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Embryology in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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#A number of verses<ref>{{Quran|23|13}}, {{Quran-range|70|20|22}}, {{Quran-range|80|18|19}} See discussion in the Nutfah Stage section.</ref> collectively demonstrate a belief that the earliest, nutfah stage of development is made of semen, perhaps mixed with a female fluid, which is placed in the womb for a known term, and where it undergoes various stages of development (as also taught by Galen and in the Jewish Talmud). See [[Greek and Jewish Ideas about Reproduction in the Quran and Hadith|this article]] for the most comprehensive explanation and evidence. Furthermore, there is no sign that the author of the Quran was aware of the female egg (ovum).<p>In reality, a single sperm cell penetrates and fuses with the female ovum. This fertilised egg, called a zygote, is then pushed down the fallopian tube for a few days. On the way, cell division begins, and this multi-celled cluster, now called a blastocyst, implants in the uterus (womb).<ref>{{cite web| url=https://crh.ucsf.edu/fertility/conception | title=Conception: How it Works | publisher=University of California San Francisco - Center for Reproductive Health | accessdate=27 January 2019}}</ref></p> | #A number of verses<ref>{{Quran|23|13}}, {{Quran-range|70|20|22}}, {{Quran-range|80|18|19}} See discussion in the Nutfah Stage section.</ref> collectively demonstrate a belief that the earliest, nutfah stage of development is made of semen, perhaps mixed with a female fluid, which is placed in the womb for a known term, and where it undergoes various stages of development (as also taught by Galen and in the Jewish Talmud). See [[Greek and Jewish Ideas about Reproduction in the Quran and Hadith|this article]] for the most comprehensive explanation and evidence. Furthermore, there is no sign that the author of the Quran was aware of the female egg (ovum).<p>In reality, a single sperm cell penetrates and fuses with the female ovum. This fertilised egg, called a zygote, is then pushed down the fallopian tube for a few days. On the way, cell division begins, and this multi-celled cluster, now called a blastocyst, implants in the uterus (womb).<ref>{{cite web| url=https://crh.ucsf.edu/fertility/conception | title=Conception: How it Works | publisher=University of California San Francisco - Center for Reproductive Health | accessdate=27 January 2019}}</ref></p> | ||
#The embryo is then said to be congealed blood. <ref>{{Quran|23|14}}, {{Quran|22|5}}, {{Quran|40|67}} See discussion in the 'Alaqah Stage section.</ref> All the classical [[Tafsir|tafsirs]] (exegetical commentaries) understood the meaning of 'alaqah to be blood or congealed blood, and clotted blood is a definition of the word in classical Arabic dictionaries. Regardless of alternative meanings for this Arabic word, it does not make sense to | #The embryo is then said to be congealed blood. <ref>{{Quran|23|14}}, {{Quran|22|5}}, {{Quran|40|67}} See discussion in the 'Alaqah Stage section.</ref> All the classical [[Tafsir|tafsirs]] (exegetical commentaries) understood the meaning of 'alaqah to be blood or congealed blood, and clotted blood is a definition of the word in classical Arabic dictionaries. Regardless of alternative meanings for this Arabic word, it does not make sense to use a word whose main definitions include an explicit biological meaning (clotted blood) in a description of a biological process (embryology) if that is not the intended meaning; certainly, from the point of divine authorship of the Qur'an, such imprecise meaning would throw into doubt the Qur'an's claim to be "clear." The choice of word now causes a well justified suspicion of inaccuracy, and for centuries misled people into thinking that the embryo is at one stage congealed blood (an actual embryo is at no point blood or a clot of blood<ref>{{cite web| url=https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Timeline_human_development | title=Timeline human development | publisher=University of New South Wales | author=Dr Mark Hill| accessdate=27 January 2019}}</ref>. Similarly, again from the divine authorship and clarity perspective, for the same reason it would not make sense to use this word while intending blood clot as a mere visual analogy. | ||
#The Quran claims that bones are formed before being clothed with flesh.<ref>{{Quran|23|14}} See discussion in the Bones and Clothing with Flesh Stages section.</ref> In fact cartilage models of the bones start to form at the same time as and in parallel with surrounding muscles, and this cartilage is literally replaced with bone.<ref>See discussion and scientific references in the sub-sections to the Bones and Clothing with Flesh Stages section.</ref> | #The Quran claims that bones are formed before being clothed with flesh.<ref>{{Quran|23|14}} See discussion in the Bones and Clothing with Flesh Stages section.</ref> In fact cartilage models of the bones start to form at the same time as and in parallel with surrounding muscles, and this cartilage is literally replaced with bone.<ref>See discussion and scientific references in the sub-sections to the Bones and Clothing with Flesh Stages section.</ref> | ||
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{{Quote-text|{{cite web|url= http://poetsgate.com/poem_14021.html|title= الحمد لله لا شريك له|publisher= PoetsGate (Arabic)|author= |date= February 15, 2007|archiveurl= http://archive.is/6XW6e|deadurl=no}}|الخـالق البـارئ المصـور في الأرحام ماء حتى يصير دما | {{Quote-text|{{cite web|url= http://poetsgate.com/poem_14021.html|title= الحمد لله لا شريك له|publisher= PoetsGate (Arabic)|author= |date= February 15, 2007|archiveurl= http://archive.is/6XW6e|deadurl=no}}|الخـالق البـارئ المصـور في الأرحام ماء حتى يصير دما | ||
