those who believed, [thus] they will know that it (is) the truth from their Lord. And as for those who disbelieved [thus] they will say what (did) intend Allah by this example? He lets go astray by it many and He guides by it many. And not He lets go astray by it except the defiantly disobedient.
Those who break (the) Covenant (of) Allah from after its ratification, and [they] cut what has ordered Allah it to be joined and [they] spread corruption in the earth. Those, they (are) the losers.
How (can) you disbelieve in Allah? While you were dead then He gave you life; then He will cause you to die, then He will give you life, then to Him you will be returned.
Allah has sent The Quran for our guidance. Many people take guidance from The Quran, while many people are led astray by the very same scripture. Q2:26 informs us that it is Allah Himself who
guides and misguides with the same revelation, and clarifies that Allah misguides only the defiantly disobedient. Q2:27 defines the
الْفَاسِقِينَ (defiantly disobedient), and the next ayat draws attention to our alternate non-living and living states of existence. Then begins the story of Adam, his appointment as Khalifa, and the human history.
Mosquito & Something upon it
Mosquitoes live in natural surroundings, in gardens, jungles, tropics and the colder regions, even in the Arctic. They are found all over the world, except in Iceland and Antarctica. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in water, and have lived alongside humans and other creatures for several millennia.
Mosquitoes transmit many diseases.
Vectors
Vectors are living organisms that can transmit infectious pathogens between humans, or from animals to humans. Many of these vectors are bloodsucking insects, which ingest disease-producing microorganisms during a blood meal from an infected host (human or animal) and later transmit it into a new host, after the pathogen has replicated. Often, once a vector becomes infectious, they are capable of transmitting the pathogen for the rest of their life during each subsequent bite/blood meal.
Vector-borne diseases
Vector-borne diseases are human illnesses caused by parasites, viruses and bacteria that are transmitted by vectors.
Mosquitoes cause more human suffering than any other organism -- over one million people worldwide die from mosquito-borne diseases every year. Not only can mosquitoes carry diseases that afflict humans, they also transmit several diseases and parasites that dogs and horses are very susceptible to. These include dog heartworm, West Nile virus (WNV) and Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE). In addition, mosquito bites can cause severe skin irritation through an allergic reaction to the mosquito's saliva - this is what causes the red bump and itching. Mosquito vectored diseases include protozoan diseases, i.e., malaria, filarial diseases such as dog heartworm, and viruses such as dengue, encephalitis and yellow fever.
...
MALARIA
Malaria is an ancient disease. In all likelihood originating in Africa, it has been described by the Chinese as far back as 2700BC and the Sumerians from 1700 BC. The malaria parasite (plasmodium) is transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes. ...
More than one million deaths and 300 - 500 million cases are still reported annually in the world. ...
The list of mosquito-borne diseases listed in the above quoted webpage are: Malaria, Chikungunya, Dog Heartworm, Dengue, Yellow Fever, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, St. Louis Encephalitis, LaCrosse Encephalitis, Western Equine Encephalitis, West Nile Virus, and Zika Virus.
Presently, scientists are trying to tackle the issue by genetically modifying mosquitoes to destroy mosquito populations.
بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا
The Quran specifically uses the female gender of the mosquito (بَعُوضَةً), and the female pronoun (هَا) to specify the creature which is upon her. First, let us explore the example of a female mosquito, and then explore the creature upon her.
بَعُوضَةً (female mosquito)
Mosquito mouthparts are very specialized, particularly those of the females, which in most species are adapted to piercing skin and then sucking blood. Apart from bloodsucking, the females generally also drink assorted fluids rich in dissolved sugar, such as nectar and honeydew, to obtain the energy they need. For this, their blood-sucking mouthparts are perfectly adequate. In contrast, male mosquitoes are not bloodsuckers; they only drink sugary fluids. Accordingly, their mouthparts do not require the same degree of specialization as those of females.[65]
How mosquitoes spread disease
Mosquitoes pick up viruses by biting infected people. When they bite again, they can transmit the virus to the next person. This is how mosquito-borne diseases spread.
Mosquitoes do not naturally carry viruses – they can only get them from infected people.
Since only female mosquitoes bite humans, only female mosquitoes can transmit viruses.
Further down the webpage, they explain their bacterial control method [as on October 8, 2022]:
How our Wolbachia method works
Our Wolbachia method is simple.
We discovered that when Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carry Wolbachia, the bacteria compete with viruses like dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever.
