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Semen Production in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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Intro part was based on misunderstanding of the English (the Arabic of those tafsirs just says sulb like the verse); added back Lexicon page number in case of future dead links; added extra hadith
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Lightyears (talk | contribs) (Intro part was based on misunderstanding of the English (the Arabic of those tafsirs just says sulb like the verse); added back Lexicon page number in case of future dead links; added extra hadith) |
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The most common of these revisionary perspectives which advocate a miraculous 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 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 only the gonads in the embryonic stage are being described rather than a male and female in 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’), Muhammad Asad (according to which ''sulb'' refers to the male's loins and ''tara'ib'' to the female's pelvic arch), Moiz Amjad (according to which ''sulb'' and ''tara'ib'' refer to the blood supply for the testes emanating from the backbone and ribs, where only the gonads in the embryonic stage are being described rather than a male and female in the act of sexual reproduction, and where 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). | The most common of these revisionary perspectives which advocate a miraculous 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 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 only the gonads in the embryonic stage are being described rather than a male and female in 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’), Muhammad Asad (according to which ''sulb'' refers to the male's loins and ''tara'ib'' to the female's pelvic arch), Moiz Amjad (according to which ''sulb'' and ''tara'ib'' refer to the blood supply for the testes emanating from the backbone and ribs, where only the gonads in the embryonic stage are being described rather than a male and female in the act of sexual reproduction, and where 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). | ||
==Semen production in Islamic scriptures== | ==Semen production in Islamic scriptures== | ||
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'''Free Minds:''' ''it comes out from between the spine and the testicles.''}} | '''Free Minds:''' ''it comes out from between the spine and the testicles.''}} | ||
====The word ''sulb'', translated as 'loins'==== | ====The word ''sulb'', translated as 'loins'==== | ||
Many Islamic translations opt to translate the word ''sulb'' in {{Quran|86|7}} as 'loins', evoking the euphemistic sense of the word 'loins' which alludes to the reproductive organs of a male. This sense of the 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.}}The Lane's Lexicon of Classical Arabic definition for ''sulb'' includes the following:{{Quote|[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000436.pdf صلب Lane's Lexicon]|and any portion of the back containing vertebrae: (S, MSB, TA:) [and particularly '''the lumbar portion; the loins''':] and the back [absolutely]}}Lane also quotes an Arab saying that features ''sulb'', translating and explaining it as follows (''sperma'' is a Late Latin word meaning seed, or semen):{{Quote|[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000436.pdf صلب Lane's Lexicon]|''These are the sons of their loins:'' Because the sperma of the man is held to proceed from the sulb of the man}} | Many Islamic translations opt to translate the word ''sulb'' in {{Quran|86|7}} as 'loins', evoking the euphemistic sense of the word 'loins' which alludes to the reproductive organs of a male. This sense of the 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.}}The Lane's Lexicon of Classical Arabic definition for ''sulb'' includes the following:{{Quote|[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000436.pdf صلب Lane's Lexicon, page 1712]|and any portion of the back containing vertebrae: (S, MSB, TA:) [and particularly '''the lumbar portion; the loins''':] and the back [absolutely]}}Lane also quotes an Arab saying that features ''sulb'', translating and explaining it as follows (''sperma'' is a Late Latin word meaning seed, or semen):{{Quote|[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000436.pdf صلب Lane's Lexicon, page 1712]|''These are the sons of their loins:'' Because the sperma of the man is held to proceed from the sulb of the man}} | ||
===Supporting evidence in other verses and hadiths=== | ===Supporting evidence in other verses and hadiths=== | ||
Independent corroboration that ''sulb'' in the Qur'an refers to the back or backbone is found in another verse on the same subject using a different word for back. {{Quran|7|172}} says that the offspring of the children of Adam are 'from their backs (loins)'. Instead of ''sulb'', the word here is ''thahr'', which means the back<ref>thahr - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000212.pdf Lane's Lexicon Book I page 197]</ref>, as is also the case in other verses such as {{Quran|6|31}}.{{Quote|{{Quran|7|172}}|'''Sahih International:''' And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], "Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes, we have testified." [This] - lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, "Indeed, we were of this unaware." | Independent corroboration that ''sulb'' in the Qur'an refers to the back or backbone is found in another verse on the same subject using a different word for back. {{Quran|7|172}} says that the offspring of the children of Adam are 'from their backs (loins)'. Instead of ''sulb'', the word here is ''thahr'', which means the back<ref>thahr - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000212.pdf Lane's Lexicon Book I page 197]</ref>, as is also the case in other verses such as {{Quran|6|31}}.{{Quote|{{Quran|7|172}}|'''Sahih International:''' And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], "Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes, we have testified." [This] - lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, "Indeed, we were of this unaware." | ||
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'''Transliteration:''' min banee adama min thuhoorihim thurriyyatahum}}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}}|'''Corpus:''' Forbidden to you (are) your mothers and your daughters and your sisters [...] And wives (of) your sons, those who (are) from your loins and that you gather together [between] two sisters except what has passed before.}}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."'}} | '''Transliteration:''' min banee adama min thuhoorihim thurriyyatahum}}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}}|'''Corpus:''' Forbidden to you (are) your mothers and your daughters and your sisters [...] And wives (of) your sons, those who (are) from your loins and that you gather together [between] two sisters except what has passed before.}}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 [...]}} | |||
==Classical perspectives== | ==Classical perspectives== | ||
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<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=== | ||
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 | 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 Book 1 page 301]</ref>. While erogenous zones are important in foreplay, the sexual act must be consummated through the vagina. | 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 Book 1 page 301]</ref>. While erogenous zones are important in foreplay, the sexual act must be consummated through the vagina. | ||
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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). | 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). | ||
===Zakir Naik=== | ===Zakir Naik=== | ||
{{Quote|{{citation | {{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 incorrectly present the biology of the phenomenon he describes above. The original position of the cells, they note, are destined to develop into spermatogonia (sperm producing cells) and is 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. | 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 incorrectly present the biology of the phenomenon he describes above. The original position of the cells, they note, are destined to develop into spermatogonia (sperm producing cells) and is 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. | ||
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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). | 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. | 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. | 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. | ||
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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 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 | 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 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> | ||