| The
development of the science of embryology versus the Holy Qur’an
There is no doubt that
science is a blessing to man, for it increases his scientific knowledge, which
in turn brings healthy and unbiased minds closer to God.
And, as the Holy Qur’an
is full of scientific medical and hygienic signs of which significance and
truth were only revealed in the 20th century. I therefore find it my duty to
identify and explain them with reference to purely scientific text books.
Professor Keith L. Moore Says.
At first I was astonished by the accuracy of the
statements that were recorded in the 7th century AD, before the
science of embryology was established. Although I was aware of the glorious
history of Muslim scientists in the 10th century A.D, and of some of their
contributions to Medicine, I knew nothing about the religious facts and beliefs
contained in the Qur’an and Sunnah.
The Holy Qur’an deals
with man from the stage of being half a cell to a grown up person. It is I may
say, the most difficult part of this book, bearing in mind that I am not a
scientist, but an ordinary person who tried her best to understand and simplify
the most scientific facts. I am going to deal with human development step by
step in the best way I can get to make this scientific subject easier for any
simple person.
To know to what extent
the verses of the Holy Qur’an had been and will ever be miraculous signs, we
have to get a brief historical background about the development of the science
of embryology.
Aristotle had summarized the two main
concepts, prevailing at his time, about embryology:
The first is that a miniature fetus already exists in
man’s sperm and when it enters a woman’s womb it grows like the seed in the
soil. The role of the women’s womb is only as an incubator that provides it
with the nutrition it needs.
The second is that the embryo is “developed from a formless
mass that resulted from the union of semen with menstrual blood “
Aristotle himself was
in favour of the second theory. Dr. M.A El Bar adds that these two theories
prevailed up to the 18th century when Spella Nzani and Wolf proved
through several experiments that both man and women share in the formation of
the embryo.
It was not until 1859
that scientists got to know that the sperm is but a living cell and the Oocyte
(the unfertilized egg) is also a living cell. In 1875 Hertwig was able to
observe how the sperm fertilizes the Oocyte, and proved that both the sperm and
Oocyte share in forming the Zygote (fertilized egg).
This historical survey
proves that humanity did not know that the embryo is formed by a mixture of the
sperm and the Oocyte, and that it passes through several stages of development
except in the 19th century and scientists are only sure of these two scientific
facts in the 20th century.
And, in contrast to
what has preceded, we find that the Qur’an and the tradition of the prophet,
more than 1400 years ago, are full of verses and sayings of Prophet Mohammed,
that deal with these scientific facts in a simple and clear, yet highly
scientific way.
Dr. Maurice Bucaille
says:
The situation is quite different in the Qur’an.
The Book mentions precise mechanisms in many places and describes clearly
defined stages in reproduction, without providing a single statement marred by
inaccuracy. Everything in the Qur’an is explained in simple terms, which are
easily understandable to man, and in strict accordance with what was to be
discovered much later on
To make this clear, let
us go step by step with the formation of the embryo as science advocates in
contrast with what is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and the sayings of Prophet
Mohammed:
Prof. Keith L. Moore
says:
Human development begins at fertilization when a
sperm unites with an ovum to form a unicellular organism called a zygote.. This
cell marks the beginnings of each of us as a unique individual.
The Holy Qur’an states:
هَلْ أَتَى عَلَى
الْإِنسَانِ حِينٌ مِّنَ الدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُن شَيْئاً
مَّذْكُوراً(1) إِنَّا
خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ أَمْشَاجٍ نَّبْتَلِيهِ
فَجَعَلْنَاهُ
سَمِيعاً بَصِيراً"
" الإنسان " آيه2.
Verily we created man
from
Mixture of germinated
drop.
Ibn Abbass (the
Prophet’s cousin) and the best interpreter of the Holy Qur’an says that the “mixture
of germinated drop” means the fluid of the man and that of the woman when they
get mixed, the embryo goes from one stage of development to another.
All ancient
interpreters of the Holy Qur’an strictly followed the same idea simply because
it is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and the prophet’s sayings. It is recorded
that one of the Jews asked the prophet:
" فقال يا محمد مم يخلق
الإنسان، قال رسول الله
صلى الله عليه وسلم:
يا
يهودى، من كل يخلق، من نطفة الرجل ومن
نطفة المرآة:
مسند
الإمام مسلم"
O, Mohammed what is man
created from? “ The prophet replied: “O Jew,
(he is) created from
both from the
man’s Nutfah and from
the woman’s Natfah”
(Nutfah: a drop or part
of fluid(
Prophet Mohammed also
said:
ما من كل الماء يكون
الولد " صحيح مسلم.
