Ambiguity of Human
Embryology:
Science in Quran # (1)
by
Syed Kamran Mirza
Although, the world�s history tells us that no religion can
boast/demand any credit for the advancement of modern science,
at least one religion �Islam� very recently started
futile/meaningless propaganda of the possession of scientific
theories from the divine source. This unique and untrue claim
has been carefully orchestrated and manipulated by some
unscrupulous Muslims with the help of two western medical
scientists mainly for three purposes: (a) to continue monopoly
business of Saudi Kingdom�s revenue from Hajj pilgrimage; (b)
to rejuvenate Islamic fundamentalism; and (c) to earn easy
money by those two western scientists. Readers please read
the NFB�s article, titled: Religion, Science and Bogus
claims�, dated Feb. 8, 2000, by Khurshed Chowdhury. Fact of
the matter is, religion and Science are two completely
opposite subjects having rivalry and contradictions from the
dawn of the human civilization. Readers please also read a
very well written NFB article, dated: 4/21/00, titled:
�Religion and Science� by Mr. Nurul I. Mukul.
However, it is the intention of this essay to examine what
exactly was known about the human origin at the time of 7th
century period in order to see whether any of the theories
expressed in the Qur'an were true or indeed well known before
this time.
There are at least 60 verses which deal explicitly with human
origin and developmental sequences inside the womb, but these
are scattered throughout the Qur'an and many of the them are
repeated over and over again, as is common to much of the
book. An useful place to begin would be the material out of
which we are created. Although, one would expect the Qur'an
to be unambiguous about such an elementary matter, but the
verses listed show just how much uncertainty there appears to
be in our origins. Note that except where indicated the
translation used is the translation of Yusuf Ali (Saudi
Revised Edition).
Below are some Quranic
Ayats regarding origin of man
Could it be from
earth?
11:61 It is He Who
hath produced you from the earth
Or
dry clay (Arabic Salsaal)?
15:26,28,33 We created
man from sounding clay
17:61 ... Thou didst create from clay
32:7 He began the creation of man from clay
Did we come from mud?
23:12 We created man
from a product of wet earth (loam) (Pickthall)
23:12 Man We did create from a quintessence (of clay)
38:71 I am about to create a mortal out of mire
Could
it be dust?
3:59 He created
(Jesus) out of dust
30:20 He created you from dust
35:11 Allah did create you from dust ....
The
metaphorical description of God making man out of the soil of
the earth is ancient and predates the Qur'an by thousands of
years; it is found in the Bible in Genesis 2:7. If this was
literal it would be in direct scientific conflict with
evolutionists who maintain that life was created out of the
oceans,
Did we come from
nothing?
19:67 We created him
before out of nothing
No, we did not!
52:35 Were they
created of nothing?
(Note the
contradiction here).
Or water?
25:54 It is He Who has
created man from water
21:30 We made you from water
24:45 And God has created every animals from water
Thew Arabic word Nutfah was translated as �water� by
present day apologetics, but in older translated Quran both in
Bengali and English the word Nutfah was translated as �neglected
water� (Tuuchcha pani) meaning semen.
Perhaps we arose from
the dead or from one person?
30:19 It is He who
brings out the living from the dead
39:6 He created you from a single Person
4:1 Your guardian lord, created you from a
single person
The drop of
fluid or semen
In a number of places we are informed that man is created from
a drop of fluid (semen, seed ):
In the verses listed below � nutfah� is
used when describing the fluid which gushes out during sexual
intercourse and clearly this can only refer to semen.
16:4
He created man from a drop of fluid (Pickthall)
16:4 He has created man from a semen( sperm) -drop
32:8 He made his seed from a quintessence of despised fluid
35:11 ...then from a little fluid (Pickthall)
53:46 (he created)
from a drop of seed when it is poured forth (Pickthall)
53:46 From a sperm-drop when lodged (in its place)
56:58 Have ye seen that which ye emit (Pickthall)
56:58 Do you then see? The (human Seed) that ye emit
75:37 Was he not a drop of fluid which gushed forth
(Pickthall)
75:37 Was he not a drop of sperm emitted (in lowly form)?
