The Striking Detail in Living Things Capable of Perceiving Electricity

Living things emit electricity as well as heat. It may be difficult for you to feel this electricity, because air is an insulator. A conductive environment and special equipment are necessary for this electricity to be felt. Water, a natural conductor, and certain life forms that live in water and use the electrical currents in their bodies are examples of this.

A living thing that can detect electricity in water and acts according to that sensation has a very effective sense. For example, sharks can detect all vibrations in water, changes in water temperature and salinity level, and minute changes in the electrical field set up by moving organisms. In addition, their large number of gel-filled cavities (Lorenzini ampules) are perfect electricity detectors. Along with rough rays, they use these detectors to hunt their prey and can perceive currents as small as one 20 billionth of a volt, a truly glorious ability.

Imagine the batteries in an average house. Sharks would be able to detect the current emitted by just two 1.5 volt batteries beneath the sea from a distance of 3,000 km (1,864 miles) away. The fact that this animal has been equipped with such an exceptionally special system, one that is ideally suited to its environment and crucial to its survival, is only possible by the will of an Almighty Power Who creates it, knows its needs and habitat, and is Mighty enough to create all these. That infinite Power belongs to Allah, the Almighty and Omniscient:

(Hud said:) “I have put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature He does not hold by the forelock. My Lord is on a Straight Path.” (Surah Hud, 56)