The miracle of embryonic development is
mentioned in the Quran in such minute detail, much of which was unknown
to scientists until only recently. It mentions the first stages of life
after conception, the second stage of life after conception, and
witnesses of scientists about these scientific facts of the Quran.
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)…” (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 two 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.
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 alaqahstage, in the womb of the
mother.
Figure 2: We can see in this diagram the
suspension of an embryo during the alaqahstage in the womb (uterus) of
the mother. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 66.)
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 stage (see figure 4). Also during this stage, the
blood in the embryo does not circulate until the end of the third
week.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 alaqahstage. 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.)
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.” (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, may the mercy and
blessings of God be upon him, 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.
Professor Emeritus Keith L. Moore 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, may the mercy and
blessings of God be upon him, 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.” (View the RealPlayer video of this
comment).
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Footnotes:
The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 8.
Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, p. 36.
Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, pp. 37-38.
The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 65.
The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 8.
The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 9.
Note: The occupations of all the scientists mentioned in this web site were last updated in 1997.
The
reference for this saying is This is the Truth (videotape). For a copy
of this videotape, please visit www.islam-guide.com/truth.htm
This is the Truth (videotape).
This is the Truth (videotape). For a copy, see footnote no. 9.
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