The House of the Spider: A Scientific Miracle of the Qur’an

Based on the new discoveries, a new understating of the verse 29:41 has added to previous reflections. The Qur’an calls the spider’s house the weakestone. It is the weakest home not only for it can be damaged easily, but also for there is no love and kindness between the members of this house.
The Qur’an introduces the house of the spider as the weakest house [1], while the scientists have proven that the spider’s silk that the spider weaves its home from it is five times stronger than steel or at least is a wonder of nature. [2] Muslim commentators believe that it is the weakest home because it easily becomes scattered dust. [3] But let’s see what the scientists say in this regard.

According to the scientific discoveries, the weakness of the spider’s house refers to the relations between the members of the house which is based on hatred and enmity instead of kindness and love. “It 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.

Being larger in size and more violent, the female kills the male and eats its body. 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, spider lings 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. They kill each other until a few spiderlings remain. These spiderlings shed their skin and tear the eggs bag to come out one after the other. 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.” [4]

Notes:
[1] Chapter 29, verse 41. مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْلِياءَ كَمَثَلِ الْعَنْكَبُوتِ اتَّخَذَتْ بَيتًا وَإِنَّ أَوْهَنَ الْبُيوتِ لَبَيتُ الْعَنْكَبُوتِ
[2] http://www.rsc.org/news-events/articles/2017/feb/spider-silk/ & http://theconversation.com/spider-silk-is-a-wonder-of-nature-but-its-not-stronger-than-steel-14879
[3] Tafsir-e Nemonah, Makarim Shirazi, vol 16, p 278.
[4] See: http://navedz.com/the-quran-and-the-miracle-of-the-spider-if-they-but-knew/ & http://entezargroup.blogfa.com/post-122.aspx