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Sources of Islamic Theories of Reproduction: Difference between revisions
Sources of Islamic Theories of Reproduction (view source)
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, 28 July→History of Embryology: Added another source and academic reference linking Hippocrates (incorrect) ideas to the Quran.
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(→History of Embryology: Added another source and academic reference linking Hippocrates (incorrect) ideas to the Quran.) |
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{{QualityScore|Lead=4|Structure=4|Content=4|Language=4|References=4}} | {{QualityScore|Lead=4|Structure=4|Content=4|Language=4|References=4}} | ||
[[File:Galen.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The writers of the Qur’an and hadith were influenced by Galen, the hugely influential 2<sup>nd</sup> Century Greek physician.]] | [[File:Galen.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The writers of the Qur’an and hadith were influenced by Galen, the hugely influential 2<sup>nd</sup> Century Greek physician.]] | ||
The [[hadith]] contain many statements about fluids from both the man and woman that were believed to form the human embryo. The [[Qur'an|Qur’an]] too says that the embryo is formed from emitted fluid, and in one verse perhaps indicates a mingling of male and female fluids.This article will trace the origins of each of these ideas at least as far back as the Jewish Talmud and the ancient Greek physicians. | The [[hadith]] contain many statements about fluids from both the man and woman that were believed to form the human embryo. The [[Qur'an|Qur’an]] too says that the embryo is formed from emitted fluid, and in one verse perhaps indicates a mingling of male and female fluids. This article will trace the origins of each of these ideas at least as far back as the Jewish Talmud and the ancient Greek physicians. | ||
The Prophet [[Muhammad]], who had been a well-traveled merchant, had extensive interactions with Jews in Arabia, and almost certainly with Nestorian Christians, who had large communities in Najran in the south and Hira to the north of the Arabian Peninsula.<ref>J. Stewart, "Nestorian Missionary Enterprise", p.70-74, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1928</ref><ref>Cyril Glasse, “The New Encyclopedia of Islam”, p.342-343, CA, USA: Altamira, 2001.</ref> Guillaume says of the Nestorians, “Such men were a familiar sight on all the caravan routes of Arabia”.<ref>Alfred Guillaume, “Islam”, p.15, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1990 (Reprinted)</ref> The Nestorians were based in Syria, where they already possessed and studied the works of Galen, the hugely influential 2<sup>nd</sup> century Greek physician.<ref>Allen O. Whipple, “[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1965836/pdf/bullnyacadmed00860-0027.pdf Role of the Nestorians as the connecting link between Greek and Arab medicine]”, Annals of Medical History 8 (1936) 313-323</ref> While this does not necessitate that the creators of the Qur’an and hadith directly copied from these works, it seems likely that they were, at the very least, indirectly influenced by these widespread ideas. | The Prophet [[Muhammad]], who had been a well-traveled merchant, had extensive interactions with Jews in Arabia, and almost certainly with Nestorian Christians, who had large communities in Najran in the south and Hira to the north of the Arabian Peninsula.<ref>J. Stewart, "Nestorian Missionary Enterprise", p.70-74, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1928</ref><ref>Cyril Glasse, “The New Encyclopedia of Islam”, p.342-343, CA, USA: Altamira, 2001.</ref> Guillaume says of the Nestorians, “Such men were a familiar sight on all the caravan routes of Arabia”.<ref>Alfred Guillaume, “Islam”, p.15, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1990 (Reprinted)</ref> The Nestorians were based in Syria, where they already possessed and studied the works of Galen, the hugely influential 2<sup>nd</sup> century Greek physician.<ref>Allen O. Whipple, “[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1965836/pdf/bullnyacadmed00860-0027.pdf Role of the Nestorians as the connecting link between Greek and Arab medicine]”, Annals of Medical History 8 (1936) 313-323</ref> While this does not necessitate that the creators of the Qur’an and hadith directly copied from these works, it seems likely that they were, at the very least, indirectly influenced by these widespread ideas. | ||
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“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?”<ref>{{Bukhari|8|77|594}}</ref><BR>"Verily We created man from a product of wet earth; Then placed him as a drop (of seed) in a safe lodging; Then fashioned We the drop a clot, then fashioned 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. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators!"<ref>{{cite Quran|23|12|end=14|style=ref}}</ref> | “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?”<ref>{{Bukhari|8|77|594}}</ref><BR>"Verily We created man from a product of wet earth; Then placed him as a drop (of seed) in a safe lodging; Then fashioned We the drop a clot, then fashioned 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. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators!"<ref>{{cite Quran|23|12|end=14|style=ref}}</ref> | ||
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==A few definitions== | ==A few definitions== | ||
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Semen. It is frequently used in hadith about ritual purity, especially narrations saying that [[Aisha]] used to clean semen off Muhammad’s clothes. It is used once in the Qur’an, verse {{Quran|75|37}}. | Semen. It is frequently used in hadith about ritual purity, especially narrations saying that [[Aisha]] used to clean semen off Muhammad’s clothes. It is used once in the Qur’an, verse {{Quran|75|37}}. | ||
==Evidence of influence== | ==Evidence of influence== | ||
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In both cases, the “place of rest, firmly fixed” (qararin makeenin) obviously refers to the womb, with 77:22 adding that it is for a “period determined” (and certainly does not mean the female ovum, which is only penetrated by a single sperm cell and not the “fluid (held) despicable”). | In both cases, the “place of rest, firmly fixed” (qararin makeenin) obviously refers to the womb, with 77:22 adding that it is for a “period determined” (and certainly does not mean the female ovum, which is only penetrated by a single sperm cell and not the “fluid (held) despicable”). | ||
=== Three layers of Darkness === | |||
We see the idea of three layers of darkness. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|39|6}}|He created you from a soul single. Then He made from it its mate. And He sent down for you of the cattle eight kinds. <b>He creates you in (the) wombs (of) your mothers, creation after creation, in darkness[es] three.</b> That (is) Allah your Lord; for Him (is) the dominion. (There is) no god except He. Then how are you turning away?}} | |||
Ibn Qayyim (d. 1350), a prominent Hanbali jurist, links these to different membranes being mentioned by Hippocrates, quoting previous scholars. | |||
{{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/12237577/Sex_and_Society_in_Islam Musallam, Sex and Society in Islam, Cambridge University Press, 1983, pg. 56]|(A) Hippocrates said in the third chapter of Kitab al-ajinna: . The semen is contained in a membrane, and it grows because of the blood of its mother which descends to the womb, and the semen in these membranes draws in the air and breathes it for the reasons we have mentioned... As the semen becomes a foetus several other membranes are formed, and grow within the original membrane, all being formed the same way as the first. Some membranes are formed at the beginning, others after the second month, and others in the third month. (B) This is why God says, "He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, by one formation after another in three darknesses (Quran 39:6)." (C) Since each of these membranes has its own darkness, when God mentioned the stages of creation and transformation from one state to another, He also mentioned the darknesses of the membranes. (D) Most commentators explain: it is the darkness of the belly, and the darkness of the womb, and the darkness of the placenta...}} | |||
===Semen stage lasts 40 days=== | ===Semen stage lasts 40 days=== | ||