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Sources of Islamic Theories of Reproduction: Difference between revisions
Sources of Islamic Theories of Reproduction (view source)
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{{QualityScore|Lead=4|Structure=4|Content=4|Language=4|References=4}} | {{QualityScore|Lead=4|Structure=4|Content=4|Language=4|References=4}} | ||
[[File:Galen.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The writers of the Qur’an and hadith were influenced by Galen, the hugely influential 2<sup>nd</sup> Century Greek physician.]] | [[File:Galen.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The writers of the Qur’an and hadith were influenced by Galen, the hugely influential 2<sup>nd</sup> Century Greek physician.]] | ||
The [[hadith]] contain many statements about fluids from both the man and woman that were believed to form the human embryo. The [[Qur'an|Qur’an]] too says that the embryo is formed from emitted fluid, and in one verse perhaps indicates a mingling of male and female fluids.This article will trace the origins of each of these ideas at least as far back as the Jewish Talmud and the ancient Greek physicians. | The [[hadith]] contain many statements about fluids from both the man and woman that were believed to form the human embryo. The [[Qur'an|Qur’an]] too says that the embryo is formed from emitted fluid, and in one verse perhaps indicates a mingling of male and female fluids. This article will trace the origins of each of these ideas at least as far back as the Jewish Talmud and the ancient Greek physicians. | ||
The Prophet [[Muhammad]], who had been a well-traveled merchant, had extensive interactions with Jews in Arabia, and almost certainly with Nestorian Christians, who had large communities in Najran in the south and Hira to the north of the Arabian Peninsula.<ref>J. Stewart, "Nestorian Missionary Enterprise", p.70-74, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1928</ref><ref>Cyril Glasse, “The New Encyclopedia of Islam”, p.342-343, CA, USA: Altamira, 2001.</ref> Guillaume says of the Nestorians, “Such men were a familiar sight on all the caravan routes of Arabia”.<ref>Alfred Guillaume, “Islam”, p.15, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1990 (Reprinted)</ref> The Nestorians were based in Syria, where they already possessed and studied the works of Galen, the hugely influential 2<sup>nd</sup> century Greek physician.<ref>Allen O. Whipple, “[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1965836/pdf/bullnyacadmed00860-0027.pdf Role of the Nestorians as the connecting link between Greek and Arab medicine]”, Annals of Medical History 8 (1936) 313-323</ref> While this does not necessitate that the creators of the Qur’an and hadith directly copied from these works, it seems likely that they were, at the very least, indirectly influenced by these widespread ideas. | The Prophet [[Muhammad]], who had been a well-traveled merchant, had extensive interactions with Jews in Arabia, and almost certainly with Nestorian Christians, who had large communities in Najran in the south and Hira to the north of the Arabian Peninsula.<ref>J. Stewart, "Nestorian Missionary Enterprise", p.70-74, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1928</ref><ref>Cyril Glasse, “The New Encyclopedia of Islam”, p.342-343, CA, USA: Altamira, 2001.</ref> Guillaume says of the Nestorians, “Such men were a familiar sight on all the caravan routes of Arabia”.<ref>Alfred Guillaume, “Islam”, p.15, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1990 (Reprinted)</ref> The Nestorians were based in Syria, where they already possessed and studied the works of Galen, the hugely influential 2<sup>nd</sup> century Greek physician.<ref>Allen O. Whipple, “[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1965836/pdf/bullnyacadmed00860-0027.pdf Role of the Nestorians as the connecting link between Greek and Arab medicine]”, Annals of Medical History 8 (1936) 313-323</ref> While this does not necessitate that the creators of the Qur’an and hadith directly copied from these works, it seems likely that they were, at the very least, indirectly influenced by these widespread ideas. | ||
