Animals as Teachers

so that He might show him how to hide the corpse of his brother. (5:27-31) In this story the Quran depicts the raven as a teacher of man. This is not only an isolated incident. It has a general application. It teaches the lesson that in animal behaviour there are good examples for man. Man should study such behaviour and discover those good habits that are practised by animals and imitate them in his own life. Why can animals serve as teachers to man? The reason is that man and animals both were created with the same nature, that is, following the good universal model for behaviour. But there was a difference. Man was given freedom of choice, while animals have no choice other than to follow the universal pattern. There are deviations in human behaviour but, in the case of animals, there is no deviation from the path of nature. Due to this difference, man can be right or wrong but animals are always right. So, man should emulate the behaviour of animals in his life. This is the best way for man to stick to the straight path adopted by animals under the guidance of nature. For example, tigers are the most powerful animals but they always avoid fighting. Jim Corbett, the well-known hunter, has rightly said that the tiger lives like a noble person in the jungle. There have been no wars in jungles such as