<br>Translation: The creator, the maker, the fashioner, in the wombs water until it becomes blood}} | <br>Translation: The creator, the maker, the fashioner, in the wombs water until it becomes blood}} | ||
Water (maa') is used here as a euphemism for semen, just as we sometimes find in the Quran and hadiths (see above).</ref> | Water (maa') is used here as a euphemism for semen, just as we sometimes find in the Quran and hadiths (see above).</ref> | ||
Critics argue that for the author to use 'alaqah in any sense other than its clear biological meaning (clotted blood) in a passage about a biological process (pregnancy) would be very unlikely from the perspective of seeing the Qur'an as a divine text illuminating the knowledge of mankind, especially considering that 'alaqah was consistently understood in this way by exegetes. The usage of the 'alaqah would then be seen as a failure to "clearly" convey the actual knowledge the author allegedly possessed if this was not the intended meaning. | |||
===='Alaqah in pre-Islamic poetry==== | ===='Alaqah in pre-Islamic poetry==== | ||
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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|53|45|46}}|And that He createth the two spouses, the male and the female [alzzawjayni alththakara waalontha ٱلزَّوْجَيْنِ ٱلذَّكَرَ وَٱلْأُنثَىٰ], From a drop (of seed) when it is poured forth [nutfatin itha tumna نُّطْفَةٍ إِذَا تُمْنَىٰ];}} | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|53|45|46}}|And that He createth the two spouses, the male and the female [alzzawjayni alththakara waalontha ٱلزَّوْجَيْنِ ٱلذَّكَرَ وَٱلْأُنثَىٰ], From a drop (of seed) when it is poured forth [nutfatin itha tumna نُّطْفَةٍ إِذَا تُمْنَىٰ];}} | ||
If 35:11 and 53:45 are taken literally as indicating 'when' gender is determined, it would be inaccurate, because millions of sperm are emitted, some with an x chromosome, some with a y chromosome. Gender is determined not when the semen is emitted (as the next verse 46 indicates), but rather when the egg is fertilized by one of the sperm cells, which can take anything from half an hour to 12 hours for the first of them to reach the egg, and then more time for one of the many that arrive to successfully penetrate it. The point from 35:11 and 53:45-46 seems to be rather that Allah simply created human beings as men and women; no inference can reasonably be made about sexual development from sperm based on these verses. | |||
Moreover, verses 75:37-39 use the same language about gender, but after the 'alaqah stage. 75:39 uses the exact same phrase as in 53:45, "وَأَنَّهُۥ خَلَقَ ٱلزَّوْجَيْنِ ٱلذَّكَرَ وَٱلْأُنثَىٰ" "wa innahu khalaqa alzzawjayni aldhdhakara waaluntha" ("verily he created the two spouses, the male and the female"}, which is also similar to the word used in 35:11, azwajan (male / female pair). | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|75|37|39}}|Was he not a drop [nutfatan نُطْفَةً] of fluid [manayin مَّنِىٍّ] which gushed forth [yumna يُمْنَىٰ]? Then he became a clot [alaqatan عَلَقَةً]; then (Allah) shaped and fashioned And made of him a pair, the male and female [alzzawjayni alththakara waalontha ٱلزَّوْجَيْنِ ٱلذَّكَرَ وَٱلْأُنثَىٰ].}} | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|75|37|39}}|Was he not a drop [nutfatan نُطْفَةً] of fluid [manayin مَّنِىٍّ] which gushed forth [yumna يُمْنَىٰ]? Then he became a clot [alaqatan عَلَقَةً]; then (Allah) shaped and fashioned And made of him a pair, the male and female [alzzawjayni alththakara waalontha ٱلزَّوْجَيْنِ ٱلذَّكَرَ وَٱلْأُنثَىٰ].}} | ||
It should also be remembered, as noted above, that the evidence is unanimous that nutfah means a small quantity of fluid, a euphemism for semen – there is no indication of sperm cells within the fluid. | It should also be remembered, as noted above, that the evidence is unanimous that nutfah means a small quantity of fluid, a euphemism for semen – there is no indication of sperm cells within the fluid. | ||
In an alternative approach, apologists interpret 75:39 to mean that the external genitalia and gonads are formed after the 'alaqah stage, knowing that the gender of the child has already been determined genetically at the moment of conception as stated above. However, this approach not only ignores the other two verses already mentioned, but there are hadith even more explicit than Quran 75:37-39 which say that gender is decided after the mudghah stage.<ref>Narrated Anas bin Malik:<br> | |||
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "At every womb Allah appoints an angel who says, 'O Lord! A drop of semen, O Lord! A clot. O Lord! A little lump of flesh." Then if Allah wishes (to complete) its creation, the angel asks, (O Lord!) Will it be a male or female, a wretched or a blessed, and how much will his provision be? And what will his age be?' So all that is written while the child is still in the mother's womb."<br>{{Bukhari|1|6|315}}</ref> | The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "At every womb Allah appoints an angel who says, 'O Lord! A drop of semen, O Lord! A clot. O Lord! A little lump of flesh." Then if Allah wishes (to complete) its creation, the angel asks, (O Lord!) Will it be a male or female, a wretched or a blessed, and how much will his provision be? And what will his age be?' So all that is written while the child is still in the mother's womb."<br>{{Bukhari|1|6|315}}</ref> | ||
=====Intersex People===== | =====Intersex People===== | ||