All of these data are bound to amaze anyone who approaches them in an objective
spirit. They add a much wider dimension to the problem studied in the present
work. The basic point remains the same, however: we must surely be in the
presence of facts which place a heavy strain on our natural propensity for
explaining everything in materialistic terms, for the existence in the Qur'an of
these scientific statements appears as a challenge to human explanation.
On the subject of man, as well as the other topics mentioned earlier, it is not
possible to find any corresponding data in the Bible. Furthermore, the
scientific errors contained in the Bible such as those describing man's first
appearance on earth, which, as we have seen may be deduced from the genealogies
that figure in Genesisare not to be found in the Qur'an. It is crucial to
understand that such errors could not have been `edited out' of the Qur'an since
the time they first became apparent: Well over a thousand years have elapsed
since the most ancient manuscripts and today's texts of the Qur'an, but the
texts are still absolutely identical. Thus, if Muhammad were the author of the
Qur'an (a theory upheld by some people), it is difficult to see how he could
have spotted the scientific errors in the Bible dealing with such a wide variety
of subjects and have proceeded to eliminate every single one of them when he
came to compose his own text on the same themes. Let us state once again; that
no new scientific facts had been discovered since the time the Bible was written
that might have helped eliminate such errors.
In view of the above, it is imperative to know the history of the texts, just as
it is essential to our understanding of certain aspects of the Bible for us to
be aware of the conditions in which it was written.
As we have noted earlier, experts in Biblical exegesis consider the books of the
Old and New Testaments to be divinely inspired works. Let us now examine,
however, the teachings of Muslim exegetes, who present the Qur'an in quite a
different fashion.
When Muhammad was roughly forty years old, it was his custom to retire to a
retreat just outside Mecca in order to meditate. It was here that he received a
first, message from God via the Angel Gabriel, at a date that corresponds to 610
A.D. After a long period of silence, this first message was followed by
successive revelations spread over some twenty years. During the Prophet's
lifetime, they were both written down and recited by heart among his first
followers. Similarly, the revelations were divided into suras (chapters) and
collected together after the Prophet's death (in 632 A.D.) in a book: the
Qur'an. The Book contains the Word of God, to the exclusion of any human
additions. Manuscripts dating from the first century of Islam authenticate
today's text, the other form of authentification being the recitation by heart
of the Qur'an, a practice that has continued unbroken from the time of the
Prophet down to the present day.
In contrast to the Bible, therefore, we are here presented with a text that is
none other than the transcript of the Revelation itself; the only way it can be
received and interpreted is literally. The purity of the revealed text has been
greatly emphasized, and the uncorrupted nature of the Qur'an stems from the
following factors
First, as stated above, fragments of the text were written down during the
Prophet's lifetime; inscribed on tablets, parchments and other materials current
at the time. The Qur'an itself refers to the fact that the text was set down in
writing. W e find this in several suras dating from before and after the Hegira
(Muhammad's departure from Mecca to Medina in 622 A.D.) In addition to the
transcription of the text, however, there was also the fact that it was learned
by heart. The text of the Qur'an is much shorter than the Old Testament and
slightly longer than the New Testament. Since it took twenty years for the
Qur'an to be revealed, however, it was easy for the Prophet's followers to
recite it by heart, sura by sura. This process of recitation afforded a
considerable advantage as far as an uncorrupted text was concerned, for it
provided. .a system of double checking at the time the definitive text was
written down. This took place several years after the Prophet's death; first
under the caliphate of Abu Bakr, his first successor, and later under the
caliphate of Omar and in particular that of Uthman (644 to 655 A.D.) The latter
ordered an extremely strict recension of the text, which involved checking it
against the recited version.
After Muhammad's death, Islam rapidly expanded far beyond the limits of the area
in which it was born. Soon, it included many peoples whose native language was
not Arabic. Very strict steps were taken to ensure that the text of the Qur'an
did not suffer from this expansion of Islam: Uthman sent copies of his entire
recension to the principal centres of the vast Islamic empire. Some copies still
exist today, in more or less complete form, in such places as Tashkent
(U.S.S.R.) and Istanbul. Copies have also been discovered that date from the
very first centuries after the Hegira; they are all identical, and all of them
correspond to the earliest manuscripts. Today's editions of the Qur'an are all
faithful reproductions of the original copies. In the case of the Qur'an, there
are no instances of rewriting or corruptions of the text over the course of
time.
