Semen Production in the Quran: Difference between revisions

[[Category:Qur'an]]

{{QualityScore|Lead=4|Structure=4|Content=4|Language=4|References=3}}[[File:Hippocrates.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Qur'an 86:7 says that sperm originates from the backbones and the ribs, a theory similar to other (now known to be erroneous) theories proposed in the 5th century BC (1000 years before Islam). Plato believed that semen defused from brain and spinal marrow, while his contemporary, Hippocrates, taught that semen comes from all the fluid in the body, diffusing from the brain into the spine, before passing through the kidneys and via the testicles into the penis.]]Towards the end of the 20th century and into the early 21st century, drawing on the work of a broad and largely Saudi-financed movement to demonstrate the concordance of [[Islam and Science|Islamic scriptures and modern science]], attempts have been made to defend the '''[[Quran|Qur'anic]] idea of semen production''' (found in {{Quran-range|86|6|7}}) from between the ''sulb'' (literally "backbone"<ref>sulb - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000436.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 1712</ref>) and the ''tara’ib'' (literally "ribs"<ref name="Lane Lexicon taraib2" />). Several specific interpretations have been proposed, critiqued, and withdrawn by modern Islamic scholars - none, however, have been welcomed by the professional scientific or historian community.

The most common of these revisionary perspectives which advocate an interpretation of the Quran via its reconciliation with modern science include that of Drs. Maurice Bucaille and A. K. Giraud (according to which ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' refer to the sexual areas of the male and female); Ahmed A. Abd-Allah (according to which all acknowledged translations and tafsirs are in error, as ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' refer instead to to the male's “hardening” penis and the female's erogenous zones other than the vagina); Dr. Zakir Naik (according to which ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' refer to the backbone and ribs of both sexes and where the blood, nerve and lymphatic supply to the gonads are being described rather than the act of sexual reproduction); Dr. Jamal Badawi (according to which the verses refer not to semen production but to the blood of the aorta as the ‘gushing fluid poured forth’); Hamza Tzortzis (according to whom the Quran refers to childbirth from between a woman's backbone and ribs); Muhammad Asad (according to which ''sulb'' refers to the male's loins and ''tara'ib'' to the female's pelvic arch); Moiz Amjad (who adopts Naik's positions, and further claims that the ''sulb'' and ''tara'ib'' 'region' alluded to are special euphemisms for the sexual organs); and Yusuf Ali (according to which the backbone is only symbolically alluded to as a symbol of male strength where semen flows between the backbone and ribs).

===Verses 86:6-7===

As can be seen in the competing translations listed below, there is significant disagreement among Islamic translations and controversy surrounding the translation of the subsequent verse, {{Quran|86|7}}.{{Quote|{{Quran|86|7}}|'''Arabic:''' يخرج من بين الصلب والترائب<br>'''Corpus.quran.com translation (literal):''' Coming forth from between the backbone and the ribs.<br>'''Transliteration:''' ''Yakhruju min bayni alssulbi waalttara-ibi''}}{{Quote|{{Qtt|86|7}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' ''proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs.''

'''Pickthal:''' ''that issued from between the loins and ribs.''  

'''Sahih International:''' ''Emerging from between the backbone and the ribs.''

'''Arberry:''' ''issuing between the loins and the breast-bones.''

'''Shakir:''' ''coming from between the back and the ribs.''  

'''Sarwar:''' ''which comes out of the loins and ribs.''  

'''Khalifa:''' ''from between the spine and the viscera.''

'''Hilali/Khan:''' ''proceeding from between the back-bone and the ribs.''  

'''Maulana Ali:''' ''coming from between the back and the ribs.''

