The Spider

Allah, the Almighty, said: (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)
Surat Al-Ankabot: 41

Zoologists today know more than thirty thousand types of spiders which vary in sizes (from less than a millimeter
to ninety millimeters), shapes and colors. Most spiders live in the wild, mostly alone except at times of mating and
egg hatching. The spiders’ environment extends from sea level to heights of five thousand meters.

The spider might stay in its house, where it practices all life's activities, or it might have a nest or a hideout other
than the house, which is connected to the house by a thread known as the trap thread. The spider escapes to this
hideout at times of danger.

In Lissan Al-Arab, under the subject (ankab), it was mentioned that the (ankaboot “spider”) is an animal which
weaves in the air, and on the mouth of the well, a flimsy thin web.Al-Ankaboot maybe masculine or feminine.
Al-Moubarid said: al-ankaboot is feminine and can be used for the masculine.

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

In this noble Quranic verse, there is a clear indication that the female spider is the one mainly undertaking the
building of the house. Consequently, building the spider's house is a mission shouldered by the female spiders.
It is the female which has in its body the glands for secretion of the silk material from which the spider’s house
is woven. It is here where we find the scientific miracle in Allah's (the Almighty) saying: builds to itself a house.

In the Almighty's saying: (the flimsiest of houses is the spider's house…)
(1) Physical weakness:The weakness is in the spider’s house and not the threads; for the Almighty says (the
flimsiest of houses). This is a clear indication that the weakness and frailty are within the spider's house and not
the spider's threads. This is a very precise indication. The threads of the spider's house are made of very delicate
silk.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. This is despite the miraculous building
of this house.

(2) Spiritual weakness: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, in some types of spiders, kills the
male as soon as the fertilization takes place.
In some cases, 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, spiderlings 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 spiderlings remaining.
These spiderlings 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 spiderlings 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 Hidden Quranic Signs:

A- The house of the spideris 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. Allah, the Almighty, said:
Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom
He pleaseth; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed. Surat Al- Nesaa: 48

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.


More about Spiders: http://www.harunyahya.com/themiracleinthespider01.php