76:2 We create man from a drop of thickened fluid (Pickthall)
76:2 We created Man from a drop of mingled semen (sperm)
80:19 From a semen-drop (sperm) He hath created him
Could
any of this have been known to sixth-century Muslims at the
time of Prophet Muhammed ? Surely that procreation involves
the emission of a drop of fluid has been well known from the
earliest days of civilization.
The verses which describe the origin of life as a drop of
emitted fluid are therefore no more than a direct observation
as to what is released during the act of sexual intercourse.
We hardly need to rely upon divine inspiration to inform us of
this fact. An illiterate man who never heard about Quran can
tell about this �emitted fluid� from male, or
even a 12 year old boy can tell how and why child is created
in the womb of a mother.
The Qur'an
emphatically does not mention sperm or eggs; it simply
says nutfah. This can reasonably be translated semen,
or at best as germinal fluid - which was a term used as early
as Hippocrates [1] who spoke of male and female reproductive
fluids (but obviously could not have been aware of the cells
contained in the fluids).
Prof. Moore by his wishful intention translated nutfah
as germinal fluid, he inadvertently reinforces that the Qur'an
is borrowing this term from the Greeks.
Borrowing erroneous Greek ideas
Sura- (86:6-7)
�He is created from a drop emitted - proceeding from
between the backbone and the ribs�
Sura- (7:172) "when
thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their
loins - their descendants" or
Sura- (4:23)
"prohibited to you (for marriage) are ... wives of your sons
proceeding from your loins".
In the
Quranic translation by Maulana Fazlur Rahman Munshi, the Ayat
(86:6-7) were translated as: semen are produced from the back
of a man and from the breasts (mammary glands) of an woman.
Sura 86:6-7
: is interesting since it claims that during the act of
sexual intercourse before which a man is created, the
"gushing fluid" or semen issues from between the loins and
ribs. Semen is apparently coming out of the area around the
kidneys and back, which is a real scientific mistake
for we know that the testicles are the sites of sperm
production (although the ancient Greeks were not so
convinced. Aristotle for example amusingly believed that
they functioned as weights to keep the seminal passages open
during sexual intercourse [2]).
The Greek physician Hippocrates and his followers taught in
the fifth century BC that semen comes from all the fluid in
the body, diffusing from the brain into the spinal marrow,
before passing through the kidneys and via the testicles into
the penis [3]. Clearly according to this view sperm originates
from the region of the kidneys, and
although there is serious scientific
error to this teaching today, it was well-known in the 7th
century period, and shows how the Qur'an could contain such an
erroneous statement. So this is an example of an incorrect
ancient Greek idea re-emerging in the Qur'an.
Comments
To resolve the considerable
guess works and
ambiguity about what exactly we are
made of , is like a Carpenter when he was
asked about a wooden table how he made it, he (Carpenter)
then answers: �This table was made out of wood, out of
soil, out of water , out of air, out nitrogen and so on.�
Now, apologist can argue by saying that,, Tree grows in soil,
needs water, nitrogen, air etc. so it is O.K. to answer all
those (instead of saying I made it from wood). Or, insincere,
blind-folded Mullahs can argue that, these were allegory, and
not to be taken literally. Question is where is the key to
decide those so called Allegories?
It is quite plausible to consider that, Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) encountered (during the initial propagation of divine
revelations) lots of questions (from sahabis), as to how,
Allah created human beings, and those questions obviously made
it necessary to bring those above mentioned Ayats regarding
human origin. Now, question can be asked�how an illiterate
Prophet could gather such expert knowledge? In the future
essays, I intend to postulate possible means through which
Prophet could have received these knowledge.
Among the above mentioned Qur�anic ambiguity, creation of life
from water could be taken as something close to modern
scientific knowledge. However, we have learned (from the
recent NFB article by Dr. K. Chowdhury) that, Hinduism�s
Veda and ancient Greek philosopher/scientist THALES
already told the world about it thousands of years before the
arrival of the Qur�an.
References
(1) Hippocratic Writings (Penguin Classics, 1983) P.320
(2)Aristotle (English trans. A.L. Peck, Heinemann, 1953)
Generation of Animals, 717b
(3)Hippocratic Writings , op. Cit., 317-8
(4) The
Holy Qur�an (translated by A. Yusuf Ali)
(5) The Holy Qur�an (translated by Pickthall)