'''Free Minds:''' ''it comes out from between the spine and the testicles.''}}

====The word ''sulb'', translated as 'loins'====

Many Islamic translations opt to translate the word ''sulb'' in {{Quran|86|7}} as 'loins', which can lead English speakers to read it in the euphemistic sense of the word 'loins', alluding to the reproductive organs of a male. However, this sense of the English word 'loins' is secondary to its primary sense, which refers to the lumber portion of the back (hence the word ''sirloin'', which refers to '(a piece of) meat from the back of an animal near the tail or from the top part of the back legs').<ref>[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/loin "Loin", Cambridge Dictionary]</ref> Both senses of the word are accounted for in the Oxford English Dictionary.{{Quote|"Loin", Oxford English Dictionary|Loin, n.<br>1. a. In the living body. Chiefly pl. The part or parts of a human being or quadruped, situated on both sides of the vertebral column, between the false ribs and the hip-bone.<br>2. Chiefly Biblical and poet. This part of the body, regarded: a. as the part of the body that should be covered with clothing and about which the clothes are bound; so, to gird (up) the loins (lit. and fig.), to prepare for strenuous exertion.}}

===Supporting evidence in other verses and hadiths===

'''Arabic:''' مِنۢ بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ

One other verse in the Qur'an uses the word ''sulb''. In this case there is no mention of ''tara'ib''. It is an example of the simple Arabic phrase mentioned in Lane's Lexicon (see above), based on the belief that the seed of men proceed from their backs.{{Quote|{{Quran|4|23}}|'''Sahih International:''' Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters [...] the wives of your sons who are from your [own] loins, and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful}}Slightly more explicitly, a hadith in [[Sahih Bukhari]] (also in {{Muslim|39|6733}}) uses ''sulb'' to say that the source of Adam's future progeny was in his back from before they were conceived.{{Quote|{{Bukhari|8|76|562}}|The Prophet (pbuh) said, "Allah will say to the person who will have the minimum punishment in the Fire on the Day of Resurrection, 'If you had things equal to whatever is on the earth, would you ransom yourself (from the punishment) with it?' He will reply, Yes. Allah will say, 'I asked you a much easier thing than this while you were in the backbone of Adam, that is, not to worship others besides Me, but you refused and insisted to worship others besides Me."'}}

This concept did not just apply to Adam. Another hadith confirms that ''sulb'' refers in this way even to the backbone of a specific man's father.

{{Quote|{{Al Tirmidhi||5|44|3103}}|[...] Az-Zuhri said: "'Ubaidullah bin 'Abdullah bin 'Utbah informed me that 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud disliked Zaid bin Thabit copying the Musahif, and he said: 'O you Muslims people! Avoid copying the Mushaf and the recitation of this man. By Allah! When I accepted Islam he was but '''in the loins of a disbelieving man'''' - meaning Zaid bin Thabit [...]}}

Plato (d. 347 BCE) believed that semen came from brain and spinal marrow. An open access paper published by the Royal Society London observes that the idea of semen deriving from the backbone has a long history:

{{Quote|[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4213433/ Leonardo da Vinci and the origin of semen] - Denis Nobel et. al.<ref>Noble D, DiFrancesco D, Zancani D. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4213433/ Leonardo da Vinci and the origin of semen] ''Notes and Records; Royal Society London Publishing''. 2014 Dec 20; 68(4):391-402. doi: 10.1098/rsnr.2014.0021. PMID: 27494016; PMCID: PMC4213433.</ref>|The view that semen was derived from the spinal cord was old enough to be denied by Alcmaeon in the sixth century bc, but Plato and Hippocrates subscribed to it. Plato in his Timaeus considers the brain and spinal ‘marrow’ as but a special form of bone marrow (Timaeus, 73) in which ‘God implanted his divine seed’.<BR />

"And the marrow inasmuch as it is animate and has been granted an outlet from the passage of egress for drink [the penis] has endowed that part with a love for generating by implanting therein a lively desire for emission (Timaeus, 91)."}}

Plato's connection of brain and spinal marrow was an ancient one. The Hebrew word מוח and Arabic مخ share the proto-semetic etymological root *muḫḫ- meaning “head; brain; marrow”.<ref>https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%97#Hebrew</ref><ref>https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%AE#Arabic</ref>

