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Sources of Islamic Theories of Reproduction: Difference between revisions
Sources of Islamic Theories of Reproduction (view source)
Revision as of 21:26, 28 July 2024
, 28 July→A mingled drop: Added in a strong parallel and scholarly references for similarity of the (incorrect) Quranic embryo stages to coincide with Galen's theories.
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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”). | ||
=== The four stages of embryo development === | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|22|5}}|O mankind! if ye have a doubt about the Resurrection, <b>(consider) that We created you out of dust, then out of sperm, then out of a leech-like clot, then out of a morsel of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed, in order that We may manifest (our power) to you; and We cause whom We will to rest in the wombs for an appointed term, then do We bring you out as babes,</b> then (foster you) that ye may reach your age of full strength; and some of you are called to die, and some are sent back to the feeblest old age, so that they know nothing after having known (much), and (further), thou seest the earth barren and lifeless, but when We pour down rain on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells, and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs).}}{{Quote|{{Quran|23|12-14}}|Man We did create from a quintessence (of clay); Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest, firmly fixed; Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the best to create!}} | |||
As mentioned in the [https://corpuscoranicum.de/en Corpus Coranicum Project,] the stages of embryo development described in the Qur'an reflect the medical knowledge of the late antique world, compatible with seventh-century AD understanding.<ref>Corpus Coranicum Project - [https://corpuscoranicum.de/en/verse-navigator/sura/22/verse/5/intertexts/986 Galen De Semine I, 8] | |||
Michael Marx, Galen De Semine I, 8 - TUK_986. In: Texts from the Environment of the Koran, edited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities by Michael Marx, with contributions by Sebastian Bitsch, Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki, Emmanouela Grypeou, Dirk Hartwig, Nestor Kavvadas, David Kiltz, Yousef Kouriyhe, Mohammed Maraqten, Adrian Pirtea, Veronika Roth, Johanna Schubert and Nicolai Sinai. Beta version: as of July 28, 2024.</ref> The development of humans in the womb outlined in the Qur'an seems to correspond in its four stages to the communis opinion summarized by Galen for (late) ancient medicine;<ref>Corpus Coranicum Project - [https://corpuscoranicum.de/en/verse-navigator/sura/23/verse/14/intertexts/955 Letter to Archdeacon Mar Julian] | |||
David Kiltz (with the collaboration of Yousef Kouriyhe) (revised by Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki), Letter to Archdeacon Mar Julian - TUK_955. In: Texts from the Environment of the Koran, edited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities by Michael Marx, with contributions by Sebastian Bitsch, Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki, Emmanouela Grypeou, Dirk Hartwig, Nestor Kavvadas, David Kiltz, Yousef Kouriyhe, Mohammed Maraqten, Adrian Pirtea, Veronika Roth, Johanna Schubert and Nicolai Sinai. Beta version: as of July 28, 2024.</ref> | |||
Both passages speak of a development of the embryo that begins with the '''1) drop of semen''' (Arabic: nuṭfa), which is then followed by the stage of the '''2) blood structure''' (Arabic: ʿalaqa), which then develops into a '''3) flesh structure''' (Arabic: mudġa), from which the "physically formed and not yet fully formed" (Q 22:5 min muḍġatin muḫallaqatin wa-ġairi muḫallaqatin ) embryo then develops. And in Sura 23, the flesh structure becomes bones that are covered with flesh (Arabic: fa-ḫalaqnā l-muḍġata ʿiẓāman fa-kasaunā l-ʿiẓāma laḥman). This form of life then finally takes on a new quality: '''4) The fully formed infant''' In Q 23:12 it says: "Then We created him as a new (i.e. different) creature. Thus God is full of blessings. He is the best creator." In Q 22:5 the formed and at the same time not yet complete creature becomes a sign of divine power, since God "makes his power clear" to man.<ref>Corpus Coranicum Project - [https://corpuscoranicum.de/en/verse-navigator/sura/22/verse/5/intertexts/986 ''Galen De Semine I, 8''] | |||
Michael Marx, Galen De Semine I, 8 - TUK_986. In: Texts from the Environment of the Koran, edited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities by Michael Marx, with contributions by Sebastian Bitsch, Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki, Emmanouela Grypeou, Dirk Hartwig, Nestor Kavvadas, David Kiltz, Yousef Kouriyhe, Mohammed Maraqten, Adrian Pirtea, Veronika Roth, Johanna Schubert and Nicolai Sinai. Beta version: as of July 28, 2024.</ref> | |||
Basim Musallam notes that the stages were sufficiently similar for medieval Islamic authors to use Qur'anic terminology when describing Galen's (incorrect, ''see: [[Embryology in the Quran]]'') four stages of development. | |||
{{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/12237577/Sex_and_Society_in_Islam Basim Musallam Sex and Society in Islam, Cambridge University Press, 1983, pg. 54]|The stages of development which the Quran and hadith established for believers agreed perfectly with Galen's scientific account. In De Semine, for example, Galen spoke of four periods in the formation of the embryo: (1) as seminal matter; | |||
(2) as a bloody form (still without flesh, in which the primitive heart, liver, and brain are ill-defined); | |||
(3) the foetus acquires flesh and solidity (the heart, liver, and brain are well-defined, and the limbs begin formation); and finally | |||
(4) all the organs attain their full perfection and the foetus is quickened. There is no doubt that medieval thought appreciated this agreement between the Quran and Galen, for Arabic science employed the same Quranic terms to describe the Galenic stages (as in Ibn Sina's account of Galen): nutfa for the first, 'alaqa for the second, "unformed" mudgha for the third, and "formed" mudgha for the fourth.}} | |||
=== Three layers of Darkness === | === Three layers of Darkness === | ||
We see the idea of three layers of darkness. | We see the idea of three layers of darkness. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|39|6}}|He created you from a | {{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: <b>He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness.</b> 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)?}} | ||
Ibn Qayyim (d. 1350), a prominent Hanbali jurist, links these to different membranes being mentioned by Hippocrates, quoting previous scholars. | Ibn Qayyim (d. 1350), a prominent Hanbali jurist, links these to different membranes being mentioned by Hippocrates, quoting previous scholars opinions on the matter. | ||
{{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...}} | {{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...}} | ||