2,743
edits
Embryology in the Quran: Difference between revisions
Added a brief section on the mudghah stage and moved cell differentiation section to Other Apologetic Claims section
| [checked revision] | [checked revision] |
Lightyears (talk | contribs) |
Lightyears (talk | contribs) (Added a brief section on the mudghah stage and moved cell differentiation section to Other Apologetic Claims section) |
||
| Line 54: | Line 54: | ||
<BR>'''Transliteration:''' ''Walaqad khalaqna al-insana min sulalatin min teenin Thumma jaAAalnahu nutfatan fee qararin makeenin Thumma khalaqna alnnutfata AAalaqatan fakhalaqna alAAalaqata mudghatan fakhalaqna almudghata AAithaman fakasawna alAAithama lahman thumma ansha/nahu khalqan akhara fatabaraka Allahu ahsanu alkhaliqeena''}} | <BR>'''Transliteration:''' ''Walaqad khalaqna al-insana min sulalatin min teenin Thumma jaAAalnahu nutfatan fee qararin makeenin Thumma khalaqna alnnutfata AAalaqatan fakhalaqna alAAalaqata mudghatan fakhalaqna almudghata AAithaman fakasawna alAAithama lahman thumma ansha/nahu khalqan akhara fatabaraka Allahu ahsanu alkhaliqeena''}} | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|22| | {{Quote|{{Quran|22|5}}|'''Pickthall:''' O mankind! if ye are in doubt concerning the Resurrection, then lo! We have created you from dust [turabin تُرَابٍ], then from a drop of seed [nutfatin نُّطْفَةٍ], then from a clot [alaqatin عَلَقَةٍ], then from a little lump of flesh [mudghatin مُّضْغَةٍ] shapely and shapeless [mukhallaqatin waghayri mukhallaqatin مُّخَلَّقَةٍ وَغَيْرِ مُخَلَّقَةٍ], that We may make (it) clear for you. And We cause what We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed time, and afterward We bring you forth as infants, then (give you growth) that ye attain your full strength. And among you there is he who dieth (young), and among you there is he who is brought back to the most abject time of life, so that, after knowledge, he knoweth naught. And thou (Muhammad) seest the earth barren, but when We send down water thereon, it doth thrill and swell and put forth every lovely kind (of growth). | ||
<BR>'''Transliteration:''' ''Ya ayyuha alnnasu in kuntum fee raybin mina albaAAthi fa-inna khalaqnakum min turabin thumma min nutfatin thumma min AAalaqatin thumma min mudghatin mukhallaqatin waghayri mukhallaqatin linubayyina lakum wanuqirru fee al-arhami ma nashao ila ajalin musamman thumma nukhrijukum tiflan thumma litablughoo ashuddakum waminkum man yutawaffa waminkum man yuraddu ila arthali alAAumuri likayla yaAAlama min baAAdi AAilmin shay-an watara al-arda hamidatan fa-itha anzalna AAalayha almaa ihtazzat warabat waanbatat min kulli zawjin baheejin''}} | <BR>'''Transliteration:''' ''Ya ayyuha alnnasu in kuntum fee raybin mina albaAAthi fa-inna khalaqnakum min turabin thumma min nutfatin thumma min AAalaqatin thumma min mudghatin mukhallaqatin waghayri mukhallaqatin linubayyina lakum wanuqirru fee al-arhami ma nashao ila ajalin musamman thumma nukhrijukum tiflan thumma litablughoo ashuddakum waminkum man yutawaffa waminkum man yuraddu ila arthali alAAumuri likayla yaAAlama min baAAdi AAilmin shay-an watara al-arda hamidatan fa-itha anzalna AAalayha almaa ihtazzat warabat waanbatat min kulli zawjin baheejin''}} | ||
| Line 106: | Line 106: | ||
===The 'Alaqah Stage=== | ===The 'Alaqah Stage=== | ||
The concensus in the tafsirs for the embryology verses was that 'alaqah meant blood. In numerous tafsirs it is variously described as blood (al dam الدم), congealed blood (al dam al jamid الدم الجامد), or simply, red 'alaqah ('alaqah hamra علقة حمراء). Nevertheless, in modern times some Muslims, especially those who know that this contradicts the biological reality, have tried to reinterpret the word using some of the other dictionary definitions for 'alaqah or 'alaq. Each of these alternatives is problematic, as indeed is the mere fact that 'alaqah has clotted blood as one of its main meanings. | The concensus in the tafsirs for the embryology verses was that 'alaqah meant blood. In numerous tafsirs it is variously described as blood (al dam الدم), congealed blood (al dam al jamid الدم الجامد), or simply, red 'alaqah ('alaqah hamra علقة حمراء). Nevertheless, in modern times some Muslims, especially those who know that this contradicts the biological reality, have tried to reinterpret the word using some of the other dictionary definitions for 'alaqah or 'alaq. Each of these alternatives is problematic, as indeed is the mere fact that 'alaqah has clotted blood<ref name="LLalaqah"></ref> as one of its main meanings. | ||
====Clinging Thing==== | ====Clinging Thing==== | ||
| Line 136: | Line 136: | ||
This further underlines the suspicion just mentioned, and moreover, suggests some influence in 7<sup>th</sup> century Arabia of the ideas of the Greek physician, Galen, whose works were studied at that time by groups in Alexandria and Syria. Indeed, other similarities between Galenic embryology and that of the Qur'an are well known. | This further underlines the suspicion just mentioned, and moreover, suggests some influence in 7<sup>th</sup> century Arabia of the ideas of the Greek physician, Galen, whose works were studied at that time by groups in Alexandria and Syria. Indeed, other similarities between Galenic embryology and that of the Qur'an are well known. | ||
===The Formation of Bone=== | ===The Mudghah Stage=== | ||