Hippocrates (d. 375 BCE) around the same time taught that semen comes from all the fluid in the body, diffusing from the brain into the spinal marrow, before passing through the kidneys and via the testicles into the penis.<ref>Hippocratic Writings (Penguin Classics, 1983) pp. 317-318</ref>

{{Quote|Joseph Bajada "Sexual Impotence: The Contribution of Paolo Zacchia, 1582-1659", Rome: Editrice Pontifica Universita Gregoriana, 1988, pp. 44-45|According to Hippocrates, this semen is the product of the whole body, though it is the brain which mostly contributes to its formation. At the moment of sexual intercourse, the humidity in the body becomes like effervescent foam, the semen is carried through the veins to the spinal cord and the kidneys, whence it makes its way to the testicles en route to the genital organ.}}

The idea that al sulb in {{Quran|86|7}} refers to the backbone of the man and al tara'ib to the ribs of the woman was among the opinions included by al-Tabari in his tafsir, and became the mainstream classical view. In both cases where "the backbone" of the man is mentioned by Ibn Kathir in the quote below, the words are the "sulb" of the man in arabic.

{{Quote|[http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-At-Tariq/How-Man-is-created-is-a-Proof---- Tafsir of Ibn Kathir for Q. 86:6-7 - qtafsir.com]|Allah says,

(So, let man see from what he is created!) This is alerting man to the weakness of his origin from which he was created. The intent of it is to guide man to accept (the reality of) the Hereafter, because whoever is able to begin the creation then he is also able to repeat it in the same way. This is as Allah says,

(And He it is Who originates the creation, then He will repeat it; and this is easier for Him.) (30:27) Then Allah says,

(He is created from a water gushing forth.) meaning, the sexual fluid that comes out bursting forth from the man and the woman. Thus, the child is produced from both of them by the permission of Allah. Due to this Allah says,

(Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs.) meaning, the backbone (or loins) of the man and the ribs of the woman, which is referring to her chest. Shabib bin Bishr reported from `Ikrimah who narrated from Ibn `Abbas that he said,

(Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs.) "The backbone of the man and the ribs of the woman. It (the fluid) is yellow and fine in texture. The child will not be born except from both of them (i.e., their sexual fluids).'' Concerning Allah's statement,

(Verily, He is Able to bring him back (to life)!) This means that He is able to return this man that is created from fluid gushed forth. In other words, He is able to repeat his creation and resurrect him to the final abode. This is clearly possible, because whoever is able to begin the creation then he surely is able to repeat it. Indeed Allah has mentioned this proof in more than one place in the Qur'an.}}

The theory that conception arises from a mixture of male and female sexual fluids (maniy) mentioned by Ibn Kathir was one of the influential teachings of the 2nd century CE Greek physician Galen, and is found also in the Talmud. These ideas are clearly apparent in a variety of hadiths, and possibly even in the Quran itself (see the article [[Sources of Islamic Theories of Reproduction]]).

{{Main|Bucailleism}}{{Quote|Dr. Maurice Bucaille, ''The Bible, the Qu'ran and Science: The Holy Scriptures Examined in the Light of Modern Knowledge'', Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an, ISBN 978-1879402980, 2003|Two verses in the Qur'an deal with sexual relations themselves [...] When translations and explanatory commentaries are consulted however, one is struck by the divergences between them. I have pondered for a long time on the translation of such verses (In plain English that means there is "an improbability or a contradiction, prudishly called a `difficulty'" ), and am indebted to Doctor A. K. Giraud, Former Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Beirut, for the following:

