The Quran on Human 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


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.

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. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

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.”9
(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.”10



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.”11
(View the RealPlayer video of this comment ).






_____________________________


Footnotes:


(1) Please note that what is between
these special brackets ... in this web site is only a translation of the meaning of the Quran. It is not the Quran
itself, which is in Arabic.


(2) The Developing Human, Moore and
Persaud, 5th ed., p. 8.


(3) Human Development as
Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, p. 36.


(4) Human
Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, pp. 37-38.




(5) The
Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 65.


(6) The Developing Human, Moore and
Persaud, 5th ed., p. 8.


(7) The
Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 9.


(8) Note: The occupations of all the
scientists mentioned in this web site were last updated in 1997.


(9) The reference for this saying is
This
is the Truth

(videotape). For a copy of this videotape, please visit this page.


(10) This is the Truth

(videotape).


(11) This is the Truth

(videotape). For a copy, see footnote no. 9.