The Quran on Human Embryonic Development:

[wel_mel_2]

Bismillah:


Salam Christian Curious.


the following information is taken from


please CLICK HEREfor reading the entire book


In the Holy Quran, God speaks about the stages of man’s embryonic development:


We created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him as a drop in a place of settlement, firmly fixed. Then We made the drop into an alaqah (leech, suspended thing, and blood clot), then We made the alaqah into a mudghah (chewed substance)... 1 (Quran, 23:12-14)


Literally, the Arabic word alaqah has three meanings: (1) leech, (2) suspended thing, and (3) blood clot.


In comparing a leech to an embryo in the alaqah stage, we find similarity between the two2 as we can see in figure 1. Also, the embryo at this stage obtains nourishment from the blood of the mother, similar to the leech, which feeds on the blood of others.3





Figure 1: Drawings illustrating the similarities in appearance between a leech and a human embryo at the alaqah stage. (Leech drawing from Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, p. 37, modified from Integrated Principles of Zoology, Hickman and others. Embryo drawing from The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 73.)



The second meaning of the word alaqah is “suspended thing.” This is what we can see in figures 2 and 3, the suspension of the embryo, during the alaqah stage, in the womb of the mother.





Figure 2: We can see in this diagram the suspension of an embryo during the alaqah stage in the womb (uterus) of the mother. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 66.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)






Figure 3: In this photomicrograph, we can see the suspension of an embryo (marked B) during the alaqah stage (about 15 days old) in the womb of the mother. The actual size of the embryo is about 0.6 mm. (The Developing Human, Moore, 3rd ed., p. 66, from Histology, Leeson and Leeson.)



The third meaning of the word alaqah is “blood clot.” We find that the external appearance of the embryo and its sacs during the alaqah stage is similar to that of a blood clot. This is due to the presence of relatively large amounts of blood present in the embryo during this stage4 (see figure 4). Also during this stage, the blood in the embryo does not circulate until the end of the third week.5 Thus, the embryo at this stage is like a clot of blood.





Figure 4: Diagram of the primitive cardiovascular system in an embryo during the alaqah stage. The external appearance of the embryo and its sacs is similar to that of a blood clot, due to the presence of relatively large amounts of blood present in the embryo. (The Developing Human, Moore, 5th ed., p. 65.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)



So the three meanings of the word alaqah correspond accurately to the descriptions of the embryo at the alaqah stage.


The next stage mentioned in the verse is the mudghah stage. The Arabic word mudghah means “chewed substance.” If one were to take a piece of gum and chew it in his or her mouth and then compare it with an embryo at the mudghah stage, we would conclude that the embryo at the mudghah stage acquires the appearance of a chewed substance. This is because of the somites at the back of the embryo that “somewhat resemble teethmarks in a chewed substance.”6 (see figures 5 and 6).





Figure 5: Photograph of an embryo at the mudghah stage (28 days old). The embryo at this stage acquires the appearance of a chewed substance, because the somites at the back of the embryo somewhat resemble teeth marks in a chewed substance. The actual size of the embryo is 4 mm. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 82, from Professor Hideo Nishimura, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.)






Figure 6: When comparing the appearance of an embryo at the mudghah stage with a piece of gum that has been chewed, we find similarity between the two.



A) Drawing of an embryo at the mudghah stage. We can see here the somites at the back of the embryo that look like teeth marks. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 79.)


B) Photograph of a piece of gum that has been chewed.





