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Embryology in Islamic Scripture: Difference between revisions
Embryology in Islamic Scripture (view source)
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This article analyzes what the [[Islam and Scripture|Islamic texts]] have to say regarding [[embryology]], particularly with regard to a famous hadith on the sequence and timing of the main Quranic stages. For a full discussion of Quranic embryology, see [[Embryology in the Quran]]. | This article analyzes what the [[Islam and Scripture|Islamic texts]] have to say regarding [[embryology]], particularly with regard to a famous hadith on the sequence and timing of the main Quranic stages. For a full discussion of Quranic embryology, see [[Embryology in the Quran]]. | ||
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There are a handful of additional ayaat that deal with this subject, and none of them disagree with this basic scenario. Yet there is more to learn from the hadith, particularly that of Bukhari and Muslim. Again, the accounts are quite consistent, and the additional information they provide is important. The first of these tells us about developmental timing: | There are a handful of additional ayaat that deal with this subject, and none of them disagree with this basic scenario. Yet there is more to learn from the hadith, particularly that of Bukhari and Muslim. Again, the accounts are quite consistent, and the additional information they provide is important. The first of these tells us about developmental timing: | ||
{{Quote|{{Bukhari| | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|||3208|darussalam}}|Narrated 'Abdullah bin Mus'ud: | ||
“Allah's Apostle, the true and truly inspired said, "(The matter of the Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period.”}} | “Allah's Apostle, the true and truly inspired said, "(The matter of the Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period.”}} | ||
These exact details are also given in {{Bukhari| | These exact details are also given in {{Bukhari|||3332|darussalam}}, {{Bukhari|||6594|darussalam}}, {{Bukhari|||7454|darussalam}}, and {{Muslim||2643a|reference}}. | ||
The key information gained from all these ahadith are that the three phases (nutfah, alaqah and mudghah) each takes 40 days, for a total period of 120 days from conception to the point at which the embryo becomes a fetus. | The key information gained from all these ahadith are that the three phases (nutfah, alaqah and mudghah) each takes 40 days, for a total period of 120 days from conception to the point at which the embryo becomes a fetus. | ||
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One additional piece of testable scientific information is available in the hadith. It has to do with the point at which gender is determined. A representative hadith would be the following from Sahih Bukhari: | One additional piece of testable scientific information is available in the hadith. It has to do with the point at which gender is determined. A representative hadith would be the following from Sahih Bukhari: | ||
{{Quote|{{Bukhari| | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|||6595|darussalam}}|Narrated Anas bin Malik: | ||
“The Prophet said, "Allah puts an angel in charge of the uterus and the angel says, 'O Lord, (it is) semen! O Lord, (it is now) a clot! O Lord, (it is now) a piece of flesh.' And then, if Allah wishes to complete its creation, the angel asks, 'O Lord, (will it be) a male or a female?”}} | “The Prophet said, "Allah puts an angel in charge of the uterus and the angel says, 'O Lord, (it is) semen! O Lord, (it is now) a clot! O Lord, (it is now) a piece of flesh.' And then, if Allah wishes to complete its creation, the angel asks, 'O Lord, (will it be) a male or a female?”}} | ||
This detail is repeated in {{Bukhari| | This detail is repeated in {{Bukhari|||3333|darussalam}} and {{Muslim||2646|reference}}, and all of them are quite clear that the embryo is neither male nor female until after the mudghah phase is reached, some 80 days (by Islamic counting) after conception. | ||
So, then, these are the details of embryology as reflected in the Qur’an and the hadith. | So, then, these are the details of embryology as reflected in the Qur’an and the hadith. | ||
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===Gender=== | ===Gender=== | ||
According to multiple | According to multiple hadiths, it is only after the mudghah phase (days 81-120) that an angel of the Lord determines the gender of the baby. But in fact, modern genetics shows that the gender of the baby is determined at the moment of conception, nearly four months before the Islamic date of gender differentiation. | ||
==The interpretations of Dr. Keith Moore== | ==The interpretations of Dr. Keith Moore== | ||
{{Main|Keith L. Moore}} | {{Main|Keith L. Moore}} | ||
In articles published widely across Islamic websites, [[Dr. Keith Moore|Keith L. Moore]] goes on the record to provide a favorable assessment of the Qur’an and hadith in the light of modern knowledge about embryology. | In articles published widely across Islamic websites, [[Dr. Keith Moore|Keith L. Moore]] goes on the record to provide a favorable assessment of the Qur’an and hadith in the light of modern knowledge about embryology. His analysis is perhaps the best possible execution of an "Islamic" understanding of embryology possible but it exhibits the tell-tale signs of being a hypothesis fitted after the fact to known facts rather than a truly predictive, scientific framework: | ||
1. He translates Arabic into terms that no Arabic speaker would consider justified, but that | 1. He translates Arabic into terms that no Arabic speaker would consider justified, but that allow him to claim that the Arabic is closer to truth than it really is. For example, in spite of the fact that almost all translations of “alaqah” agree that its meaning in the Qur'an is “clot,” Moore writes instead that “The word "alaqah" refers to a leech or bloodsucker”, which may be true in some other circumstances but is almost certainly not the case here. | ||
2. He ignores the timing of phases dictated by the hadith, for to consider them renders even his mistranslation unintelligible. For example, after mistranslating “alaqah” to mean “a leech or bloodsucker,” he then compares it to the human embryo at 24 days gestation. But 24 days is still firmly within the “nutfah” phase, when the embryo should actually look like a “drop of seed.” He does the same with “mudghah,” comparing it with the embryo at 28 days, still in the “nutfah” phase and only four days later than he had assigned to “alaqah.” | 2. He ignores the timing of phases dictated by the hadith, for to consider them renders even his mistranslation unintelligible. For example, after mistranslating “alaqah” to mean “a leech or bloodsucker,” he then compares it to the human embryo at 24 days gestation. But 24 days is still firmly within the “nutfah” phase, when the embryo should actually look like a “drop of seed.” He does the same with “mudghah,” comparing it with the embryo at 28 days, still in the “nutfah” phase according to the Islamic sources and only four days later than he had assigned to “alaqah.” | ||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||