If the origins of the Qur'an had been similar to those of the Bible; it would
not be unreasonable to suppose that, the subjects it raised would be presented
in the light of ideas influenced by certain opinions of the time, often derived
from myth and superstition. If this were, the case, one might also assume that
the text was full of statements reflecting varied traditions whose origins are
often obscure. Furthermore, one might argue that there were untold opportunities
for inaccurate assertions, based on such: sources, to find their way into the
many and varied subjects briefly summarized above. In actual fact, however, we
find nothing of the kind in the Qur'an.
But having said this, we should note that the Qur'an is a religious book
par
excellence. We should not use statements that have a bearing on secular
knowledge as a pretext to go hunting after any expression of scientific laws. As
stated earlier, all we should seek are reflections on natural phenomena; phrases
occasioned by references to divine omnipotence and designed to emphasize that
omnipotence in the eyes of mankind throughout the ages. The presence of such
reflections in the Qur'an has become particularly significant in modern times,
for their meaning is, clearly explained by the data of contemporary knowledge.
This characteristic is specific to the Qur'an.
That does not mean to say, however, that the statements in the Qur'an
especially, those concerning man may all of them be examined in the light of the
findings of modern science. The creation of man as described in both the Bible
and the Qur'an totally eludes scientific investigation of the event per se.
Similarly, when the New Testament or the Qur'an informs us, that 'Jesus was not
born of a father, in the biological sense of the term, we, cannot counter this
Scriptural statement by saying that there is no example in the human species of
an individual having been 'formed without receiving the paternal chromosomes
that make up one half of its genetic inheritance: Science does not explain
miracles; for by definition, miracles are inexplicable. Thus, when we read in
both the Qur'an and the Bible that man was moulded from the ground, we are in
fact learning a fundamental religious principle: Man returns from whence he
came, for from the place where he is buried, he will rise again on the Day of
Judgement.
Side by side with the main religious aspect of such reflections on mart, we find
in the Qur'an statements on man tat refer to strictly material facts. They are
quite amazing when one approaches them for the first time. For example, the
Qur'an describes the origins of life in general and devotes a great deal of
space to the morphological transformations undergone by man, repeatedly
emphasizing the fact that God fashioned him as he willed. We likewise discover
statements on human reproduction that are expressed in precise terms that lend
themselves to comparison with the secular knowledge we today possess on the
subject.
The many statements in the Qur'an that may thus be compared with modern
knowledge are by no means easy to find. In preparing the study published in
1976, I was unable to draw on any previous works known in the West, for there
were none. All I could refer to were a few works in Arabic dealing with themes
treated in the Qur'an that were of interest to men of science there was,
however, no overall study. Over and above this, research of this kind requires
scientific knowledge covering many different disciplines. It is not easy,
however, for Islamologists to acquire such knowledge, for they possess a mainly
literary background. Indeed, such questions hardly seem to occupy a place in the
field of classic Islamology, at least as far as the West is concerned. Only a
scientist, thoroughly acquainted with Arabic literature, can draw comparisons
between the Qur'anic text for which he must be able to read Arabic and the data
supplied by modern knowledge.
There is another reason why such statements are not immediately apparent: Verses
bearing on a single theme are scattered throughout the Qur'an. The Book is
indeed a juxtaposition of reflections on a wide variety of subjects referred to
one after the other and taken up again later on, often several times over. The
data on a precise theme must therefore be collected from all over. the Book and
brought together under a single heading. This requires many hours’ work tracking
down verses, in spite of the existence of thematic indexes provided by various
translators, for such lists may perhaps be incomplete and indeed, in many cases,
they often are.
In the present study, I have based my observations on facts and have presented
the logical deductions necessarily to be drawn from them. This means that if I
had not carried out this research, sooner or later, others would have performed
it in my place. The study represents an innovation in the examination of a Holy
Scripture, especially as far as readers in the West are concerned. Indeed, the
latter are accustomed to separating texts which, when they approach them for the
first time, seem to deal more with faith any faith than with reason; in their
eyes, a study of the texts does not immediately suggest the need to refer to
scientific data. As we have already seen in the case of the Bible, however,
scientific data can indeed be included in an analysis of the text; the reader
will quickly realize that. a textual examination of the Qur'an requires even
greater recourse to scientific evidence. The reason for this is the large number
of comparisons which must be made; for in this context, the Qur’an contains a
wealth of statements, even on the subject of man, a topic that is fairly limited
compared to the wide range of other themes dealt with in the Qur'an.