<br>"(Man was fashioned from a liquid poured out. It issued (as a result) of the conjunction of the sexual area of the man and the sexual area of the woman. [...] The sexual area of the man is indicated in the text of the Qur'an by the word sulb (singular). The sexual areas of the woman are designated in the Qur'an by the word tara'ib (plural). [...] This is the translation which appears to be most satisfactory."}}Critics have pointed out that while a case can be made that ''sulb'' means “hardening” and thus, metaphorically, "penis", there is no comparable case that ''tara’ib'' can mean "vagina". Bucaille and Giraud hold that ''tara’ib'' means the ’sexual areas of the woman’ but do not provide evidence to this end save the quote produced by Bucaille above (which itself gives no justification for this reading). Critics also argue that if ''tara'ib'' does mean what Bucaille and Giraud take it to mean, 'sexual areas of the woman' is too vague and speculative an interpretation to be meaningfully accurate or constitutive of a scientific miracle.

Abd-Allah extends Bucaille’s interpretation, providing dictionaries and tafsirs to support his case that ''sulb'' means ‘hardening’ and ''tara’ib'' means the sexual areas of the woman. Abd-Allah defines ''sulb'' as follows:{{Quote|{{citation|chapter=Blemish|url=https://www.answering-christianity.com/quran/blemish.htm|publisher=Answering Christianity|author=Ahmed A. Abd-Allah}}|Note that 'sulb' is *singular*. In the dictionary by Wehr you cite below, you will see that its meaning of backbone is *only* when we take the *plural* word of sulb (aslaab). In its singular form, it means hardening.}}

Critics note that almost all the commonly available translations of the Qur'an refer to ''sulb'' as the backbone or loins. Even classical authorities such as Ibn Kathir accept the meaning of the word as "backbone". Additionally, ''Hans Wehr'', a dictionary of modern standard rather than classical Arabic, is an unreliable source for determining the meanings of words in the Qur'an. Lane's Lexicon, which is a lexicon based on classical Arabic dictionaries and sources, defines sulb singular as the backbone, as noted above, and as we also see in one of the hadiths quoted above.

Critics also argue that Abd-Allah’s proposition is undercut by the definitions of ''tara’ib'' he provides. He does not show that the tafsirs and dictionaries explain ''tara’ib'' to mean vagina. ''Tara’ib'' is defined as the upper chest or ribs, or according to some sources can also mean the two legs, two arms or two eyes<ref name="Lane Lexicon taraib2">tara'ib - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000338.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 301</ref>. While erogenous zones are important in foreplay, the sexual act must be consummated through the vagina.

Finally, critics argue that Abd-Allah’s reference to Ibn Kathir’s tafsir is misleading, as it includes only the half of the description which supports his case (i.e. that ''tara’ib'' refers to the woman) and excludes the other half that contradicts it (i.e. that ''tara’ib'' is the woman’s ribs).

{{Quote|{{citation|author=Zakir Naik|title=The Qur'an & Modern Science: Compatible or Incompatible?|url=https://sites.google.com/site/quransciences/embryology/drop-from-ribs|year=2012|publisher=Islamic Book Services/Peace Vision|ISBN=9789960984933}}|“Now let man but think From what he is created! He is created from A drop emitted – Proceeding from between The back bone and the ribs.” [Al-Qur’an Surah al-Burooj 86:5-7]

In embryonic stages, the reproductive organs of the male and female, i.e. the testicles and the ovaries, begin their development near the kidney between the spinal column and the eleventh and twelfth ribs. Later they descend; the female gonads (ovaries) stop in the pelvis while the male gonads (testicles) continue their descent before birth to reach the scrotum through the inguinal canal. Even in the adult after the descent of the reproductive organ, these organs receive their nerve supply and blood supply from the Abdominal Aorta, which is in the area between the backbone (spinal column) and the ribs. Even the lymphatic drainage and the venous return goes to the same area.}}

Critics argue that Zakir Naik makes a number of errors in his claims here. Firstly, {{Quran|8|6}} does not mention a "drop emitted" but rather a water (i.e. fluid) ejected (māin dāfiqin), which was always understood to mean semen, and in the next verse is said to come forth from between the backbone and ribs.  

