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Embryology in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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{{Quote|{{Quran|77|20-22}}|'''Sahih International:'''Did We not create you from a liquid disdained? And We placed it in a firm lodging For a known extent.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|77|20-22}}|'''Sahih International:'''Did We not create you from a liquid disdained? And We placed it in a firm lodging For a known extent.}} | ||
Verses 20-21 closely parallel 23:13, which too says We placed it (jaAAalnahu) in a safe place (qararin makeen), and uses the word nutfah instead of maa' maheenin (liquid disdained). | Verses 20-21 closely parallel 23:13, which too says We placed it (jaAAalnahu) in a safe place (qararin makeen), and uses the word nutfah instead of maa' maheenin (liquid disdained). The 'hu' ending to jaAAalnahu can mean him or it, and probably means the former in 23:13. However, 77:20 uses the 2nd person "you", so the latter meaning, 'it' is clearly intended in the next verse, in reference to the liquid. | ||
===The 'alaqah stage=== | ===The 'alaqah stage=== | ||
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Those who claim that 'alaqah is used in the sense of a clinging thing in the Qur'an should consider that the embryo does not cease to be attached to the uterine wall when the musculo-skeletal system begins to develop around the 5th week. Yet the Qur'anic stages appear to describe a transition between a succession of states. | Those who claim that 'alaqah is used in the sense of a clinging thing in the Qur'an should consider that the embryo does not cease to be attached to the uterine wall when the musculo-skeletal system begins to develop around the 5th week. Yet the Qur'anic stages appear to describe a transition between a succession of states. | ||
Apologists who are fond of leech metaphors should consider that unlike a leech, which simply sucks blood from its host, the embryo circulates and exchanges blood and waste products with its mother.<ref>Barry Mitchell & Ram Sharma 2009. Embryology: An Illustrated Colour Text. Second Edition. Chruchill Livingstone ElSevier. Page 10-11</ref> A leech has many characteristics such as size, behaviour, shape, color, appearance. Why would the author use 'alaqah intending such a metaphorical meaning when his listeners could not be expected to know in what respect the analogy applies? It is a typical [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_sharpshooter_fallacy Texan Sharpshooter fallacy] of apologists to choose one characteristic, shape, to an arbitrarily very limited degree find a similarity with an embryo, and draw any conclusions, particularly as the early embryo passes through a wide range of shapes and is itself a biological organism. Moreover, such apologetics have to conveniently ignore the embryo's yolk sac when depicting the embryo. | Apologists who are fond of leech metaphors should consider that unlike a leech, which simply sucks blood from its host, the embryo circulates and exchanges blood and waste products with its mother.<ref>Barry Mitchell & Ram Sharma 2009. Embryology: An Illustrated Colour Text. Second Edition. Chruchill Livingstone ElSevier. Page 10-11</ref> A leech has many characteristics such as size, behaviour, shape, color, appearance. Why would the author use 'alaqah intending such a metaphorical meaning when his listeners could not be expected to know in what respect the analogy applies? It is a typical [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_sharpshooter_fallacy Texan Sharpshooter fallacy] of apologists to choose one characteristic, shape, to an arbitrarily very limited degree find a similarity with an embryo, and draw any conclusions, particularly as the early embryo passes through a wide range of shapes and is itself a biological organism. Moreover, such apologetics have to conveniently ignore the embryo's yolk sac when depicting the embryo. | ||
Given that one of the meanings of 'alaqah is congealed blood, which was also the understanding given in numerous tafsirs, it is most unwise to use a word with such a biological meaning to describe a biological process if that meaning was not the intention. A perfect author would avoid arousing any such suspicion of inaccurate biology with his choice of words. | Given that one of the meanings of 'alaqah is congealed blood, which was also the understanding given in numerous tafsirs, it is most unwise to use a word with such a biological meaning to describe a biological process if that meaning was not the intention. A perfect author would avoid arousing any such suspicion of inaccurate biology with his choice of words. | ||