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Semen Production in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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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> | 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> | ||
===Yusuf Ali=== | ===Yusuf Ali=== | ||
{{Quote||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. | {{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. | |||
===Other readings=== | |||
=== | ==== The spinal cord and nerves ==== | ||
{{ | According to a somewhat more obscure modern re-reading of {{Quran|86|7}}, the functioning of two spinal cord centers located between vertebrae and ribs connecting spinal cord and sex organs, coupled with the nerves controlling valves around the urethra, together cause ejaculation. Those espousing this interpretation argue that a line drawn from the tip of the coccyx to the upper portion of either seminal vesicle and extended forward touches the ribcage. Thus, the seminal vesicles from which the semen spurts out, lie between the ribs and the coccyx (lower back, loin, backbone). | ||
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. 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 has nothing to do with its mother's ribs. 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. In all major translations, {{Quran|86|7}} (coming from between the backbone and the ribs) is an incomplete sentence which continues 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> | |||
===Overarching concerns=== | ===Overarching concerns=== | ||
These propositions are frequently conflicting, 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’ or the loins. These varying interpretations confirm the essential ambiguity of the scriptural texts. | These propositions are frequently conflicting, 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’ or the loins. These varying interpretations confirm the essential ambiguity of the scriptural texts. | ||