Secondly, his interpretation of the verses to mean the embryonic development of the testes is misleading, as the verse implies a fully developed and functional reproductive system, rather than an embryonic structure. Embryonic testes do not emit, ejaculate, gush forth, pour forth, spurt or ejaculate any substance; only peri- and post-pubertal testes and associated glands do.

Naik’s explanation of the nerve, blood and lymphatic circular from the abdominal aorta is not relevant to the phenomenon being discussed. Semen is directly responsible for human reproduction, something which cannot be claimed for nerve signals, blood or lymph, or countless other anatomical features enabling a sexually active being. Circulation and nerve supply also do not correlate with embryonic origin. For example, the blood supply, lymphatics and nerve supply of the lower limbs originate in the abdomen and pelvis. This does not mean the lower limbs embryonically originated in the abdomen and pelvis.

Finally, critics note that Naik incorrectly presents the biology and location of the phenomenon he describes in a number of ways. The original position of the cells, which are destined to develop into spermatogonia (sperm producing cells) are not ventro-medial to the kidneys (where these cells develop) but the wall of the yolk sac:{{Quote|{{cite web|url= http://web.indstate.edu/thcme/duong/EMBRYOL.html|title= Urogenital system embryology|publisher= Indiana University School of Medicine|author= Taihung Duong, Ph.D.|date= accessed February 9, 2014|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.indstate.edu%2Fthcme%2Fduong%2FEMBRYOL.html&date=2014-02-09|deadurl=no}}|Testes and ovaries are derived from the mesodermal epithelium (mesothelium) lining the posterior abdominal wall, the underlying mesenchyme and the primordial germ cells.  

The primordial germ cells form in the wall of the yolk sac during week 4. They later migrate into the developing gonads at week 6 and differentiate into the definitive germ cells (oogonia / spermatogonia).}}The full argument of the critics runs as follows. If Naik’s assertion that the verse refers to the embryonic testes is accepted, it is not evident whether the gonads are located where he claims, i.e. between the spinal column and the eleventh and twelfth ribs. A cross-sectional diagram of the human embryo shows the gonads at or around the level of the placenta.<center>[[File:Gondev154.gif|alt=|thumb]]</center>Consequently, it cannot be said that the embryonic testes is located between the spinal column and the eleventh and twelfth ribs as the gonadal or genital ridge (precursor of the gonads) is generally held to lie medial to the lower part of the mesonephros, while the adult kidney actually develops from the metanephros.

If Naik’s implied association between embryonic and adult anatomical positions were accepted, the explanation given is inaccurate because in the condition of cryptorchidism where the testes is undescended, the highest position of the undescended testes is ''below'' the kidney.<ref>[http://www.nakshatras.net/genetics_basics.htm genetics basics]</ref>

Additionally, the inferior pole of the kidney lies around ''L3'' (the third lumbar vertebra), such that the embryonic testes must be below ''L3''. The twelfth rib does not extend below ''L2''. And because the testes are ''below'' the kidneys, there is no possibility that the testes were ever between the ribs and the backbone either in the embryonic or the adult (as with cryptorchidism) stage.

===Jamal Badawi - blood supply to the testes and ovaries===

{{Quote|{{cite web|url= http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/wonders.htm|title= A Christian Response to Dr. Jamal Badawi's "Seven Wonders of The Quran"|publisher= Answering-Islam|author= Sam Shamoun|date= accessed February 9, 2014|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/6NG3qZLdv|deadurl=no}}|Badawi must assume that "gushing fluid poured forth" refers to the aorta which according to a book cited by him, Clinical Anatomy, supplies the testes and ovaries with the necessary nutrients and this is what the Quran refers to.}}According to critics, Badawi’s proposition repeats the error found in Naik’s proposition regarding blood circulation.

While the verb yakhruju (he/it comes forth) has a quite general meaning in the Quran, critics note that it is used in {{Quran|16|69}} in relation to honey coming forth from the bellies of bees, and in {{Quran|2|74}} in relation to rivers coming forth from rocks.