“Not from all the fluid
is the offspring created”
Sheikh Azzindani adds
that:
It is also known that not all
parts of the ejaculate are equally potent in the fertilization process.
It is known that every human
cell consists of 46 chromosomes, but what is really amazing is that the sperm
consists of half this number while the ovum consists of the second half. So
when they mix they form the first cell in our creation.
God states in the Holy
Qur’an the different stages of development of an embryo:
وَلَقَدْ
خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ مِن سُلَالَةٍ مِّن طِينٍ(12) ثُمَّ
جَعَلْنَاهُ نُطْفَةً فِي قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ(13) ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ
عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً
فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَاماً
فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْماً ثُمَّ
أَنشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقاً آخَرَ فَتَبَارَكَ
اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ(14)
سورة
المؤمنون12-14
We created man of an
extraction of clay,
then We set him, a drop,
in a respectable secure,
then We created of the drop
a clot
then We created of the
clot a tissue
then We created the
tissue bones
then We garmented
the bones in flesh
thereafter we produced
him as another creature.
So blessed be God, the
fairest of creators!
We have already dealt
with the “ germinated drop”, now we are going to move to the second point in
this verse: “the respectable secure”, or the mother’s womb which is firmly
secured in the mother’s body to become, we may say, an ideal cradle that allows
a safe place for the formation and development of the embryo. The bony pelvis
keeps safe the woman’s genital system. It also keeps safe both the woman’s and
man’s bladder, the rectus, the blood and lymphatic vessels…etc.
Yet, the woman bony
pelvis differs from that of man. It should be ready for the enlargement of the
womb and it should also be ready to deliver the baby. The bony pelvis of the
woman keeps the womb in a safe secured place from any dangers the woman may be
exposed to.
It has four joints,
which enable it to enlarge on pregnancy and delivery. Modern scientists say
that the progesterone as part of its function facilitates the movement of the
pelvis to be able to enlarge according to the development of the embryo. And at
the approach of delivery date the pituitary gland produces a hormone which
enables the pelvis to enlarge for a safe passage of the baby.
As for the implantation
of the egg in the female genital organs Dr. Maurice Bucaille in his book “The
Bible, The Qur’an and Science “says:
Once the egg has been fertilized in the Fallopian
tube, it descends to lodge inside the uterus; this is called the “implantation
of the egg” the Qur’an names the womb where the fertilized egg is lodged.
" ونقر في الأرحام ما
نشاء إلى أجل مسمى"
الحج ايه5
We cause whom We will to
rest in the womb for an appointed term”
Thus the implantation of the egg in the uterus
(womb) is the result of development of villosities, veritable elongation of the
egg, which, like roots in the soil, draw nourishment from the thickness of the
uterus necessary to the egg’s growth. These formations make the egg literally
cling to the uterus. This is a discovery of modern times.
He goes on saying that
the true translation of the word “علق” is something that clings
while “ blood clot” “ is a mistake
against which one should guard”, Sheikh
Azzindani says that the word “ علق” means in Arabic “ leech”
Dr. Mohammed Ali El Bar agrees on the linguistic interpretation of the word “علق”. He
adds that this leech-like “egg” is surrounded with clotted blood. The matter
which made ancient scientists say that the embryo at this stage is a blood
clot, simply because this leech –like egg or substance could not be seen by the
naked eye, while it is surrounded with clotted blood which could be seen by the
naked eye.
Professor Keith L.
Moore in his book “The Developing Human” says:
As the zygote, a single cell, passes down the
uterine tube, it undergoes mitotic cell division known as cleavage. This phase
of development begins with the first mitotic division of the zygote and ends
with formation of the blastocyst.
……………………………………..
By the end of the first week, the blastocyst is
superficially implanted in the compact layers of the endometrium.
The following stage of
development is the “مضغة” which is like a chewed flesh or substance. Its “
irregular surface showing somites, resembling teeth prints on a substance which
has been chewed.”
While Dr. Maurice Bucaille in his book “The Bible the Qur’an and science” says
that:
"Chewed
flesh," is the translation of the word “mudga”….The embryo is initially a
small mass. At a certain stage in its development, it looks to the naked eye
like chewed flesh.
Then the Holy Qur’an
superbly and accurately describes how the bones of an embryo are created and
then how the bones are clothed with flesh.
Dr.
