Maha Besar Allah...

A lost world populated by fanged frogs, grunting fish and tiny bear-like creatures has been discovered in a remote volcanic crater on the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea.

A team of scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua New Guinea found more than 40 previously unidentified species when they climbed into the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a pristine jungle habitat teeming with life that has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago. In a remarkably rich haul from just five weeks of exploration, the biologists discovered 16 frogs which have never before been recorded by science, at least three new fish, a new bat and a giant rat, which may turn out to be the biggest in the world.

The discoveries are being seen as fresh evidence of the richness of the world's rainforests and the explorers hope their finds will add weight to calls for international action to prevent the demise of similar ecosystems. They said Papua New Guinea's rainforest is currently being destroyed at the rate of 3.5% a year.

"It was mind-blowing to be there and it is clearly time we pulled our finger out and decided these habitats are worth us saving," said Dr George McGavin who headed the expedition.

The team of biologists included experts from Oxford University, the London Zoo and the Smithsonian Institution and are believed to be the first scientists to enter the mountainous Bosavi crater. They were joined by members of the BBC Natural History Unit which filmed the expedition for a three-part documentary which starts tomorrow night.

They found the three-kilometre wide crater populated by spectacular birds of paradise and in the absence of big cats and monkeys, which are found in the remote jungles of the Amazon and Sumatra, the main predators are giant monitor lizards while kangaroos have evolved to live in trees. New species include a camouflaged gecko, a fanged frog and a fish called the Henamo grunter, named because it makes grunting noises from its swim bladder.

"These discoveries are really significant," said Steve Backshall, a climber and naturalist who became so friendly with the never-before seen Bosavi silky cuscus, a marsupial that lives up trees and feeds on fruits and leaves, that it sat on his shoulder.

"The world is getting an awful lot smaller and it is getting very hard to find places that are so far off the beaten track."

Sumber: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/07/discovery-species-papua-new-guinea

Renungan

Maha Besar Allah! Hanya Allah-lah satu-satunya Pencipta dan selain daripada Allah,semuanya adalah makhluk yang diciptakan! Hingga ke hari ini, masih banyak lagi makhluk ciptaan Allah yang belum lagi diketahui dan ditemui oleh manusia. Allah-lah yang telah ciptakan mereka. Allah-lah yang telah mendengar setiap rintihan suara mereka. Allah-lah yang telah menguruskan segala keperluan mereka. Dan selama ini, Allah telah sembunyikan mereka. Allah-lah Sang Maha Pencipta yang Maha Mentadbir seluruh ciptaan-Nya. Tiada suatu apapun yang tersembunyi di sisi Allah. Segala puji bagi Allah, Rabb bagi sekalian alam-alam!

Imam Ibnu Kathir menukilkan dalam Tafsirnya: Al-Baghawi telah menceritakan daripada Sa’id bin Al-Musayyab bahawa dia menyatakan Allah telah menciptakan 1000 alam, 600 alam di lautan dan 400 alam lagi di daratan. Wahab bin Munabbih pula menyatakan, Allah memiliki 18,000 alam, dunia ini salah satu alam daripadanya. Muqatil pula berkata, alam-alam itu ada sebanyak 80,000 alam. Ka’ab Al-Ahbar pula menyatakan, tidak diketahui bilangan alam-alam ini kecuali hanya Allah Azza Wa Jalla; sebagaimana yang dinukilkan oleh Al-Baghawi. Al-Qurtubi pula menceritakan (apa yang berasal) daripada Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri bahawa beliau menyatakan, bahawa bagi Allah itu 40,000 alam; dunia daripada timur hingga ke barat satu alam daripada alam-alam tersebut. Berkata Az-Zujjaj menyatakan, ‘alam’ itu ialah apa sahaja yang diciptakan Allah samada di dunia ini mahupun di akhirat. Al-Qurtubi menyimpulkan, pendapat ini adalah yang sahih, ia meliputi makna seluruh alam, sepertimana firman Allah:

“Firaun berkata (dengan sombongnya): Dan apa dia Rabb sekalian alam itu? Nabi Musa menjawab. Dialah Rabb (yang memiliki dan mentadbirkan) langit dan bumi serta segala yang ada di antara keduanya, kalaulah kamu mahu mendapat keyakinan (dengan berdalil maka inilah jalannya.)” (Asy-Syu’araa’ 26: 23-24)

Perkataan ‘alam’ berasal daripada perkataan al-‘alaamah’ (tanda atau petunjuk); Kerana alam itu adalah satu pengetahuan yang mendalilkan atas kewujudan Penciptanya, Pembuatnya dan dalil atas Keesaan-Nya. (Intaha min Ibni Kathir).

Dan inilah sebahagian makna bacaan yang sering kita ungkapkan di dalam surah Al-Fatihah di dalam solat kita, "Segala puji bagi Allah, Rabb bagi sekalian alam!"