The word mudghah meant a bite sized morsel of meat suitable for chewing<ref name=LLmudghah></ref>. Islamic websites frequently claim, without citing any evidence, that it means a piece of meat that has actually been chewed, or even that has teeth marks on it. They do this, quite laughably, so that they can invite the reader to admire the supposed similarities between an image of the somites of an embryo next to a piece of chewing gum with a row or two of teeth marks. The problems with this ridiculous argument, which highlights the poverty of Islamic apologetics, include: | |||
# They are using a false definition of the word mudghah, as mentioned above. | |||
# It is a lot easier to leave neat teeth marks in chewing gum than on a piece of meat. | |||
# Somites (bilateral rows of blocks of cells that will migrate and develop into segments of the body) are protrusions, but teeth marks are indentations. | |||
Verse {{Quran|22|5}} (quoted above) mentions that the mudghah is formed and without form. Given that this stage appears before the 'itham (bones) stage, such a 'clarification' gives no additional information whatsoever. Such vagueness of description is typical of a author who is merely pretending to have true knowledge. | |||
===The Formation of Bone and Clothing with Flesh=== | |||
There is a clear mistake in the Qur'anic idea of the formation of bone. Drs Needham and Needbeer of freethoughtmecca explain this well. | There is a clear mistake in the Qur'anic idea of the formation of bone and surrounding muscles. Drs Needham and Needbeer of freethoughtmecca explain this well. | ||
{{Quote||While we will return to the issue of mudgha below, we should now move on to the issue of izhaam (bones). As was noted above, after the alaqa is turned into a mudgha, the Qur'an states fa-khalaqnaa al-mudghata izhaaman, or "then we formed the morsel, bones." Moore and his cohort try to change the translation to "out of the mudgha we formed bones," so as to give the impression that the bones are forming inside the embryo, rather than the entire object becoming bones. This brings to light the duplicitous nature that these people are taking to the text. | {{Quote||While we will return to the issue of mudgha below, we should now move on to the issue of izhaam (bones). As was noted above, after the alaqa is turned into a mudgha, the Qur'an states fa-khalaqnaa al-mudghata izhaaman, or "then we formed the morsel, bones." Moore and his cohort try to change the translation to "out of the mudgha we formed bones," so as to give the impression that the bones are forming inside the embryo, rather than the entire object becoming bones. This brings to light the duplicitous nature that these people are taking to the text. | ||
| Line 203: | Line 213: | ||
The resurrected donkey's bones clearly had no flesh on them (were unclothed), and then Allah clothed them. This rather suggests that when the same words are used in 23:14 to describe the developing fetus, the author had in mind a small bare skeleton (or perhaps that the bones are within what was the mudghah, but with no muscles), which is then clothed with flesh. | The resurrected donkey's bones clearly had no flesh on them (were unclothed), and then Allah clothed them. This rather suggests that when the same words are used in 23:14 to describe the developing fetus, the author had in mind a small bare skeleton (or perhaps that the bones are within what was the mudghah, but with no muscles), which is then clothed with flesh. | ||
===The Beginning of the Fetal Stage=== | ===The Beginning of the Fetal Stage=== | ||
Proponents also claim that | Proponents of Qur'anic embryology also claim that it correctly denotes the start of the Fetal stage by referring to the creation of ‘another creation’ after the 'itham/lahm stage (bone clothed with flesh), which supposedly occurs at week eight. | ||
{{Quote|{{cite Quran|23|12|end=14|style=ref}}|'''Pickthal:''' …We the clot a little lump, then fashioned We the little lump bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, and then produced it as another creation.}} | {{Quote|{{cite Quran|23|12|end=14|style=ref}}|'''Pickthal:''' …We the clot a little lump, then fashioned We the little lump bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, and then produced it as another creation.}} | ||
| Line 300: | Line 300: | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|39|6}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran|39|6}}| | ||
He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in '''three veils of darkness'''. such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre)? }} | He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in '''three veils of darkness'''. such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre)? }} | ||
====The End of Cell Differentiation==== | |||
Some proponents of Qur'anic embryology state that the mudghah stage, which is described in one verse, "partly formed and partly unformed" or "shaped and shapeless" refers to the incomplete cell differentiation observed in this stage. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|22|05}}|'''Pickthal:''' O mankind! if ye are in doubt concerning the Resurrection, then lo! We have created you from dust, then from a drop of seed, then from a clot, then from a little lump of flesh shapely and shapeless, …}} | |||
This claim is not backed by the scientific evidence. | |||
Remembering that this mudghah stage occurs before the 'itham (bones) stage, so it must occur before week six, when the progeny is still in the “embryo” stage. However, modern embryologists know that cell differentiation occurs well before the ‘mudghah’ stage and well into the “fetal” stage. Hence the Qur'anic embryology claim must be incorrect. | |||
==Conclusion== | ==Conclusion== | ||