Critics of the childbirth interpretation further note that it is helpful to look at the verses in their immediate context, where the topic is the humble substance from which man is created, and with such power Allah will also be able to resurrect him.

{{Quote||(5) LET MAN, then, observe out of what he has been created:<br>(6) he has been created out of a seminal fluid<br>(7) issuing from between the loins [of man] and the pelvic arch [of woman].<br>

<nowiki>*</nowiki>The plural noun tara'ib, ''''rendered by me''' as "pelvic arch", has also the meaning of "ribs" or "arch of bones"; according to most of the authorities who have specialized in the etymology of rare Quranic expressions this term relates specifically to female anatomy (Taj al-'Arus).}}Asad's definition of ''tara’ib'' takes it to refer to the pelvic arch which is a specific part of the pelvis, however, as critics point out, this definition is nowhere evidenced (Asad says the word is "rendered by me"). Dictionaries define ''tara'ib'' as the upper ribs.<ref name="Lane Lexicon taraib2" />

Critics argue that if Asad's definition of ''sulb'' as the male loins (in the modern euphemistic sense of the English word loins, rather than its old and primary meaning of the lower back, as discussed above) as well as his definition of ''tara'ib'' are accepted, his proposition that sexual reproduction is the consequence of a union between the male loins and the female pelvic arch is still inaccurate.

====Hamza Tzortzis - loins and pelvic arch====

{{Quote||The word tara’ib means breastbone, the ribs or the pelvic arch, and this word according to most authors refers specifically to women.}}Hamza Tzortzis, on his website, repeats Muhammad Asad's perspective while implying that the pelvic arch ''definition'' comes from Taj al-Arus, which he cites directly for this claim. Asad sought only to evidence the relationship of the word ''tara'ib'' to "female anatomy" by citing Taj al-Arus, while providing the definition of "pelvic arch" himself. Tzortzis, after repeatedly being made aware of this error, ultimately withdrew his lengthy paper.<ref>[http://embryologyinthequran.blogspot.com Embryology in the Qur'an Much Ado about Nothing]</ref>

Moiz Amjad makes three claims. Firstly, Amjad repeats an idea found in Zakir Naik's work and states that ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' refer to the blood supply of the testes emanating from between the man’s back and ribs. According to critics, this idea makes the same error regarding blood circulation that is found in Naik's work. Secondly, also replicating Zakir Naik, Amjad states that the embryonic gonads originate in the area described in the Quran rather than ending up in this position in the fully developed human body. Here again, critics argue that Amjad makes the same general error made by Naik. Thirdly, Amjad states that the ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' region alluded to in the verse is in fact special euphemisms for the sexual organs.

Amjad argues this third point by drawing lines on pictures of a human skeleton, so that all parts of the body lying between the relevant bones and the opposing surface of the body are included.

Amjad also argues, to this end, that the ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' are special euphemisms for the male and female sexual organs respectively. There exist in Arabic, however, numerous other, more direct euphemisms for these two organs, and ''sulb'' and ''tara'ib'' are no where else used euphemistically in this sense in classical Arabic literature, as critics have pointed out. Amjad provides not explanation for why a novel, esoteric, and unclear pair of euphemisms should be employed by the Quran where so many other diverse and well-established euphemisms are available, especially in a textual and historical context where the proposed euphemisms could be acutely misleading.

===Tahir Ul-Qadri - sacrum and symphisis pubis===

Arabic words like many other languages often carry more than one meaning of a single word. For instance the Arabic word ''salat'' has 60 meanings. ... Moreover the seminal passages do indeed lie between the sacrum referred to as ''sulb ''in the Qurā’nic verse and the ''symphisis pubis'' referred to as tarā’ib. }}Critics argue that there is no evidence presented or extant that ''tara'ib'' could mean "pubic symphysis" (see [[Semen Production in the Quran#Muhammad Asad|Muhammad Asad]]). To critics, if Qadri's claim of a single word having a large number of meanings were true and applicable in this case, ''tara'ib'' could be taken to refer to many organs other than the pubic symphisis, which have no relationship with the place where semen flows. In focusing only on the similarities between two sets of information, critics argue, Qadri draws a conclusion while ignoring key differences. They also not that Qadri, in his analysis, also does not identify the description found in the Quran with the testes themselves, which is where the phenomenon described takes place--the testes are not situated in the zone mentioned, but are rather below the symphisis.<ref>See images here [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray1156.png] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray1136.png] []</ref>