This makes it harder for viruses to reproduce inside the mosquitoes. And the mosquitoes are much less likely to spread viruses from person to person.
This means that when Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carry natural Wolbachia bacteria, the transmission of viruses like dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever is reduced.
So, at the World Mosquito Program, we breed Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes. Then, in partnership with local communities, we release them into areas affected by mosquito-borne diseases.
Which means less risk of disease in communities where Wolbachia is established in the local mosquito population.
...
Our method is unique and effective
Unlike most other techniques that aim to prevent mosquito-borne diseases, our Wolbachia method is natural and self-sustaining.
Our method does not suppress mosquito populations or involve genetic modification (GM), as the genetic material of the mosquito is not altered.
Long-term monitoring shows that our natural Wolbachia method is self-sustaining in almost all international project sites, with the first mosquitoes released in 2011.
Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes are bred by injecting the mosquito eggs with the bacteria. This bacteria-infecting method affects the Mosquito Germline, as the Wolbachia manipulates the reproduction of its host, not allowing eggs that do not have Wolbachia from hatching.
فَمَا فَوْقَهَا (something upon her)
There are biting creatures tinier than mosquitoes, who prey on mosquitoes and on other creatures, including humans.
Culicoides impunctatus (left) and culicine mosquito (right)
[By Dunpharlain - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58983161]
To quote Wikipedia [as on October 12, 2022]:
Both males and females feed on nectar, however only the females take a blood meal, which is needed for the maturation of fertilized eggs.[2] Females typically bite at dusk or dawn often in dense swarms and usually in the vicinity of water, marshes or rotting vegetation.
...
To quote Scientific American's blog post titled 'Mosquitoes Have Flying, Blood-Sucking Parasites of Their Own' [posted on October 6, 2014]:
The biting midge Culicoides (Trithecoides) anophelis Edwards is a predator of engorged mosquitoes, which was first described by Edwards in 1922 [1].At least 19 mosquito species in the genera Anopheles, Culex, Aedes and Armigeres have been documented as hosts of C.
In 1922, a scientist named F.W. Edwards published a paper describing a remarkable thing: a flying, biting midge collected from the Malay Peninsula in southeast Asia that he named Culicoides anophelis. What made the midge was remarkable was the thing it bit: mosquitoes.
The blog also features a small video of a midge upon a mosquito. Below the video, to quote from the discussion:
... The host range of C. anophelis, like its geographic range, is enormous. It has been found to parasitize at least 19 species of mosquito, but it has also been collected sucking blood directly from buffaloes and cattle.
Culicoides midges are known carriers of bluetongue virus, Oropouche virus and Schmallenburg virus while mosquitoes they parasitize carry Dengue, West Nile, and Japanese encephalitis viruses. If mosquitoes are flying dirty syringes that spread disease among humans, parasitic midges may further scramble the disease load, introduce new viruses to new vectors, and generally add another order of magnitude to disease transmission calculus. But no one really knows. The studies, as authors of this paper point out, have yet to be done.
Khilafat of Adam, and the Responsibility of Humans
Reading about mosquitoes brings to mind many ayaat of The Quran, which I have been trying to understand in several previous posts.
- Gene-editing: no change in creation Q30:30
- فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًۭا ۚ فِطْرَتَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّتِى فَطَرَ ٱلنَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا ۚ لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلدِّينُ ٱلْقَيِّمُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ ٣٠
- So direct your face [i.e., self] toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fiṭrah of Allāh upon which He has created [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of Allāh. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.
- Wolbachai infecting: egg-cells injected with bacteria فساد Q30:41
- ظَهَرَ ٱلْفَسَادُ فِى ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِى ٱلنَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُم بَعْضَ ٱلَّذِى عَمِلُوا۟ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ ٤١
- Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by [reason of] what the hands of people have earned so He [i.e., Allāh] may let them taste part of [the consequence of] what they have done that perhaps they will return [to righteousness].
- Manipulating populations: Q2:205 destroying crops and progeny by directly manipulating mosquito populations, and affecting the ecosystem
- وَإِذَا تَوَلَّىٰ سَعَىٰ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ لِيُفْسِدَ فِيهَا وَيُهْلِكَ ٱلْحَرْثَ وَٱلنَّسْلَ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْفَسَادَ ٢٠٥
- And when he goes away, he strives throughout the land to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and animals. And Allāh does not like corruption.
