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Semen Production in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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While the implications pursued by the interpretations of modern and classical Islamic scholars differ (with only the former aspiring to a scientific miracle), some classical scholars also tried to explain the apparent disagreement of a reading entailing the backbone and ribs with what they conjecturally held to be the process behind semen production involving the testes. While the role of the testes in semen production would only be established incontrovertibly with modern science, the pre-modern intuition regarding the role of the testes was strong enough, at least in some cases, to bring classical scholars to attempt a reading similar to those almost universally favored by modern Islamic scholars today (listed in the preceding paragraph). One of the most famous pre-modern source to attempt such a reading is found in the Tafsir al-Jalalayn, which, while reading ''tara'ib'' as the female's 'breast-bones', takes ''sulb'' to mean the male's 'loins'. The classical Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs advances a similar reading, involving the male's 'loins' and female's 'ribs'. Other classical sources, such as Tafsir Ibn Kathir, straightforwardly read ''sulb'' and ''tara'ib'' to refer to the male's 'backbone' and female's 'chest' respectively. | While the implications pursued by the interpretations of modern and classical Islamic scholars differ (with only the former aspiring to a scientific miracle), some classical scholars also tried to explain the apparent disagreement of a reading entailing the backbone and ribs with what they conjecturally held to be the process behind semen production involving the testes. While the role of the testes in semen production would only be established incontrovertibly with modern science, the pre-modern intuition regarding the role of the testes was strong enough, at least in some cases, to bring classical scholars to attempt a reading similar to those almost universally favored by modern Islamic scholars today (listed in the preceding paragraph). One of the most famous pre-modern source to attempt such a reading is found in the Tafsir al-Jalalayn, which, while reading ''tara'ib'' as the female's 'breast-bones', takes ''sulb'' to mean the male's 'loins'. The classical Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs advances a similar reading, involving the male's 'loins' and female's 'ribs'. Other classical sources, such as Tafsir Ibn Kathir, straightforwardly read ''sulb'' and ''tara'ib'' to refer to the male's 'backbone' and female's 'chest' respectively. | ||
===Maurice Bucaille=== | ===Maurice Bucaille=== | ||
{{Main| | {{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. | <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. | ||
===Ahmed A. Abd-Allah=== | ===Ahmed A. Abd-Allah=== | ||