Maurice Bucaille in the same book
says:
The
bone structure develops inside this mass in what is called the mesenchyma. The bones that are formed are
covered in muscle; the word ‘lahm’
applies to them.
He goes on confessing that what is mentioned in the Holy
Qur’an agrees totally with
modern science. He says:
The Qur’anic descr i ption of certain stages in the
development of the embryo corresponds exactly to what we today know about it,
and the Qur’an does not contain a single statement that is open to criticism
from modern science.
He adds that:
More than a thousand years before our time, at a
period when whimsical doctrines still prevailed, men had a knowledge of the
Qur’an. The statements it contains express in simple terms truths of primordial
importance which
man has taken centuries to discover.
Who Decides the Sex of the Embryo
Scientifically man’s
sperm that decides the sex of the embryo. Dr. Keith L. Moore in his book “The Developing
Human”, says:
The embryo’s sex is determined at fertilization
by the kind of sperm that fertilizes the ovum. Hence it is the father rather
than the mother whose gamete determines the sex of their offsprings.
Fertilization by an X- bearing sperm produces an XX Zygote, which normally
develops into a female, where as fertilization by a Y-sperm produces an XY
Zygote, which normally develop into a male.
The Holy Qur’an
miraculously states:
وَأَنَّهُ
خَلَقَ الزَّوْجَيْنِ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنثَى(45) مِن
نُّطْفَةٍ إِذَا
تُمْنَى(46)
النجم آيات 45-46
and that He Himself created the two kinds
male and female of a
sperm – drop, when it was cast forth.
Prophet Mohammed (may
peace be upon him) extraordinarily accurately says:
ماء الرجل ابيض وماء المرأة أصفر فإذا إجتمعا
فعلا منى الرجل
منى المرأة فذكر بإذن الله
وإذا علا منى المرأة
على منى الرجل
أنث بإذن الله ( صحيح مسلم)
The water of the man is white while the woman’s
water is yellow. if these two waters mix and the man’s water overcomes the
water of the woman the embryo is a boy
by God’s permission; and if the water of the woman overcomes that of the man,
it is a girl, by God’s permission.
Dr. El Bar says that
the water in the vagina tends to be yellowish and so the water in graffian
follicle and when the egg comes out from this follicle it is called the yellow
substance. He adds that this in itself is a miracle for this fact was not known
at that time.
The most important
stage in the development of the embryo starts in the forth week and ends in the
eighth week. And at the end of the sixth week (42 days) is the peak of its
development. Prophet Mohammed says:
إذا مر بالنطفة ثنتان وأربعين ليلة بعث الله إليها ملكاً فصورها
وخلق سمعها
بصرها وجلدها
ولحمها وعظمها ثم قال يا رب أذكر أم أنثى؟
فيقضى ربك
ما شاء ويكتب
الملك" رواه مسلم كتاب القدر.
“when forty two nights have passed over the
“drops” Allah sends an angel to it, who
shapes it and makes its ears, eyes, skin, flesh and bones. Then he says, O! Lord, is it male or female? And your lord
decides and the angel records it” (Muslim: Kitab Al- Qadar)
Sheikh Azzindani in
“The Developing Human” Says:
By the beginning of the seventh week of
development the embryo has acquired a skeleton, mostly cartilaginous, which
gives form to the body of the
embryo and recognizable human characteristics. After the 42nd
day, the limb buds are longer with differentiated fingers and toes
The tail bud, which was previously
conspicuous has regressed almost completely.
…………………………………
The anlage of the eyes and
ears make their appearance before the seventh week, but they do not have a human appearance as yet…
…………………………………
The skeletal system,
muscles and skin are fully developed and with recognizable human characteristics after the 42nd day… …
…………………………………
During the 4th week the
anlage of the external genitalia appears and not until the 9th week do they
show any distinguishing sexual characteristics. The male fetus can be clearly distinguished from the
female only by the 12th week. According to the hadith, while all other organs
and systems are well formed and have acquired
human characters, the morphological appearance of the external genitalia (by which sex can be identified with the naked eye) is not distinct enough to
permit sexual identification.
Professor Keith L.
Moore in his book “The Developing Human” says:
Although the genetic sex
of an embryo is determined at fertilization by the kind of sperm that fertilizes the ovum, there is no morphological indication of sex until the seventh week, when the
gonads (future ovaries or testes) begin to acquire sexual
characteristics. The early genital system is
similar in both sexes and this initial period of early genital development is referred to as the indifferent stage of the reproductive organs. | 