One of the original features of the Qur'an that distinguishes it from the Bible
is that, as mentioned above, in order to illustrate the repeated affirmations of
divine omnipotence, the Book refers to a multitude of natural phenomena. In the
case of a large number of these phenomena, it also provides a detailed
description of the way they evolved, their causes and their effects; all of
these details are worthy of attention. The statements on man contained in the
Qur'an were among those, which struck me the most when I read the Book of the
first time in the original Arabic. Only the original can cast light on the real
meaning of statements, which are so often mistranslated, owing to the reasons
cited above.
What makes these findings so important is that they refer to many notions which
were not current at the ° time the Qur'an was communicated 'to man and which
fourteen centuries later are evidently in perfect harmony with modern knowledge.
In this context, there is absolutely no deed to look for the kind of bogus
explanations that tend to crop up in certain publications, and even in histories
of medicine, in which Muhammad is claimed to possess medical skills (just as the
Qur'an is also said to contain medical `recipes, an idea that is totally
inaccurate). [All the Qur'an contains are
certain dictates concerning hygiene and dietary habits: personal cleanliness,
dietary interdicts such as the prohibition of alcohol; a dictate such as the
fast of Ramadhan also forms an obvious part of these rules. The mention of honey
in the Qur'an does not include any indication of specific cases in which honey
might prove beneficial to human health.]
The Origins of Life
The Qur'an provides a clear cut answer to the question: At what point did life
begin? In this section, I shall set forth the verses of the Qur'an in which it
is stated that the origins of life are aquatic. The first verse also refers to
the formation of the universe:
-Sura 21, verse 30: - Transliteration
30 'a- wa- lam yara 'alladhena kafaro 'anna as- samaawaat wa- al- 'ard.
kaanataa ratq(an) fa- fataqnaa -humaa wa- jacalnaa min al- maa' kull
shay' h.ayy 'a- fa- laa yu'minon
"Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together,
then We clove them asunder and We got every living thing out of water. Will they
then not believe?"
The notion of `getting something out of something else' does not give rise to
any doubts. The phrase can equally mean that every living thing was made of
water (as its essential component) or that every living thing originated in
water. The two possible meanings are strictly in accordance with scientific
data. Life is in fact of aquatic origin, and water is the major component of all
living cells. Without water, life is not possible. When the possibility of life
on another planet is discussed, the first question is always: Is there a
sufficient quantity of water to support life?
Modern data lead us to think that the oldest living beings probably belonged to
the vegetable kingdom: Algae have been found that date from the pre Cambrian
period, the time of the oldest known lands. Organisms belonging to the animal
kingdom probably appeared slightly later: They too came from the sea.
The word translated here as `water' is in fact ma'
[Readers requiring further information on the
transliteration of the Arabic into Latin characters are advised to consult the
chart that appears in The Bible, the Qur'an and Science (French
Edition)], which means both water in
the sky and water in the sea, or any kind of liquid. In the first meaning, water
is the element necessary to all vegetal life:
- Sura 20, verse 53: - Transliteration
Wa-anzala mina-samaa-ee maa-an fa-akhrajna bihi azwajaa min-nabaatin shatta
"[God is the One who] sent water down from the sky and thereby We
[This change in the grammatical structure of
the phrase is a common feature in the Qur'an. God is first referred to
indirectly, then the text relates His direct Words, for 'We' obviously means
God.] brought forth
pairs of plants each separate from the other."
This is the first reference to a 'Pair' of vegetals; we shall have cause to
return to this notion later.
In the second meaning, which refers to any kind of liquid, the word is used in
its indeterminate form to designate the substance at the basis of the formation
of all animal life:
- Sura 24, verse 45: Transliteration
Wa-Allahu khalaka kul-la daa-b-bati-m-ma-a-ee
"God created every animal from water."
As we shall see later on, the word may also be applied to seminal liquid
[Secreted by the reproductive glands, seminal
liquid contains the spermatozoa].