{{Quote|{{cite book |last= Yusuf Ali|first= Abdullah|date= |title= The Meaning of the Glorious Quran|url= |page=446|location= |publisher= |isbn= |accessdate= }}|A man's seed is the quintessence of his body. It is therefore said metaphorically to proceed from his loins, i.e., from his back between the hipbones and his ribs. His backbone is the source and symbol of his strength and personality. In his spinal cord and in the brain is the directive energy of the central nervous system, and this directs all action, organic and psychic. The spinal cord is continuous with the Medulla Oblongata in the brain.}}According to critics, Yusuf Ali does not state what he means by seed. Specifically, he does not specify whether the word refers to sperm, semen, ovum or zygote. This, in the view of critics, must be clarified as the human embryo does not emerge from either male fluid or the female ovum alone, but from a combination of the two, with its components emerging from different biological regions. If "seed" is taken to refer to one sex, this is incorrect; if it refers to both sexes, then the interpretation of emergence from between backbone and ribs must be valid for both the male and female products.

Ali takes the role of the backbone to be symbolic, suggesting that just as the backbone is crucial to the life of a man, so also it must be crucial to the production of a man's sperm, and hence child. This metaphorical interpretation, critics suggest, appears strained and lacks any sort of precedent or evidence; the backbone has never been understood to relate in any way to one's offspring.

Finally, critics argue that mentioning the medulla oblongata here serves no purpose relevant to Ali's interpretation.

====The spinal cord and nerves====

This reading takes the meaning of the verse to say that the impetus or nervous command for ejaculation comes from between the backbone and the ribs. Critics argue that the verse itself, however, only mentions a "liquid flowing" and does not refer to its cause which, along this logic, could very well be traced back to the brain itself. Moreover, critics rebut, the ribs are above the seminal vesicles which are above the tip of the coccyx when a standing person's anatomy is viewed. Only the top of the seminal vesicles falls between the bottom of the coccyx and the bottom of the rib-cage on the above mentioned line, the vesicle is not between the loins and ribs.<ref>For a visual reference, see [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/hs/pubhealth/modules/reproductiveHealth/images/maleReproAnat.jpg<!-- http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.columbia.edu%2Fitc%2Fhs%2Fpubhealth%2Fmodules%2FreproductiveHealth%2Fimages%2FmaleReproAnat.jpg&date=2014-03-22 --> this] medical diagram. Taken from: {{cite web|url= http://www.columbia.edu/itc/hs/pubhealth/modules/reproductiveHealth/anatomy.html|title= Reproductive Health Module (SECTION I: Reproductive Anatomy and Physiology)|publisher= Columbia University: Mailman School of Public Health|author= |date= accessed March 22, 2014|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.columbia.edu%2Fitc%2Fhs%2Fpubhealth%2Fmodules%2FreproductiveHealth%2Fanatomy.html&date=2014-03-22|deadurl=no}}</ref> It is noted that, in addition to this, the role of the prostate glands (source of 25-30% of semen), testes (2-5%) and bulbourethral glands (up to 1%) is not considered in this analysis.

This modern interpretation then concludes with the following three ideas. Firstly, the word ''tara’ib'' refers to the woman’s uterus, since the rib cage surrounds it during pregnancy. Secondly, the verse refers to humans emerging from between the backbone and ribs, so it is about a baby and not sperm. And thirdly, the germ cells which later become sperms are formed near the backbone.