- Partner in offsprings: Q17:64
- وَٱسْتَفْزِزْ مَنِ ٱسْتَطَعْتَ مِنْهُم بِصَوْتِكَ وَأَجْلِبْ عَلَيْهِم بِخَيْلِكَ وَرَجِلِكَ وَشَارِكْهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَمْوَٰلِ وَٱلْأَوْلَـٰدِ وَعِدْهُمْ ۚ وَمَا يَعِدُهُمُ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ إِلَّا غُرُورًا ٦٤
- And incite [to senselessness] whoever you can among them with your voice and assault them with your horses and foot soldiers and become a partner in their wealth and their children and promise them." But Satan does not promise them except delusion.
- Destroying male populations and letting females live: what فرؤن was doing with the Bani Israel Q2:49
- وَإِذْ نَجَّيْنَـٰكُم مِّنْ ءَالِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوٓءَ ٱلْعَذَابِ يُذَبِّحُونَ أَبْنَآءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيُونَ نِسَآءَكُمْ ۚ وَفِى ذَٰلِكُم بَلَآءٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ عَظِيمٌۭ ٤٩
- And [recall] when We saved you [i.e., your forefathers] from the people of Pharaoh, who afflicted you with the worst torment, slaughtering your [newborn] sons and keeping your females alive. And in that was a great trial from your Lord.
- Parthenogenesis, haploid vs diploid: asexual reproduction
- Mitochondria, female transmission to offspring, maternally inherited bacteria
- Master control by bacteria:
- Mosquitoes transmit disease primarily by getting infected from humans: Q4:79
- مَّآ أَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍۢ فَمِنَ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَمَآ أَصَابَكَ مِن سَيِّئَةٍۢ فَمِن نَّفْسِكَ ۚ وَأَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ لِلنَّاسِ رَسُولًۭا ۚ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ شَهِيدًۭا ٧٩
- What comes to you of good is from Allāh, but what comes to you of evil, [O man], is from yourself. And We have sent you, [O Muḥammad], to the people as a messenger, and sufficient is Allāh as Witness.
- If Allah was to take humans to task, He would leave no moving creature: Q16:61
- وَلَوْ يُؤَاخِذُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّاسَ بِظُلْمِهِم مَّا تَرَكَ عَلَيْهَا مِن دَآبَّةٍۢ وَلَـٰكِن يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍۢ مُّسَمًّۭى ۖ فَإِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهُمْ لَا يَسْتَـْٔخِرُونَ سَاعَةًۭ ۖ وَلَا يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ ٦١
- And if Allāh were to impose blame on the people for their wrongdoing, He would not have left upon it [i.e., the earth] any creature, but He defers them for a specified term. And when their term has come, they will not remain behind an hour, nor will they precede [it].
- and Q35:45
- وَلَوْ يُؤَاخِذُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّاسَ بِمَا كَسَبُوا۟ مَا تَرَكَ عَلَىٰ ظَهْرِهَا مِن دَآبَّةٍۢ وَلَـٰكِن يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍۢ مُّسَمًّۭى ۖ فَإِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهُمْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِعِبَادِهِۦ بَصِيرًۢا ٤٥
- And if Allāh were to impose blame on the people for what they have earned, He would not leave upon it [i.e., the earth] any creature. But He defers them for a specified term. And when their time comes, then indeed Allāh has ever been, of His servants, Seeing.