How could Muhammad have possibly known all this 1400 years ago, when scientists have only recently discovered this using advanced equipment and powerful microscopes which did not exist at that time? Hamm and Leeuwenhoek were the first scientists to observe human sperm cells (spermatozoa) using an improved microscope in 1677 (more than 1000 years after Muhammad ). They mistakenly thought that the sperm cell contained a miniature preformed human being that grew when it was deposited in the female genital tract.7


Professor Emeritus Keith L. Moore8 is one of the world’s most prominent scientists in the fields of anatomy and embryology and is the author of the book entitled The Developing Human, which has been translated into eight languages. This book is a scientific reference work and was chosen by a special committee in the United States as the best book authored by one person. Dr. Keith Moore is Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. There, he was Associate Dean of Basic Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine and for 8 years was the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy. In 1984, he received the most distinguished award presented in the field of anatomy in Canada, the J.C.B. Grant Award from the Canadian Association of Anatomists. He has directed many international associations, such as the Canadian and American Association of Anatomists and the Council of the Union of Biological Sciences.


In 1981, during the Seventh Medical Conference in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Professor Moore said: “It has been a great pleasure for me to help clarify statements in the Quran about human development. It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God, because almost all of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later. This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a messenger of God.” (To view the RealPlayer video of this comment Click here.


Consequently, Professor Moore was asked the following question: “Does this mean that you believe that the Quran is the word of God?” He replied: “I find no difficulty in accepting this.”


During one conference, Professor Moore stated: “....Because the staging of human embryos is complex, owing to the continuous process of change during development, it is proposed that a new system of classification could be developed using the terms mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah (what Muhammad said, did, or approved of). The proposed system is simple, comprehensive, and conforms with present embryological knowledge. The intensive studies of the Quran and hadeeth (reliably transmitted reports by the Prophet Muhammad’s companions of what he said, did, or approved of) in the last four years have revealed a system for classifying human embryos that is amazing since it was recorded in the seventh century A.D. Although Aristotle, the founder of the science of embryology, realized that chick embryos developed in stages from his studies of hen’s eggs in the fourth century B.C., he did not give any details about these stages. As far as it is known from the history of embryology, little was known about the staging and classification of human embryos until the twentieth century. For this reason, the descriptions of the human embryo in the Quran cannot be based on scientific knowledge in the seventh century. The only reasonable conclusion is: these descriptions were revealed to Muhammad from God. He could not have known such details because he was an illiterate man with absolutely no scientific training.”


CC, if you have any question or comments please do let me know.


i still have many things to say about this topic insha'Allah.


Salam


Wael.


TAKEN FROM:

[Curious Christian]

Interesting yes...does it make me think that it's from God??? No.


However, your points expose my little knowledge of the history of medical science. I would like to do some research on what science understood in the times of Mohammed.

[Curious Christian]

Wel Mel. What do you think of this article and the evidence it's puts forth about the Embryonic Development in the Quran?


Scientific errors and the myth of embryology in the Koran:


In an effort to show the scientific accuracy of the Koran, Muslim's are quick to bring up the claim of embryology revealed in stunning accuracy, before man discovered for himself. Muslims love to tell the story of how professor Keith L. Moore, the former anatomist at the University of Toronto, was impressed with the Koran’s embryological information.


However many Muslim are completely unaware that all of the information in the Qur'an about embryology had already been revealed many different times, centuries before hand. Furthermore, some of the information is scientifically inaccurate....


Here


Granted, it's an article linked on a Christian site which aims to debunk the Quranic claim to shedding light on Embryonic Development, but facts are facts.

[alliex]

bismillah,


this is a bit of the topic. But Wel Mel the site u gave is the best site I found. when I was converting I read this site. Its the best site I've read!

[wel_mel_2]

Bismillah:

Interesting yes...does it make me think that it's from God??? No.

our job is not to make you think whether this from God or not. our job is to present the truth and bring it right infront of your eyes, and your job is to verify the information and accept it or reject it its up to you.

However, your points expose my little knowledge of the history of medical science. I would like to do some research on what science understood in the times of Mohammed.

yeah good for you, but i hope you can find reliable sources insha'Allah.


Salam


Wael.

[wel_mel_2]

Bismillah:

bismillah,


this is a bit of the topic. But Wel Mel the site u gave is the best site I found. when I was converting I read this site. Its the best site I've read!

this same site/book was the reason after Allah's guidance of course in converting many other people to Islam. Alhamdulelah.


may Allah open the hearts of those who are really seeking the truth. Ameen


Salam


Wael.