Thus the statements in the Qur'an on the origins of life, whether referring to
life.in general, the element that gives birth to the plants in the soil, or the
seed of animals, are all strictly in accordance with modern scientific data.
None of the myths on the origins of life that abounded at the time the Qur'an
was communicated to man are mentioned in the text.
The Perpetuation of Life
The Qur'an refers to many aspects of life in the animal and vegetable kingdoms.
I have already described them in my previous work, published in 1976 (English
edition 1978). In the present study, I should like to focus on the space given
in the Qur'an to the theme of the perpetuation of life.
Generally speaking, the commentaries devoted to reproduction in the vegetable
kingdom are, longer than those referring to animal reproduction; when it comes
to human reproduction, however, there are many statements dealing with this
theme, as we shall see.
It has been established that there are two methods of reproduction in the
vegetable kingdom: sexual and asexual (for example, the multiplication of
spores, or the process of taking cuttings, which is a special case of growth).
It is noteworthy that the Qur'an refers to male and female parts of the vegecals
- Sura 20, verse 53: - Transliteration
Wa-anzala mina-samaa-ee maa-an fa-akhrajna bihi azwajaa min-nabaatin shatta
"[God is the One who] sent water down from the sky and thereby We brought forth
pairs of plants each separate from the other."
`One of a pair' is the translation of zawj (plural azwa’j) whose original
meaning is that which, in the company of another, forms a pair.' The word may
just as readily be applied to a married couple as to a pair of shoes.
-Sura 13, verse 3: - Transliteration
Wamin kul-li as-samarati ja-ala fiha zaw jayni asnayni
"Of all fruits [God] placed [on earth] two of a pair."
This statement implies the existence of male and female organs in all the
various species of fruit. It is in perfect agreement with the data discovered at
a much later period concerning the formation of fruit, for every type comes from
vegetals possessing sexual organs (even if certain varieties, such as the
banana, originate from non fertilized flowers).
By and large, sexual reproduction in the animal kingdom is given only brief
treatment in the Qur'an. The exception to this is man, for as we shall see in
the following chapter, the statements on this subject are numerous and detailed.
Some of the verses of the Qur’an, which are to follow, do not contain anything
but a deeply spiritual meaning. Others, it would seem to me, refer to
transformations that appear to indicate changes in human morphology. The latter
describe phenomena of a totally material kind, which occurred in different
phases but always in the proper order. The supreme intervention of divine will
is mentioned several times in these verses. It is seen to direct the
transformations, which occur during a process that can only be described as an
`evolution'. Here, the word is used to mean a series of modifications whose
purpose is to arrive at a definitive form. Furthermore,. the accent is laid on
the idea that God's omnipotence is manifest in the fact that He annihilated
human populations to make way for new ones: These seem to me to constitute the
main themes that arise from the collection of Qur'anic verses brought together
in this chapter.
There can be no doubt that ancient commentators could not possibly have
conceived of the idea that the human form might be transformed. They were
willing, however, to admit that changes could indeed take place, and they
acknowledged the existence of stages in the course of embryonic development a
phenomenon commonly observed in all periods of history. It is only in our, own
day, however, that modern knowledge allows us fully to understand the meaning of
the verses in the Qur'an which refer to the successive phases of embryonic
development within the uterus.
Indeed, we may today wonder whether the references in the Qur'an to the
successive stages of human development may not, in some verses at least, go
beyond mere embryonic growth to include the transformations of human morphology
which took place over the ages: The existence of such changes has been formally
proven by palaeontology, and the evidence is so overwhelming that it is
pointless to question it.
The earliest commentators of the Qur'an could have no inkling of the discoveries
that would be made centuries later. They could only view these particular verses
in the context of the development of the embryo. There was no alternative at the
time.
Then came the Darwinian `bombshell' which through the overt twisting of Darwin's
theory by his early followers extrapolated the notion of an evolution that might
be applied to man; even though the amplitude of the evolution had not yet been
demonstrated in the animal's. In; Darwin's day, the theory was pushed to
extremes, with researchers claiming to have proof that man was descended from
the apes an idea that, even today, no respectable palaeontologist is able to
demonstrate. There is obviously a very wide gap, however, between the concept of
man's descent from the apes (a theory that is totally untenable), and the idea
of transformations of the human form in the course of time (which has been fully
proven). The confusion between the two reaches its height when they are merged
together with very flimsy arguments under the banner of the word EVOLUTION. This
unfortunate confusion has caused certain people wrongly to imagine that since
the word is used in reference to man, it must mean that, ipso facto, man's
origin may be traced to the apes.
