Elephant Dung (Golden Words of Allah Ep106)
“Indeed, Allah is the cleaver of grain and date seeds. He brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living.” (Surah Al-An‘am, 6:95)
By Abdullahi Yusuf
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All perfect praise is due to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, the Lord of the Worlds. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah, and Muhammad (pbuh) is His slave and final Messenger.
What if what an animal leaves behind is not the end of the story, but the beginning of another one?
An elephant eats fruits, leaves and nuts, consuming enormous quantities of vegetation as it moves through the forest. Yet when its food passes through its digestive system, not everything disappears. Some seeds survive the journey, protected by their hard coverings, and emerge later in the elephant’s dung.
What most people would regard as waste can therefore contain the beginnings of new life.
Elephants are important seed dispersers. Some seeds that pass through their digestive systems remain viable, and in certain plants, passage through the elephant’s gut can even improve the likelihood or speed of germination. Researchers have recovered thousands of seeds from elephant dung, demonstrating how much reproductive potential can be carried in what appears to be nothing more than waste.
Other animals may search through the dung for what remains. Seeds and pieces of fruit can become food for smaller creatures, while dung beetles arrive to feed on the dung itself. Some species roll or bury portions of it in the soil, carrying with them seeds that can then be deposited beneath the surface.
The dung disappears into the earth, the seeds remain, and another generation of vegetation may eventually rise from the ground.
Dung beetles are not merely removing waste. Their activity can help bury seeds, protect them from some predators and place them at depths favourable for germination. Scientific studies have documented their role as secondary seed dispersers.
Allah says: “And in your creation and whatever creatures He has dispersed are signs for people who are certain.” (Surah Al-Jathiyah, 45:4)
There is an extraordinary order in this process. The elephant eats from the tree. The tree’s fruit produces seeds. The elephant carries those seeds across the landscape. The seeds emerge in its dung. Other creatures feed from what remains. Beetles move what is left into the soil. And from that soil, another plant may eventually grow.
One creature’s waste becomes another creature’s food. What appears to be discarded becomes part of the soil. What passes through an animal can become the beginning of another plant.
The Qur’an says: “Allah has created every living creature from water. Of them are some that move on their bellies, some that walk on two legs, and some that walk on four. Allah creates whatever He wills. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.” (Surah An-Nur, 24:45)
The Prophet (pbuh) said that whenever a Muslim plants a tree or cultivates land and a human being, animal or bird eats from it, it is counted as charity for the one who planted it. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1552; Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6012)
It is striking to consider how much life can be connected to a single plant: the creature that eats its fruit, the animal that carries its seeds, the insect that works through what is left, the soil that receives it, and whatever eventually grows there.
Nothing in that chain appears to be acting alone.
Allah says: “He is the One who created all things and has ordained them in due proportion.”(Surah Al-Furqan, 25:2)
Perhaps what we call waste is sometimes only a failure of perspective.
And Allah knows best.
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