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“The Prophet said, "Allah puts an angel in charge of the uterus and the angel says, 'O Lord, (it is) semen! O Lord, (it is now) a clot! O Lord, (it is now) a piece of flesh.' And then, if Allah wishes to complete its creation, the angel asks, 'O Lord, (will it be) a male or a female?”<ref>{{Bukhari|8|77|594}}</ref><BR>"Verily We created man from a product of wet earth; Then placed him as a drop (of seed) in a safe lodging; Then fashioned We the drop a clot, then fashioned We the clot a little lump, then fashioned We the little lump bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, and then produced it as another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators!"<ref>{{cite Quran|23|12|end=14|style=ref}}</ref> | “The Prophet said, "Allah puts an angel in charge of the uterus and the angel says, 'O Lord, (it is) semen! O Lord, (it is now) a clot! O Lord, (it is now) a piece of flesh.' And then, if Allah wishes to complete its creation, the angel asks, 'O Lord, (will it be) a male or a female?”<ref>{{Bukhari|8|77|594}}</ref><BR>"Verily We created man from a product of wet earth; Then placed him as a drop (of seed) in a safe lodging; Then fashioned We the drop a clot, then fashioned We the clot a little lump, then fashioned We the little lump bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, and then produced it as another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators!"<ref>{{cite Quran|23|12|end=14|style=ref}}</ref> | ||
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==A few definitions== | ==A few definitions== | ||
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Semen. It is frequently used in hadith about ritual purity, especially narrations saying that [[Aisha]] used to clean semen off Muhammad’s clothes. It is used once in the Qur’an, verse {{Quran|75|37}}. | Semen. It is frequently used in hadith about ritual purity, especially narrations saying that [[Aisha]] used to clean semen off Muhammad’s clothes. It is used once in the Qur’an, verse {{Quran|75|37}}. | ||
==Evidence of influence== | ==Evidence of influence== | ||
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In both cases, the “place of rest, firmly fixed” (qararin makeenin) obviously refers to the womb, with 77:22 adding that it is for a “period determined” (and certainly does not mean the female ovum, which is only penetrated by a single sperm cell and not the “fluid (held) despicable”). | In both cases, the “place of rest, firmly fixed” (qararin makeenin) obviously refers to the womb, with 77:22 adding that it is for a “period determined” (and certainly does not mean the female ovum, which is only penetrated by a single sperm cell and not the “fluid (held) despicable”). | ||
=== From dust, then seminal fluid === | |||
We are told humans are created from dust, then from a drop of seminal fluid (who's origins are discussed above). | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|22|5}}|O people! If you are in doubt about the resurrection, [consider that] <b>We created you from dust, then from a drop of [seminal] fluid <i>(nuṭfah)</i>,</b> then from a clinging mass, then from a fleshy tissue, partly formed and partly unformed, so that We may manifest [Our power] to you. We lodge in the wombs whatever [fetus] We wish for a specified term, then We bring you forth as infants, then [We rear you] so that you may come of age. [Then] there are some of you who are taken away, and there are some of you who are relegated to the nethermost age, such that he knows nothing after [having possessed] some knowledge. And you see the earth torpid, yet when We send down water upon it, it stirs and swells, and grows every delightful kind [of plant].}}{{Quote|{{Quran|18|37}}|His companion said to him, as he conversed with him: ‘Do you disbelieve in Him <b>who created you from dust, then from a drop of [seminal] fluid <i>(nuṭfah)</i>,</b> then fashioned you as a man?}} | |||
In both cases, the word 'nuṭfah' is used, meaning; little water; a little water remaining in a waterskin; a little water remaining in a bucket; pure water, a little or a lot; the water of the man etc;<ref>[http://arabiclexicon.hawramani.com/search/%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%81%D8%A9 نطفة] - The Arabic Lexicon</ref> semen is called nuṭfah<ref>[https://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000288.pdf نطفة] - Lane’s Lexicon Vol. 8 p.3034</ref> for its small amount seminal fluid. | |||