It is crucial to be quite clear about the distinction between the two, otherwise
there is a risk of misunderstanding the meaning to be ascribed to certain verses
of the Qur'an that I am about to quote. There is not the slightest hint, in
these verses, of evidence to support a materialistic theory of the origin of man
that justifiably shocks Muslims, Jews and Christians alike.
The Profound Spiritual Meaning
of the Creation of Man from the Earth
As the following two verses indicate, man is presented in the Qur'an as a being
that is intimately linked with the earth:
-Sura 71, verses 17 and 18 Transliteration: -
17 wa- 'allaah anbata -kum min al- 'ard. nabaat(an)
18 thumma yuced -kum fe -haa wa- yukhrij -kum ikhraaj(an)
"God has caused you to grow as a growth from the earth, and afterwards, He will
make you return there, He will bring you forth again, a [new] forth bringing."
-Sura 20, verse 55: - Transliteration: -
The preceding verse mentioned the earth:
55 min -haa khalaqnaa -kum wa- fe -haa nuced -kum wa- min -haa nukhrij -kum
taarah 'ukhraa
"From [the earth] We
['We' refers to God] fashioned you and into it We shall make you return and
from it We shall bring you forth another time."
The spiritual aspect of man's provenance from the earth is emphasized by the
fact that we shall return to the earth after death and also by the idea that God
will bring us forth again on the Day of Judgement. As we have already seen, the
Bible stresses this same spiritual meaning.
With regard to the above translation of Reference no 2, I should like to point
out to my Arabic speaking and Arabist readers that in the West, the Arabic word
khalaqa is usually translated by the verb `to create'. It is important to
realize, however, that, as indicated in the excellent dictionary compiled by
Kasimirski, the original meaning of the word was `to give a proportion to a
thing, or to make it of a certain proportion or quantity'. For God (alone), the
translation has been simplified by the use of the word `to create', i.e. to
bring, into existence a thing, which did not formerly exist. In so doing, those
who exclusively use the term `to create' refer only to the action; they fail to
translate the idea of `proportion’, which accompanies it. A more accurate
rendering would perhaps be the verb `to fashion' or `to form in due proportion'.
This would bring us nearer to the original meaning of the Arabic word. That is
why I have opted to use the verb `to fashion' in most of my translations; with
the implied sense of the primitive Arabic meaning.
The Components
of the Ground and the formation of Man
The primary spiritual meaning of man's origin from the ground does not rule out
the notion, which is present in the Qur'an, of what we would today call the
chemical `components' of the human body, which are to be found in the ground
[By 'components' or 'elements' (terms which
are used to make the text easier to read), I am referring to matter which can be
extracted from the ground and which does not decompose, i.e. the various atomic
components which constitute molecules; all the elements which form part of the
human body are present in lesser or greater quantities in the ground.].
In order to convey this notion nowadays acknowledged as scientifically accurate
to the men alive when the Qur'an was revealed, terminology had to be used that
was in keeping with the state of knowledge at the time. Man was formed from
components contained in the ground. This idea emerges very clearly from numerous
verses in which the formative elements are indicated by a variety of names
-Sura 11, verse 61: - Transliteration:
61 huwa ansha'a -kum min al- 'ard
"He [God] caused you to grow from the earth."
The idea of the earth (ard in Arabic) is reiterated in Sura 53, verse 32.
- Sura 22, verse 5 (In which God is speaking to man) Transliteration:
5 Faeen-naa khalaknaakum-min turaabin
"We fashioned you from soil."
Man's provenance from soil (turdb in Arabic) is repeated in sura 18, verse 37;
sura 30, verse 20; sura 35, verse 11 and sura 40, verse 67.
-Sura 6, verse 2 Transliteration:
2 Huwal-lazi khalakakum min tyni
"[God] is the One who fashioned you from clay."
Clay (Tiyn in Arabic) is used in several verses to define the components from
which man was constituted.
- Sura 32, verse 7 Transliteration:
7 Wabada-a khalaka-al-laee-n-nasani min tyni
"[God] began the creation of man from clay."
