The whole cycle of water,-sea, clouds, rain or hail or snow, rivers, and sea again,-is a remarkable. illustration of the processes of nature making Allah's providence visible to us. The salts of the sea sanitate and purify all the filth that pours into it. Water action, in the form of rain, frost, glaciers, rivers, lakes, etc., is responsible for the building up and configuration of the crust of the earth, and is the chief agent in physical geography. A parched desert quickly comes to life under the action of water. All drinking water, whether derived from rivers, canals, lakes, reservoirs, springs, wells, or water-works of any kind, are ultimately traceable to rain. The connection of life with water is intimate. The physical basis of life itself, protoplasm, is in great part water.

The water is distributed all over the world, in order that all life may receive its support according to its needs. Water is life, and is made available to sustain life all over the world; this is a physical fact which all can see. Allah (swt) says in surat az-Zukhruf, 11: "He sends down (from time to time) water from the sky in due measure, and We raise to life therewith a land that is dead. Even so will you be raised (from the dead)." Rain is indeed one of the most important factors for the permanence of life on earth. It is a prerequisite for the continuation of activity in a region.

How rain forms remained a great mystery for people for a long time. Only after weather radar was invented, was it possible to discover the stages by which rain is formed. These stages are clearly defined in the Quran centuries ago where precise information is given about the formation of rain: "It is Allah Who sends the winds, and they raise the clouds then does He spread them in the sky as He wills, and break them into fragments, until you see rain-drops issue from the midst thereof: then when He has made them reach such of His servants as He wills, behold, they do rejoice!" (Surat ar-Room, 48)