This motif is found in pre-Islamic writings, and in more contemporary works,<ref>Eich & Doroftei, 2023. [https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/9783987400650-19/teil-i-zur-entwicklung-der-adamsgeschichte-bis-zum-7-jahrhundert?page=1 ''Adam and Embryo. A contribution to the study of the story of Adam in Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts up to the end of the first millennium.''] pp. 94 - 97.</ref> with parallels recorded using a similar Syriac word (nuṭptā). For example, this image is documented in Ephraim the Syrian (d. 373): | |||
{{Quote|Eich & Doroftei, 2023. <i>Adam and Embryo. pp. 95.</i> A contribution to the study of the story of Adam in Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts up to the end of the first millennium.|"He is very foolish and blind; for he is also enclosed together with all - in the hollow hand of the Creator. A single grain of dust, - a single drop of water (nuṭptā), which formed together - became the human form through the mercy of the Creator."}} | |||
And Babai the Great (c.551–628CE), an early church father of the Syriac Church of the East, also known as the Assyrian Church.<ref>Amar, J. P. ''Babai the Great (c.551–628).'' 2011. Wiley. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470670606.wbecc0106</nowiki></ref> | |||
{{Quote|Eich & Doroftei, 2023. <i>Adam and Embryo. pp. 97.</i> A contribution to the study of the story of Adam in Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts up to the end of the first millennium.|"And they do not understand the works of their Maker, which are formed like a drop of water (nuṭptā) and a grain of dust in the hollow of His incorporeal hand."}} | |||
=== The four stages of embryo development === | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|22|5}}|O mankind! if ye have a doubt about the Resurrection, <b>(consider) that We created you out of dust, then out of sperm, then out of a leech-like clot, then out of a morsel of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed, in order that We may manifest (our power) to you; and We cause whom We will to rest in the wombs for an appointed term, then do We bring you out as babes,</b> then (foster you) that ye may reach your age of full strength; and some of you are called to die, and some are sent back to the feeblest old age, so that they know nothing after having known (much), and (further), thou seest the earth barren and lifeless, but when We pour down rain on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells, and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs).}}{{Quote|{{Quran|23|12-14}}|Man We did create from a quintessence (of clay); Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest, firmly fixed; Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the best to create!}} | |||
As mentioned in the [https://corpuscoranicum.de/en Corpus Coranicum Project,] the stages of embryo development described in the Qur'an reflect the medical knowledge of the late antique world, compatible with seventh-century AD understanding.<ref>Corpus Coranicum Project - [https://corpuscoranicum.de/en/verse-navigator/sura/22/verse/5/intertexts/986 Galen De Semine I, 8] | |||
Michael Marx, Galen De Semine I, 8 - TUK_986. In: Texts from the Environment of the Koran, edited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities by Michael Marx, with contributions by Sebastian Bitsch, Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki, Emmanouela Grypeou, Dirk Hartwig, Nestor Kavvadas, David Kiltz, Yousef Kouriyhe, Mohammed Maraqten, Adrian Pirtea, Veronika Roth, Johanna Schubert and Nicolai Sinai. Beta version: as of July 28, 2024.</ref> The development of humans in the womb outlined in the Qur'an seems to correspond in its four stages to the communis opinion summarized by Galen for (late) ancient medicine;<ref>Corpus Coranicum Project - [https://corpuscoranicum.de/en/verse-navigator/sura/23/verse/14/intertexts/955 Letter to Archdeacon Mar Julian] | |||
David Kiltz (with the collaboration of Yousef Kouriyhe) (revised by Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki), Letter to Archdeacon Mar Julian - TUK_955. In: Texts from the Environment of the Koran, edited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities by Michael Marx, with contributions by Sebastian Bitsch, Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki, Emmanouela Grypeou, Dirk Hartwig, Nestor Kavvadas, David Kiltz, Yousef Kouriyhe, Mohammed Maraqten, Adrian Pirtea, Veronika Roth, Johanna Schubert and Nicolai Sinai. Beta version: as of July 28, 2024.</ref> | |||