It is important to note at this point that the: Qur'an refers to the `beginning'
of a creation from clay: This obviously implies that another stage is to follow.
- Sura 37, verse 11: Although it does not seem to
provide any new data for the present study, the following quotation is given for
the sake of completeness. The reference in the verse is to men. Transliteration:
In-na khalaknaa-hum min tyni-l-azibi
"We fashioned them from a sticky clay."
- Sura 55, verse 14 Transliteration:
Khalaka-linsana min sal-lasal-lin ka-l-fakh-khari
"[God] fashioned man from a clay, like pottery."
The image suggests that man was `modelled', as indicated in the verse that is to
follow. We shall also find the idea of the `moulding' of man, the subject of the
next sub section.
- Sura 15, verse 26 Transliteration:
Walakadan khalaknaa-laee nasaana min sulaalati-min tynin
"We have fashioned man from clay, from moulded mud."
The same idea is repeated in sura 15, verses 28-33.
- Sura 23, verse 12 Transliteration:
Walakadan khalaknaa-l insane min sulaalatin min tynin
"We fashioned man from the quintessence of a clay."
I have used the word `quintessence' to translate the Arabic term sulatat, which
means `one thing extracted from another thing'. As we shall see later, the word
appears in another passage of the Qur'an in which it is stated that man's
descent derives from.that which is extracted from spermatic liquid; (it is known
today that the active component of spermatic liquid is a unicellular organism
called a `spermatozoon').
I imagine that the `quintessence of a clay' must refer to the various chemical
components which constitute clay, extracted from water, which in terms of weight
is its main element.
Water, which in the Qur'an is considered to be at the origin of all life, is
mentioned as the essential element in the following verse.
- Sura 25, verse 54 Transliteration:
Wahuwal-lazi khalaka minalmaaee basharan fajaalahu nasaban wasihra
"[God] is the One . who fashioned a man from water and established relationship
of lineage [by men] and kinship by women."
As elsewhere in the Qur'an, the `man' referred to is Adam.
Several verses allude to the creation of woman:
-Sura 4, verse 1 Transliteration:
Khalakaum-min nafsin wahidatin wakhalaka minha zavjahaa
“[God] is the One who fashioned you from a single person and from that [person]
created his wife”
This verse is repeated in sura 7, verse 189 and sura 39, verse 6. The same
subject is referred to in more or less the same terms in sura 30, verse 21 and
sura 42, verse 11.
There can be no doubt that in these twelve references, much space is devoted to
symbolical reflections on man's origins, including a clear indication of what
will happen to him after his death, and containing allusions to the fact that
man will return to earth in order to be brought forth again on the Day of
Judgement. There would also seem, however, to be a reference to the chemical
composition of the human body.
The Transformations of Man Over the Ages
In contrast to the above, the commentary suggested by the verses of the Qu’ran,
which I shall quote below bears mainly on material notions. We are indeed in the
presence here of genuine morphological transformations which take place in a
harmonious and balanced fashion due to an organization, that is strictly
planned, for the phenomena occur in successive phases. Thus the will of God, who
rules eternally over the fate of human communities, is made manifest in all its
power and splendour through these events.
The Qu’ran first speaks of a `creation'; but it goes on to describe a second
stage in which God gave form to man. There can be no doubt that the creation and
morphological organizations of man are seen as successive events.
-Sura 7, verse 11 in which God is speaking to man Transliteration:
Walakadan khalaknaakum sum-ma sawarnakum sum-ma kulnaa lilmala-ikati
"We created you and thereupon We gave you form; thereupon, We told the angels:
Bow down to Adam."
Hence it is possible to discern three successive events, the first two of which
are important to our study: God created man and thereupon gave him a form
(Sawwara, in Arabic).
Elsewhere, it is stated that man's form will be harmonious:
- Sura 15, verses 28-29 Transliteration:
28 wa- 'idh qaala rabb -ka li- al- malaa'ikah 'inni -y khaaliq bashar(an) min
s.als.aal min h.ama' masnon
29 fa- 'idhaa sawwaytu -hu wa- nafakhtu fe -hi min roh. -e fa- qaco la- -hu
saajiden
"When thy Lord said to the angels: I am going to fashion a man from clay, from moulded mud; when I have harmoniously fashioned him and breathed into him of My
spirit, fall down, prostrating yourself unto him."
