The world discover Embryo
formation in 1827 but muslems know this since 1400 years from 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[1] 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.[2]
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[3] (see figure
4). Also during this stage, the blood in
the embryo does not circulate until the end of the third week.[4] 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 teethmarks in a chewed substance.”[5] (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.[6]
Professor Emeritus Keith L.
Moore[7] 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.”[8] (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.”[9]
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.”[10] (View the RealPlayer video of this comment)
Quran is not words of person
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