Contracting the Disease:
- nothing happens till Allah writes it for a person Q57:22
- مَآ أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٍۢ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِىٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ إِلَّا فِى كِتَـٰبٍۢ مِّن قَبْلِ أَن نَّبْرَأَهَآ ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرٌۭ ٢٢
- No disaster strikes upon the earth or among yourselves except that it is in a register before We bring it into being - indeed that, for Allāh, is easy -
- Its okay for sick and healthy people to even eat together, as long as they send Salam on their nafs Q24:61
- لَّيْسَ عَلَى ٱلْأَعْمَىٰ حَرَجٌۭ وَلَا عَلَى ٱلْأَعْرَجِ حَرَجٌۭ وَلَا عَلَى ٱلْمَرِيضِ حَرَجٌۭ وَلَا عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَن تَأْكُلُوا۟ مِنۢ بُيُوتِكُمْ أَوْ بُيُوتِ ءَابَآئِكُمْ أَوْ بُيُوتِ أُمَّهَـٰتِكُمْ أَوْ بُيُوتِ إِخْوَٰنِكُمْ أَوْ بُيُوتِ أَخَوَٰتِكُمْ أَوْ بُيُوتِ أَعْمَـٰمِكُمْ أَوْ بُيُوتِ عَمَّـٰتِكُمْ أَوْ بُيُوتِ أَخْوَٰلِكُمْ أَوْ بُيُوتِ خَـٰلَـٰتِكُمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكْتُم مَّفَاتِحَهُۥٓ أَوْ صَدِيقِكُمْ ۚ لَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَن تَأْكُلُوا۟ جَمِيعًا أَوْ أَشْتَاتًۭا ۚ فَإِذَا دَخَلْتُم بُيُوتًۭا فَسَلِّمُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ تَحِيَّةًۭ مِّنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ مُبَـٰرَكَةًۭ طَيِّبَةًۭ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمُ ٱلْـَٔايَـٰتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ ٦١
- There is not upon the blind [any] constraint nor upon the lame constraint nor upon the ill constraint nor upon yourselves when you eat from your [own] houses or the houses of your fathers or the houses of your mothers or the houses of your brothers or the houses of your sisters or the houses of your father's brothers or the houses of your father's sisters or the houses of your mother's brothers or the houses of your mother's sisters or [from houses] whose keys you possess or [from the house] of your friend. There is no blame upon you whether you eat together or separately. But when you enter houses, give greetings of peace upon each other - a greeting from Allāh, blessed and good. Thus does Allāh make clear to you the verses [of ordinance] that you may understand.
- Good things happen from Allah, bad things due to our nafs Q4:78-79
- أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُوا۟ يُدْرِككُّمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ وَلَوْ كُنتُمْ فِى بُرُوجٍۢ مُّشَيَّدَةٍۢ ۗ وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ حَسَنَةٌۭ يَقُولُوا۟ هَـٰذِهِۦ مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌۭ يَقُولُوا۟ هَـٰذِهِۦ مِنْ عِندِكَ ۚ قُلْ كُلٌّۭ مِّنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ فَمَالِ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ ٱلْقَوْمِ لَا يَكَادُونَ يَفْقَهُونَ حَدِيثًۭا ٧٨
- Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction. But if good comes to them, they say, "This is from Allāh"; and if evil befalls them, they say, "This is from you." Say, "All [things] are from Allāh." So what is [the matter] with those people that they can hardly understand any statement?
- مَّآ أَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍۢ فَمِنَ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَمَآ أَصَابَكَ مِن سَيِّئَةٍۢ فَمِن نَّفْسِكَ ۚ وَأَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ لِلنَّاسِ رَسُولًۭا ۚ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ شَهِيدًۭا ٧٩
- What comes to you of good is from Allāh, but what comes to you of evil, [O man], is from yourself. And We have sent you, [O Muḥammad], to the people as a messenger, and sufficient is Allāh as Witness.
- Shukar is the wisdom Q31:12
- وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَا لُقْمَـٰنَ ٱلْحِكْمَةَ أَنِ ٱشْكُرْ لِلَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِۦ ۖ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَنِىٌّ حَمِيدٌۭ ١٢
- And We had certainly given Luqmān wisdom [and said], "Be grateful to Allāh." And whoever is grateful is grateful for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever denies [His favor] - then indeed, Allāh is Free of need and Praiseworthy.
- establish Prayer, enjoin the Maroof, forbid the Munkar, and endure patiently whatever befalls you Q31:17
- يَـٰبُنَىَّ أَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَأْمُرْ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَٱنْهَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَٱصْبِرْ عَلَىٰ مَآ أَصَابَكَ ۖ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ ٱلْأُمُورِ ١٧
- O my son, establish prayer, enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and be patient over what befalls you. Indeed, [all] that is of the matters [requiring] resolve.
Mosquitoes are only vectors. The real problem originates from within humans. We need to address the root causes, and do more of acts of gratitude for Allah, and acts of personal reform. Destroying mosquito populations and/or manipulating them will result in unknown outcomes, and perhaps newer problems.
To quote from Surah at-Taubah ayat 51
قُل لَّن يُصِيبَنَآ إِلَّا مَا كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَنَا هُوَ مَوْلَىٰنَا ۚ وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ٥١
Say, "Never will we be struck except by what Allāh has decreed for us; He is our protector." And upon Allāh let the believers rely.
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References & Links
Scientific Explanation of Some Misunderstood Qur'anic Concepts, chapter titled Parasites of Mosquitoes discusses the words in the phrase (بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا )
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Links to posts in the series Disease and Cure
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Last updated on: October 25, 2022
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