[Curious Christian]

Bismillah:


this same site/book was the reason after Allah's guidance of course in converting many other people to Islam. Alhamdulelah.


may Allah open the hearts of those who are really seeking the truth. Ameen


Salam


Wael.

So what of the article I linked? Are those facts not reliable?

[wel_mel_2]

Bismillah:


here is my answer to this article you have shown me.

Scientific errors and the myth of embryology in the Koran:
In an effort to show the scientific accuracy of the Koran, Muslim's are quick to bring up the claim of embryology revealed in stunning accuracy, before man discovered for himself. Muslims love to tell the story of how professor Keith L. Moore, the former anatomist at the University of Toronto, was impressed with the Koran’s embryological information.

In a conference took place in Canada after Professor Keith Moore’s declaration of the accuracy of the Qur’anic statements that deals with Embryology, and after about 80 questions were asked to him, he said… ‘If you would have asked me these 80 questions, 30 years ago, I would not be able to answer more than 50 percent - Because embryology has developed recently in the past 30 years.’ He said this in the eighties. Now, do we believe Dr. Keith Moore whose statement is available on video tape called ‘This is the truth’...’Anna-ul-Haq’ or will you believe this website? I leave the decision to you.

However many Muslim are completely unaware that all of the information in the Qur'an about embryology had already been revealed many different times, centuries before hand. Furthermore, some of the information is scientifically inaccurate

Dr. Moore also wrote a book on clinical embryology, and when he presented this information in Toronto, it caused quite a stir throughout Canada. It was on the front pages of some of the newspapers across Canada, and some of the headlines were quite funny. For instance, one headline read: "SURPRISING THING FOUND IN ANCIENT PRAYER BOOK!" It seems obvious from this example that people do not clearly understand what it is all about. As a matter of fact, one newspaper reporter asked Professor Moore, "Don't you think that maybe the Arabs might have known about these things - the description of the embryo, its appearance and how it changes and grows? Maybe they were not scientists, maybe they did some crude dissections on their own - carved up people and examined these things." The professor immediately pointed out to him that he [i.e., the reporter] had missed a very important point - all of the slides of the embryo that had been shown and that had been projected in the film had come from pictures taken through a microscope. He said, "It does not matter if someone had tried to discover embryology fourteen centuries ago. They could not have seen it!"


All of the descriptions in the Qur'an of the appearance of the embryo are of the item when it is still too small to see with the eye; therefore, one needs a microscope to see it. Since such a device had only been around for little more than two hundred years, Dr. Moore taunted, "Maybe fourteen centuries ago someone secretly had a microscope and did this research, making no mistakes anywhere. Then he somehow taught Muhammad PBUH and convinced him to put this information in his book. Then he destroyed his equipment and kept it a secret forever. Do you believe that? You really should not unless you bring some proof because it is such a ridiculous theory." In fact, when he was asked, "How do you explain this information in the Qur'an?" Dr. Moore's reply was, "It could only have been divinely revealed!"

But don't take my word for it, early Muslim doctors, like Ibn-Qayyim, were first to blow the whistle when they saw the Koranic material, mirrored a Greek doctor named Galen, who lived of 150 AD. In 1983 Basim Musallam, Director of the Centre of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge concluded, "The stages of development which the Qur'an and Hadith established for believers agreed perfectly with Galen's scientific account....There is no doubt that medieval thought appreciated this agreement between the Qur'an and Galen, for Arabic science employed the same Qur'anic terms to describe the Galenic stages" (B. Musallam (Cambridge, 1983) Sex and Society in Islam. p. 54) In other words when it comes to embryology the Qur'an merely echoes the scientific knowledge man had already discovered 450 years earlier.

I will quote from Keith L. Moore's, A Scientist's Interpretation of References of Embryology in the Qur'an.