To the first of these ideas, critics respond that though the ribcage is roughly cylindrical, the uterus is never inside it. And the embryo is already "created" much before pregnancy since the verse refers to fertilization. The liquid being discussed here never flows anywhere close to a woman's ribs.

To the second of these ideas, critics argue that this is partly similar to the claim of ''tara'ib'' meaning uterus and that a baby does not emerge from within its mother's ribs, as should be obvious from the location of the 'baby bump' of a pregnant woman. The idea here is that if one were to describe the emergence of a baby by referring to external organs, one would have said "between backbone and abdomen", rather than ribs. Secondly, every classical tafsir and all major translations interpret {{Quran|86|7}} (coming from between the backbone and the ribs) as a continuation from 86:6 ("He is created from a gushing fluid"), and so it is only a fluid that is said to emerge.

Critics find the third of these ideas to be straightforwardly false from a factual standpoint. They argue that the entire process of spermatogenesis from a spermatogonium to a sperm occurs in various regions of the testicles and not the "backbone".<ref>[http://www.embryology.ch/anglais/cgametogen/spermato02.html Spermatogenesis]</ref>

Critics often note that the many modern re-readings of {{Quran|86|7}} are conflicting and mutually-exclusive, such that if any one is correct, the remainder must be incorrect. For instance, Ibn Kathir refers to ''tara’ib'' as a female organ, while other tafsirs claim it belongs to the man.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030918233810/http://www.montazar.net/eng/menu/1/quran/tafseer/tafseer-of-holy-quran/light/html/086/86_1-10.htm|title= Sura Tariq (The Night) no.86 (verses 1-10)|publisher= Montazar.net|author= |date= September 18, 2003|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=https%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20030918233810%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.montazar.net%2Feng%2Fmenu%2F1%2Fquran%2Ftafseer%2Ftafseer-of-holy-quran%2Flight%2Fhtml%2F086%2F86_1-10.htm&date=2014-02-09|deadurl=no}}</ref> Another conflict is the definition of ''sulb'' to mean either the backbone, or the "hardening" of the man. To critics, these varying interpretations confirm the essential ambiguity of the scriptural texts.

'''The meaning of ''min bain'''''

Another point alluded to by Dr. Campbell, is that the phrase ''min bain'' which literally means ''“''from between''”''. If this interpretation is accepted, which seems to be the case from a reading of the commonly accepted translations, then one must also note that semen emanates ''from'' the penis, and not ''from between'' the penis and the vagina. To be strictly correct, semen emanates ''from'' the penis ''into'' the vagina. This point seems to rule out tara’ib from anything to do with the female sexual partner. His full response to claims of miracles in embryology and semen production can be read in the chapter 'Anatomy, Embryology and Genetics', pages 181-198 of his book, which can be read online for free following the link, [https://archive.org/details/quran-bible-campbell/%5BDr_William_Campbell%5D_The_Qur%27an_and_the_Bible_in_%28z-lib.org%29/page/181/mode/1up The Quran and the Bible : in the light of history and science].

*[[Scientific Miracles in the Quran]]

*[[Scientific Errors in the Quran]]

*[[Scientific Errors in the Hadith]]

{{Hub4|Reproduction|Reproduction}}{{Hub4|Mistranslations of Islamic Scripture (English)|Mistranslated Verses}}

*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Science/semenproduction.htm The Quran on Semen Production]

*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Campbell/s4c2b.html Science and Revelation: Anatomy, Embryology and Genetics]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUveLSqGyYc&t=906s Seminal Fluid From the Backbone: The Honest Truth] - ''islamwhattheydonttellyou164 - YouTube Video''

*[https://theislamissue.wordpress.com/2019/01/21/quran-866-7-semen-comes-from-between-backbone-and-ribs/ Quran 86:6-7: Semen comes from between backbone and ribs. - The Islam Issue]  

[[Category:Biology]]

[[Category:Apologetics]]

[[Category:Criticism of Islam]]