Qur’an on Human Embryonic Phases
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Allah says regarding the stages the fetus goes through:
((And indeed We created man (Adam) out of an extract of clay (water and earth).
Thereafter We made him (the offspring of Adam) as a Nutfah (mixed drops of the
male and female sexual discharge) (and lodged it) in a safe lodging (womb of the
woman). Then We made the Nutfah into a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood),
then We made the clot into a little lump of flesh, then We made out of that lump
of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, and then We brought it
forth as another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators. After
that, surely, you will die. Then [again], surely, you will be resurrected on the
Day of Resurrection.)) (23:12-14)
The stages a human passes through are:
- Extract of Clay: Adam the father of humankind, was created from
clay. This verse does not agree with the theory of evolution which science
disproves. This indicates that humans are a distinct creation. Humankind did
not evolve from other species.
- Mixed sperm: In this stage male and female discharge mix in the
womb, the result of which the egg may become fertilized or die by the will
of Allah. If the egg becomes fertilized the first stages of creation would
commence.
Allah says:
((Indeed, We created man from a sperm-drop mixture that We may try him; and We
made him hearing and seeing.)) (76:2)
If the sperm fails to fertilize the ovum, it would be cast out of the womb
along with it, but if it fertilizes the egg and creates a zygote, it would cling
to the side of the womb in the form of a blastula. If Allah wills that it clings
to the womb, it would move onto the Alaqah stage (i.e. a leech like, suspending
thing).
Allah says:
((O people, if you should be in doubt about the Resurrection, then [consider
that] indeed, We created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then from a
clinging clot, and then from a lump of flesh, formed and unformed – that We may
show you. And We settle in the wombs whom We will for a specified term, then We
bring you out as a child, and then [We develop you] that you may reach your
[time of] maturity. And among you is he who is taken in [early] death, and among
you is he who is returned to the most decrepit [old] age so that he knows, after
[once having] knowledge, nothing. And you see the earth barren, but when We send
down upon it rain, it quivers and swells and grows [something] of every
beautiful kind.)) (22:5)
- Blood Clot/Clinging Thing: It is described as such, since it clings to the womb; in a manner similar to a leech which feeds off the blood of other creatures.
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.
- Chewed substance: It is described as such since the embryo is similar in appearance to a chewed substance.
The embryo in this stage is similar in appearance to a chewed substance, because the somites at the back of the embryo somewhat resemble teeth marks in a chewed substance.
• Formation of bones.
• Covering of bones with flesh.
• Development of the embryo into a different form, wherein the proportioning of
the body takes place and life is breathed into it.
The human embryo goes through a number of stages within three darknesses as
Allah says:
((He created you (all) from a single person (Adam); then made from him his wife
[Hawwa' (Eve)]. And He has sent down for you of cattle eight pairs (of the
sheep, two, male and female; of the goats, two, male and female; of the oxen,
two, male and female; and of the camels, two, male and female). He creates you
in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation in three veils of
darkness, such is Allah your Lord. His is the kingdom, Lâ ilâha illa Huwa (none
has the right to be worshipped but He). How then are you turned away?)) (39:6)
This verse states that the embryo is covered in three coverings, referred to
as “darknesses” in this verse. Water, air, light and heat cannot penetrate these
coverings,nor can they be seen with the naked eye.
Dr. Maurice Bucaille21 said:
‘Modern interpreters of the Qur’an see in this verse the three anatomical layers
that protect the infant during gestation: the abdominal wall, the uterus itself,
and the surroundings of the fetus (placenta, embryonic membranes, amniotic
fluid).’22
The embryo is also placed in a safe place. Allah says:
((Did We not create you from a liquid disdained? And We placed it in a firm
lodging [i.e. the womb] for a known extent [determined by gestation]. And We
determined [it], and excellent [are We] to determine.)) (77:20-23)
Dr. Gary Miller:23 ‘A reporter asked Professor Keith Moore:24 “Don’t you think
that maybe the Arabs might have known about these things - the description of
the embryo, its appearance and how it changes and grows? Maybe they were not
scientists, but maybe they did some crude dissec-tions on their own - carved up
people and examined these things.”
The professor immediately pointed out to him that he [i.e., the reporter] had
missed a very important point. All of the slides of the embryo that had been
shown and had been projected in the film had come from pictures taken through a
microscope. He said, “It does not matter if someone had tried to discover
embryology fourteen centuries ago, they could not have seen it!”
All of the descriptions in the Qur’an of the appearance of the embryo are of the
item when it is still too small to see with the eye; therefore, one needs a
microscope to see it. Since such a device had only been around for little more
than two hundred years, Dr. Moore taunted: “Maybe fourteen centuries ago someone
secretly had a microscope and did this research, making no mistakes anywhere.
Then he somehow taught Muhammad and convinced him to put this information in his
book. Then he destroyed his equipment and kept it a secret forever. Do you
believe that? You really should not unless you bring some proof because it is
such a ridiculous theory.”
When he was asked: “How do you explain this information in the Qur’an?”
Dr. Moore’s reply was: “It could only have been divinely revealed!”’
Dr. Gerald C. Goeringer25 said: “In most, if not all, instances, this
description antedates by many centuries the recording of the various stages of
human embryonic and fetal development recorded in the traditional scientific
literature.”