EMBRYOLOGY AND QURAN

By Dr Khursheed Ahmad Wani and Dr. S.M. Zuber

Of all the sacred scriptures, the Holy Quran is the ultimate guiding principle for muslims and to understand it one requires exegesis, known as tafsir in Arabic, as it is fundamentally the knowledge through which one enhances his understanding of the Quran and its commandments and divine wisdom. Quranic exegesis is a branch of comprehension dealing with “the method of the delivery of the words of the Quran, their interpretation, their individual and composite forms and expediencies. Given the condition the present era is science and technology driven, so science can be used to understand the Quran and make it accessible and intelligible to the mankind. Needless to mention, this has been debated by different scholars over the period of time, whether to use it or not.
Al-Shatibi, a 14th Century scholar was against using science as he believes Qur’an is a religious book which is mainly focused on the manifestation of the Divine will in the human sphere of existence. Al-Ghazali, the 11th Century theologian and philosopher advocates that Jewels of the Quran are the principles of various sciences, hence science lies in the ambit of the Quran. There are estimated 750 verses concerning scientific study of natural phenomena in Quran. Qur’an provides minute details about the development of embryo, what today’s embryology has for a Zoologist. The Qur’an provides a concise and eloquent account of the developing human embryo and to quote:
We created man from an essence of clay, then We placed him as a drop of fluid in a safe place. Then We made that drop of fluid into a clinging form, and then We made that form into a lump of flesh, and We made that lump into bones, and We clothed those bones with flesh, and later We made him into other forms. Glory be to God the best of Creators (23:12 to 23:14.)
Scientifically, clay is made up of Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulfur, Chlorine, Sodium, Magnesium and Silicon, all of which are required for human functioning and development. The words sulaalah means ‘extract’ and tin means ‘wet earth’ or ‘clay’ and the verse means that man was created from some special elements extracted from earth. The next stage of the development of the human embryo is nutfah. The concept of today’s modern embryology implies the process of fertilization, which requires the ‘mingling’ of components from the mother and the father. These components form a single cell known as the zygote. In this regard, embryologists John Allen and Beverley Kramer advocates that “the baby develops from the combination of two minute structures called gametes, one from the mother (oocyte) and other from the father (spermatozoon). Together, these gametes form a single cell, the zygote, from which the entire embryo including its surrounding membranes, grow. In the Quran, the nutfah is described as a combination of mingled (al-amshaj) fluids: “We created man from a drop (nutfah) of mingled fluid.” The nutfah stage in embryology implies the process of fertilization.
The next stage in the process of human development is qararin makin. The word qararin means to make sedentary. The word makin has meanings that include to place, to put/set down firmly and to put in position. The combination of these two words provide connotations of: in a safe place, in a place firmly fixed, in a safe lodging and in a firm resting place. Embryologists explain the concept of Quran in the words “The blastocyst sinking in the endometrium, being completely encased i.e. the process of implantation. Quran further deliberates on the development of human foetus as “Then We made that drop of fluid into a clinging form”. According to modern embryology, from day 15 the embryo is hanging or suspended via the ‘connecting stalk’. In 4th week, two processes occur: the development of the brain and the spinal cord, called neurulation; and the initial stages of the folding of the embryo. The embryo later resembles a leech-like form suggested by the word `alaqah – a creeping, leech or worm-like substance. Barry Mitchell () and Ram Sharma () explain ‘hanging’ or ‘suspended’ aspects of the `alaqah stage as being, “connected to the cyto-trophoblast by a connecting stalk of extra-embryonic mesoderm (primitive connective tissue). The stalk is the forerunner of the umbilical cord.” The exchange of nutrients, respiratory gases and waste products between the maternal and foetal blood takes place across the placental membrane within intervillous spaces. Maternal blood enters these spaces from the spiral arteries, branches of the uterine artery, bringing nutrients and oxygen for the embryo and fetus. So forms the other organs in the process of development.
The next stage of human development defined in the Qur’an is mudghah. This term means to chew, mastication, chewing, to be chewed, and a small piece of meat. It also describes the embryo after it passes to another stage and becomes flesh. The manifestation of the embryo at this stage, due to somite development, corresponds with the meanings: ‘to be chewed’ and ‘something that teeth have chewed and left visible marks on’. This stage is also known as organogenetic period.
From the mudghah stage, `idhaam’ are created. The word `idhaam’ in the Arabic language means bone, and is specifically applied to the bones of the hands and feet, or of the arms and legs of an animal, upon which is the flesh. The origin of mesenchymal cells forming the skeletal tissues varies in different regions of the body. Mesenchymal cells forming the axial skeleton arise from the mesodermal somites, whereas the bones of the appendicular skeleton are derived from the somatopleuric mesenchyme of the lateral plate mesoderm. After reaching their destination the mesenchymal cells condense and form models of bones. The subsequent differentiation of mesenchymal cells into chondroblasts or osteoblasts is genetically controlled. ‘This is what “Idhaam” is described in science. And we clothed the bones with flesh: The word kasauna means: to clothe, to dress, to garb and to attire. It also carries the meanings of: to hang, to drape, to face, to line and to case. Further interpretations of the word include: to incase, to cover, to put, to slip and to give the appearance of and make look like. The word lahm means flesh, meat, or a piece of flesh or meat. In science, the word kasauna denotes the migration and aggregation of the myoblasts which organize into dorsal and ventral muscle masses surrounding the developing skeleton. Then we made him into other forms: The khalqan akhara stage: The end of the embryonic stage, and the beginning of a new phase of growth. The things and the theories that are now being explained by modern embryology has been already well explained in the holy Quran in 610 A.D. There are many more verses of Quran that were put to test by science. The experiments will continue and the time is not far when all the claims of Quran regarding the development of humans and life will be considered scientific facts.
(The authors teach Environmental Science & Zoology at GDC Bijbehara)