Both passages speak of a development of the embryo that begins with the '''1) drop of semen''' (Arabic: nuṭfa), which is then followed by the stage of the '''2) blood structure''' (Arabic: ʿalaqa), which then develops into a '''3) flesh structure''' (Arabic: mudġa), from which the "physically formed and not yet fully formed" (Q 22:5 min muḍġatin muḫallaqatin wa-ġairi muḫallaqatin ) embryo then develops. And in Sura 23, the flesh structure becomes bones that are covered with flesh (Arabic: fa-ḫalaqnā l-muḍġata ʿiẓāman fa-kasaunā l-ʿiẓāma laḥman). This form of life then finally takes on a new quality: '''4) The fully formed infant''' In Q 23:12 it says: "Then We created him as a new (i.e. different) creature. Thus God is full of blessings. He is the best creator." In Q 22:5 the formed and at the same time not yet complete creature becomes a sign of divine power, since God "makes his power clear" to man.<ref>Corpus Coranicum Project - [https://corpuscoranicum.de/en/verse-navigator/sura/22/verse/5/intertexts/986 ''Galen De Semine I, 8''] | |||
Michael Marx, Galen De Semine I, 8 - TUK_986. In: Texts from the Environment of the Koran, edited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities by Michael Marx, with contributions by Sebastian Bitsch, Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki, Emmanouela Grypeou, Dirk Hartwig, Nestor Kavvadas, David Kiltz, Yousef Kouriyhe, Mohammed Maraqten, Adrian Pirtea, Veronika Roth, Johanna Schubert and Nicolai Sinai. Beta version: as of July 28, 2024.</ref> | |||
Basim Musallam notes that the stages were sufficiently similar for medieval Islamic authors to use Qur'anic terminology when describing Galen's (incorrect, ''see: [[Embryology in the Quran]]'') four stages of development. | |||
{{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/12237577/Sex_and_Society_in_Islam Basim Musallam Sex and Society in Islam, Cambridge University Press, 1983, pg. 54]|The stages of development which the Quran and hadith established for believers agreed perfectly with Galen's scientific account. In De Semine, for example, Galen spoke of four periods in the formation of the embryo: (1) as seminal matter; | |||
(2) as a bloody form (still without flesh, in which the primitive heart, liver, and brain are ill-defined); | |||
(3) the foetus acquires flesh and solidity (the heart, liver, and brain are well-defined, and the limbs begin formation); and finally | |||
(4) all the organs attain their full perfection and the foetus is quickened. There is no doubt that medieval thought appreciated this agreement between the Quran and Galen, for Arabic science employed the same Quranic terms to describe the Galenic stages (as in Ibn Sina's account of Galen): nutfa for the first, 'alaqa for the second, "unformed" mudgha for the third, and "formed" mudgha for the fourth.}} | |||
=== Three layers of Darkness === | |||
We see the idea of three layers of darkness. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|39|6}}|He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: <b>He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness.</b> such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre)?}} | |||
Ibn Qayyim (d. 1350), a prominent Hanbali jurist, links these to different membranes being mentioned by Hippocrates, quoting previous scholars opinions on the matter. | |||
{{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/12237577/Sex_and_Society_in_Islam Musallam, Sex and Society in Islam, Cambridge University Press, 1983, pg. 56]|(A) Hippocrates said in the third chapter of Kitab al-ajinna: . The semen is contained in a membrane, and it grows because of the blood of its mother which descends to the womb, and the semen in these membranes draws in the air and breathes it for the reasons we have mentioned... As the semen becomes a foetus several other membranes are formed, and grow within the original membrane, all being formed the same way as the first. Some membranes are formed at the beginning, others after the second month, and others in the third month. (B) This is why God says, "He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, by one formation after another in three darknesses (Quran 39:6)." (C) Since each of these membranes has its own darkness, when God mentioned the stages of creation and transformation from one state to another, He also mentioned the darknesses of the membranes. (D) Most commentators explain: it is the darkness of the belly, and the darkness of the womb, and the darkness of the placenta...}} | |||
===Semen stage lasts 40 days=== | ===Semen stage lasts 40 days=== | ||