# Nocturnal Animals

> Active at night.

- Field: Zoology
- Level: Simple
- Qur'an passage: Quran 6:13
- URL: https://dailymuslim.org/quran-miracles/nocturnal-animals

In the Quran there are animals that are active at night and rest during the day. Skeptics claim that whoever the Quran made a mistake; all animals are active during the day and rest at night, no exceptions. Today scientists confirm the existence of nocturnal animals, they are active at night and rest during the day.

1400 years ago people thought that all animals rest at night. However today we know that this is false, some animals are active during the night and rest during the day.

> "Nocturnality

> Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite."

— [Wikipedia, Nocturnality, 2019.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnality)

Nocturnal animals are active at night and rest at day. This was known recently, however 1400 years ago the Quran said that there are creatures that rest at night as well as creatures that rest at day:

## Qur'an passage · Quran 6:13

١٣ وَلَهُ مَا سَكَنَ فِي اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ ۚ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

*To Him belongs whatever rests in the night and the day. He is the Hearing, the Knowing.*

Creatures that rest in the day means they are active at night. No mistakes in the Quran.

### Additional references

> Original article: Miracles of Quran. The Wikipedia excerpt and its translations are available under CC BY-SA 4.0. The explanations below are separate additions.

— [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

### Additional evidence — summary

> The US National Park Service explains that many animals are active at night. Some come out at night to avoid daytime heat. Its examples include bats and barn owls. This supports the existence of nocturnal animals, not a single schedule shared by every animal.

— [US National Park Service — Animals Need the Dark](https://www.nps.gov/articles/nocturnal_earthnight.htm)

### Aristotle — History of Animals, Book VIII

> The original article’s claim that people did not know nocturnal animals 1400 years ago is incorrect. Long before Islam, Aristotle described birds that fly at night, including owls. The existence of nocturnal animals and when people first knew about them are different questions.

— [Aristotle — History of Animals, Book VIII](https://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/history_anim.8.viii.html)

### Tafsir Ibn Kathir — 6:13

> Ibn Kathir explains this verse as Allah’s authority over all creatures of night and day. The verse does not classify animals by their sleeping hours. The link with nocturnal animals is the original author’s reflection, not the verse’s only meaning or the result of a scientific experiment.

— [Tafsir Ibn Kathir — 6:13](https://quran.com/al-anam/13/tafsirs/en-tafisr-ibn-kathir)

## Ponder

**How could an illiterate man who lived 1400 years ago have known about nocturnal animals?**

## Sources and further reading

- [Quran 6:13 · Quran.com](https://quran.com/6/13)
- [Wikipedia, Nocturnality, 2019.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnality)
- [Miracles of Quran](https://www.miracles-of-quran.com/nocturnal_animals.html)

— Miracle of Quran, Daily Muslim · https://dailymuslim.org/quran-miracles/nocturnal-animals