In
the Holy Quran,Allah subhanahu 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 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.)
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 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.)
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 teeth marks 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 Muhammadhave 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.”
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 to 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.”
