100 Proofs That Islam Is True (Part 18): The Stages of Human Creation in the Womb
Mufti Faijullah Aman
Introduction
From today, we will look at some proofs where the Qur'an speaks about the created world. At the outset, one thing must be made clear. The Qur'an is not a science textbook; it is a Book of guidance. The Qur'an speaks of creation to make people recognize the power of Allah, and to give reasons for the resurrection after death. So we will not try to stretch any verse to fit science. We will simply place the words of the verses beside the established facts of modern science. The reader will judge for himself.
The Verse
Allah says: "We created man from an extract of clay. Then We placed him as a nutfah (a drop) in a secure place. Then We made the nutfah into an alaqah, then We made the alaqah into a mudghah (a chewed lump), then We made the mudghah into bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh. Then We brought him forth as another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators." (Surah al-Mu'minun 23:12-14)
Now let us look at each word.
1. Nutfah: A Small Drop
The Arabic word "nutfah" means a small amount of water, a single drop. Today we know that human creation begins with the union of a sperm and an egg, which is a very small amount. Of the millions of sperm in the semen, only one unites with the egg. The Qur'an also says: "Was he not a drop of semen emitted?" (Surah al-Qiyamah 75:37) That is, not all of the semen, but a part of it.
2. Nutfah Amshaj: A Mixed Drop
In another verse, Allah says: "We created man from a mixed drop." (Surah al-Insan 76:2) The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said that a child is created from the fluid of both the man and the woman. (Sahih Muslim)
To understand the importance of this, we must know the ideas of that age. Many, like the Greek philosopher Aristotle, believed that a child is formed from the man's seed, while the woman only provides the material through clotted menstrual blood. There were various views on this matter, and many of them survived for centuries. Today we know with certainty that half of a child's genetic material comes from the father and half from the mother. The Qur'an's "mixed drop" is fully consistent with this truth.
3. Qararin Makin: A Secure Place
The nutfah is placed "in a secure, firm place." The womb lies deep within the mother's body, surrounded by the bones of the pelvis and protected by strong muscular walls. The embryo grows there in safety.
4. Alaqah: Clinging, Leech-Like
This word is the most remarkable of all. The Arabic word "alaqah" has three meanings: something that clings or hangs on to something; a leech; and a clot of blood. The early scholars of Qur'anic commentary mainly took the last meaning.
Modern embryology tells us that about one week after fertilization, the embryo implants into the wall of the womb, clings there, and continues to grow. Around the third and fourth weeks, the embryo's shape looks much like a leech, and just as a leech takes nourishment from the blood of another, the embryo takes nourishment from the mother's blood. At this time it also has the appearance of clotted blood, because blood vessels are forming but blood circulation has not yet fully begun.
One word, three meanings, and all three fit the embryo at this stage. Yet at this time the embryo is only a few millimeters in size, and there was no way to see its shape with the naked eye.
5. Mudghah: A Chewed Lump
"Mudghah" means a piece of flesh that has been chewed. Around the fourth week, small raised blocks form along the embryo's back (somites), from which the spine, muscles, and skin later develop. Because of these blocks, the embryo looks as if someone has bitten it, as if it bears teeth marks.
In another verse, the Qur'an says: "a mudghah, formed and unformed." (Surah al-Hajj 22:5) At this stage, some of the embryo's organs have begun to form, while others are still unformed.
6. Bones, Then a Covering of Flesh
Next, the Qur'an says that bones were made from the mudghah, and then the bones were covered with flesh. Embryology shows that around the sixth and seventh weeks, the framework of the skeleton forms (first as cartilage), and the muscles arrange themselves around this framework and cover it. The word "kasawna" (We clothed) captures exactly this picture, like wrapping something in a garment.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "When forty-two nights have passed over the nutfah, Allah sends an angel who gives it shape and creates its hearing, its sight, its skin, its flesh, and its bones." (Sahih Muslim) Forty-two days is the beginning of the sixth week. According to embryology, it is exactly at this time that human features begin to become clear in the embryo.
7. Another Creation
Finally, Allah says: "Then We brought him forth as another creation." After the eighth week, the developing child is no longer called an "embryo," but a "fetus." From this point, essentially no new organs are formed; instead, the organs already formed grow and mature. The fetus now clearly has the form of a human baby. Compared to the earlier stages, it truly is "another creation."
A Fine Point of Language: "Thumma" and "Fa"
There is something worth noticing in the verse. To describe the change from nutfah to alaqah, the word "thumma" (then, after some time) is used. But between alaqah and mudghah, mudghah and bones, and bones and the covering of flesh, the word "fa" (then immediately, quickly) is used. In Arabic grammar, "thumma" indicates delay, and "fa" indicates quick succession. In embryology too, it takes some time from fertilization to implantation in the womb, but the stages after that occur very quickly, one after another, within a few weeks.
In Three Darknesses
Allah also says: "He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, in three darknesses." (Surah az-Zumar 39:6) Scholars of Qur'anic commentary, including the companion Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), explained these three darknesses as the belly, the womb, and the placenta or the membranes around the embryo. Today's anatomy also shows that the embryo is protected within three layers: the wall of the mother's abdomen, the wall of the womb, and the embryo's own surrounding membranes.
Why Is This a Proof?
The first microscopes were made in the seventeenth century. In 1677, people first saw sperm. And the detailed description of the stages of the embryo became known mainly in the twentieth century. It was in no way possible for an unlettered man in seventh-century Arabia to know what an embryo of a few millimeters looks like, or which stage follows which.
It is also notable that the Qur'an did not adopt any of the common mistaken ideas of that era. If the Qur'an were a human work, some errors of the medicine of its time would naturally have entered it, as they entered other books of that era. Yet even after fourteen hundred years, the simple words of the Qur'an stand firm before embryology.
Conclusion
The Qur'an gave this description not merely to give knowledge, but to make people look at themselves. Allah says: "O mankind, if you are in doubt about the resurrection, then consider that We created you from dust, then from a nutfah, then from an alaqah, then from a mudghah..." (Surah al-Hajj 22:5) For the One who formed such a wondrous human being from a drop of water, bringing him back to life after death is not difficult. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators.
Previous part (Part 17): Hearts Transformed by Hearing the Qur'an
In the next part: The Beginning of Creation and the Expanding Universe. In sha Allah.