"Then We placed him as a drop in a place of rest."
This statement is from Sura 23:13. The drop or nutfah has been interpreted as the sperm or spermatozoon, but a more meaningful interpretation would be the zygote which divides to form a blastocyst which is implanted in the uterus ("a place of rest"). This interpretation is supported by another verse in the Qur'an which states that "a human being is created from a mixed drop." The zygote forms by the union of a mixture of the sperm and the ovum ("The mixed drop").


"Then We made the drop into a leech-like structure."


This statement is from Sura 23:14. The word "alaqah" refers to a leech or bloodsuc.ker. This is an appropriate description of the human embryo from days 7-24 when it clings to the endometrium of the uterus, in the same way that a leech clings to the skin. Just as the leech derives blood from the host, the human embryo derives blood from the decidua or pregnant endometrium. It is remarkable how much the embryo of 23-24 days resembles a leech (Fig. 2). As there were no microscopes or lenses available in the 7th century, doctors would not have known that the human embryo had this leech-like appearance. In the early part of the fourth week, the embryo is just visible to the unaided eye because it is smaller than a kernel of wheat.


"Then of that leech-like structure, We made a chewed lump."


This statement is also from Sura 23:14. The Arabic word "mudghah" means "chewed substance or chewed lump." Toward the end of the fourth week, the human embryo looks somewhat like a chewed lump of flesh. The chewed appearance results from the somites which resemble teeth marks. The somites represent the beginnings or primordia of the vertebrae.


"Then We made out of the chewed lump, bones, and clothed the bones in flesh."


This continuation of Sura 23:14 indicates that out of the chewed lump stage, bones and muscles form. This is in accordance with embryological development. First the bones form as cartilage models and then the muscles (flesh) develop around them from the somatic mesoderm.


"Then We developed out of it another creature."


This next part of Sura 23:14 implies that the bones and muscles result in the formation of another creature. This may refer to the human-like embryo that forms by the end of the eighth week. At this stage it has distinctive human characteristics and possesses the primordia of all the internal and external organs and parts. After the eighth week, the human embryo is called a fetus. This may be the new creature to which the verse refers.

If you look at Galen’s idea you will notice that the Qur'anic description of the development of the embryo is quite different. Both Galen's theory and the Qur'an tell us of four stages of development, but if you read the above quote attentively, you'll know it is ridiculous to assert that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) plagiarized Galen's ideas.


Here's why,


the Qur'an states that Allah made the drop an alaqah, which is a leech-like structure, not a clot of blood. It is scientifically incorrect to say that the sperm drop became a clot of blood, you are using a wrong translation. "This is an appropriate description of the human embryo from days 7-24 when it clings to the endometrium of the uterus, in the same way that a leech clings to the skin. Just as the leech derives blood from the host, the human embryo derives blood from the decidua or pregnant endometrium."


Then, Allah says He turned that alaqah into a mudghah, a chewed lump of flesh, which is also embryologically correct. "The chewed appearance results from the somites which resemble teeth marks."


Indeed Galen thought the embryo forms in four stages, but he never described it as accurately as Prophet Muhammad PBUH. This information would have never been discovered without a microscope, and we all know the microscope was invented in the 17th century. Therefore, it would be reasonable to conclude that this information was revealed to Muhammad(s.a.w) by the Creator of the embryo.


Salam.


Wael.

[Curious Christian]

That is a very long answer for such a basic question.


Embryology was not something new that the Qur'an revealed. Bottom line. Period. End of story. You also seem to put a lot of stock into the opinion of 1 scientist.

[wel_mel_2]

Bismillah:

That is a very long answer for such a basic question.


Embryology was not something new that the Qur'an revealed. Bottom line. Period. End of story. You also seem to put a lot of stock into the opinion of 1 scientist.

I really don’t know what to say, your reply was so negative. You didn’t think how much time I spent only to answer your question. Alhamdulelah.


It seems that you are not satisfied with "1 scientist opinion" so are you ready for more?


Scientists' Comments On The Qur'an


Salam


Wael.