A Scientist's Interpretation
of References to Embryology in the Qur'an
by Keith L. Moore, Ph.D.,
F.I.A.C.
Keith L. Moore,
Ph.D., F.I.A.C., is the Professor of Anatomy and Associate Dean Basic Sciences,
Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M55 IAB, Canada.
Statements referring to human reproduction and development
are scattered throughout the Qur'an. It is only recently that the scientific
meaning of some of these verses has been appreciated fully. The long delay
in interpreting these verses correctly resulted mainly from inaccurate
translations and commentaries and from a lack of awareness of scientific
knowledge.
Interest in explanations of the verses of the Qur'an is not new. People
used to ask the prophet Muhammad all sorts of questions about the meaning
of verses referring to human reproduction. The Apostle's answers form the
basis of the Hadith literature.
The translations of the verses from the Qur'an which are interpreted
in this paper were provided by Sheik Abdul Majid Zendani, a Professor of
Islamic Studies in King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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"He makes you in the wombs of your mothers in stages, one after another,
in three veils of darkness."
This statement is from Sura 39:6. We do not know when it was realized that
human beings underwent development in the uterus (womb), but the first
known illustration of a fetus in the uterus was drawn by Leonardo da Vinci
in the 15th century. In the 2nd century A.D., Galen described the placenta
and fetal membranes in his book "On The Formation of the Foetus."
Consequently, doctors in the 7th century A.D. likely knew that the human
embryo developed in the uterus. It is unlikely that they knew that it developed
in stages, even though Aristotle had described the stages of development
of the chick embryo in the 4th century B.C. The realization that the human
embryo develops in stages was not discussed and illustrated until the 15th
century.
After the microscope was discovered in the 17th century by Leeuwenhoek
descriptions were made of the early stages of the chick embryo. The staging
of human embryos was not described until the 20th century. Streeter (1941)
developed the first system of staging which has now been replaced by a
more accurate system proposed by O'Rahilly (1972).
"The three veils of darkness" may refer to: (l) the anterior abdominal
wall, (2) the uterine wall, and (3) the amniochorionic membrane (Fig. 1).
Although there are other interpretations of this statement, the one presented
here seems the most logical from an embryological point of view.
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Figure 1. Drawing of a sagittal section of a female's
abdomen and pelvis showing a fetus in utero. The "veils of darkness" are:
(1) the anterior abdominal wall; (2) the uterine wall, and (3) the amniochorionic
membrane. |
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"Then We placed him as a drop in a place of rest."
This statement is from Sura 23:13. The drop or nutfah has been interpreted
as the sperm or spermatozoon, but a more meaningful interpretation would
be the zygote which divides to form a blastocyst which is implanted in
the uterus ("a place of rest"). This interpretation is supported
by another verse in the Qur'an which states that "a human being is created
from a mixed drop." The zygote forms by the union of a mixture of the sperm
and the ovum ("The mixed drop").
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"Then We made the drop into a leech-like structure."
This statement is from Sura 23:14. The word "alaqah" refers to a
leech or bloodsucker. This is an appropriate description of the human embryo
from days 7-24 when it clings to the endometrium of the uterus, in the
same way that a leech clings to the skin. Just as the leech derives blood
from the host, the human embryo derives blood from the decidua or pregnant
endometrium. It is remarkable how much the embryo of 23-24 days resembles
a leech (Fig. 2). As there were no microscopes or lenses available in the
7th century, doctors would not have known that the human embryo had this
leech-like appearance. In the early part of the fourth week, the embryo
is just visible to the unaided eye because it is smaller than a kernel
of wheat.
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Figure 2.
Top, a drawing of a leech or bloodsucker.
Below, a drawing of a 24 day-old human embryo.
Note the leech-like appearance of the human embryo at this stage. |
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"Then of that leech-like structure, We made a chewed lump."
This statement is also from Sura 23:14. The Arabic word "mudghah"
means "chewed substance or chewed lump." Toward the end of the fourth week,
the human embryo looks somewhat like a chewed lump of flesh (Fig. 3). The
chewed appearance results from the somites which resemble teeth marks.
The somites represent the beginnings or primordia of the vertebrae.
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Figure 3.
Left, a plasticine model of the human embryo which has the appearance
of chewed flesh.
Right, a drawing of a 28 day-old human embryo showing several
bead-like somites which resemble the teeth marks in the model shown to
the left. |
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"Then We made out of the chewed lump, bones, and clothed the bones
in flesh."
This continuation of Sura 23:14 indicates that out of the chewed lump stage,
bones and muscles form. This is in accordance with embryological development.
First the bones form as cartilage models and then the muscles (flesh) develop
around them from the somatic mesoderm.
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"Then We developed out of it another creature."
This next part of Sura 23:14 implies that the bones and muscles result
in the formation of another creature. This may refer to the human-like
embryo that forms by the end of the eighth week. At this stage it has distinctive
human characteristics and possesses the primordia of all the internal and
external organs and parts. After the eighth week, the human embryo is called
a fetus. This may be the new creature to which the verse refers.
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"And He gave you hearing and sight and feeling and understanding."
This part of Sura 32:9 indicates that the special senses of hearing, seeing,
and feeling develop in this order, which is true. The primordia of the
internal ears appear before the beginning of the eyes, and the brain (the
site of understanding) differentiates last.
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"Then out of a piece of chewed flesh, partly formed and partly unformed."
This part of Sura 22:5 seems to indicate that the embryo is composed of
both differentiated and undifferentiated tissues. For example, when the
cartilage bones are differentiated, the embryonic connective tissue or
mesenchyme around them is undifferentiated. It later differentiates into
the muscles and ligaments attached to the bones.
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"And We cause whom We will to rest in the wombs for an appointed
term."
This next part of Sura 22:5 seems to imply that God determines which embryos
will remain in the uterus until full term. It is well known that many embryos
abort during the first month of development, and that only about 30% of
zygotes that form, develop into fetuses that survive until birth. This
verse has also been interpreted to mean that God determines whether the
embryo will develop into a boy or girl.
The interpretation of the verses in the Qur'an referring to human development
would not have been possible in the 7th century A.D., or even a hundred
years ago. We can interpret them now because the science of modern Embryology
affords us new understanding. Undoubtedly there are other verses in the
Qur'an related to human development that will be understood in the future
as our knowledge increases.