The phrase `to fashion harmoniously' (sawway, in Arabic) is repeated in
sura 38,
verse 72.
Another verse describes how man's harmonious form is obtained through the
presence of equilibrium and complexity of structure (the verb rakkaba in Arabic
means `to make a thing from components):
-Sura 82, verses 7-8: - Transliteration:
7 'alladhe khalaqa -ka fa- sawwaa -ka fa- cadala -ka
8 fe 'ayy s.orah maa shaa'a rakkaba -ka
"[God] is the One. who created you, then fashioned you harmoniously and in due
proportion; into whatsoever form He willed, He made you out of components."
Man was created in whatsoever form God willed. This is an extremely important
point
-Sura 95, verse 4 in which God is speaking: - Transliteration:
4 la- qad khalaqnaa al- 'insaan fe ah.san taqwem
"We fashioned man according to the best organizational plan."
The Arabic word taqwiym means `to organize something in a planned way', implying
therefore an order of progress that has been strictly defined in advance. It so
happens that specialists in evolution, when describing the transformations that
occur over the course of time, use that very expression: the organizational plan
is surely very evident .from scientific studies of the subject.
In sura 95, from which the above verse is taken, the context is the creation of
man in general with reference to the fact that once man has thus been given
organized form by divine will, he sinks to a wretched condition (implying
decrepitude in old age). The sura doesnot make any mention whatsoever of
embryonic development; it simply describes the creation of human beings in
general. In terms of structure, the organizational plan obviously refers to the
human species as a whole.
-Sura 71, verse 14: - Transliteration: -
The interpretation I have given to this verse reflects the importance of context
as a means of suggesting what a particular word may refer to:
14 wa- qad khalaqa -kum at.waar(an)
"[God] fashioned you in stages [or phases]."
The Arabic word translated here by `stages' or `phases' is aTwar (singular
Tawr). This is the only verse in the Qur'an in which the word occurs in the
plural. It is not possible to search elsewhere in the text to ascertain whether
these `phases' or `stages' which quite obviously refer to man concern man's
development in the uterus (which is what the earliest commentators thought, and
what I myself supposed to be the case in my previous book), or whether they
allude to the transformations that the human species has undergone in the course
of time. It is a point worth pondering.
To arrive at an answer, it goes without saying that we must first take account
of the subject as described in the Qur'an. Thus we note that sura 71, from which
the above verse is taken, deals principally with signs of divine omnipotence and
the power of God the Creator in general. The passage in the Qur'an which
includes verse 14 (a passage that refers to Noah's sermon to his people)
essentially dwells on God's mercy, His generosity in endowing man with His
gifts, and His omnipotence in creating man, the heavens, the sun and the moon,
and the earth. On the subject of the Creation, the Qur'an mentions the spiritual
aspect of the creation of man from the earth.
At no point whatsoever in sura 71 is there mention of the development of the
unborn infant, a feature which traditional commentators of long ago thought was
suggested by the word `phases'. Although the word is not used anywhere else in
the text, the Qur'an undoubtedly refers in detail in many other suras to these
`phases' of embryonic development (see next chapter); nevertheless, there is no
reference in this particular sura. We cannot, however, rule out the possibility
that the passage of the Qur'an here under discussion may indeed have added the
development in `phases' of the embryo in the uterus to the other subjects
mentioned above: there is nothing to indicate that it should be excluded.
In fact, the development of the individual and that of the species to which it
belongs conforms to the same determining factors over the course of time; those
factors are the genes which play a decisive role in the grouping of the paternal
and maternal inheritance at the initial stage of reproduction. Whether we choose
to link these `phases' with the development of the individual or that of the
species, the concept they express remains in perfect harmony with modern
scientific data on the subject.
Having said this, the verses state sufficiently clearly that the human form
undergoes transformations, so that even if we removed, the general meaning would
not be affected.
The following two verses refer to the replacement of one human community by
another.
-Sura 76, verse 28 in which God is alluding to men: - Transliteration:
28 nah.nu khalaqnaa -hum wa- shadadnaa 'asr -hum wa- 'idhaa shi'naa
baddalnaa amthaal -hum tabdel(an)
" Verily, We created them and strengthened all of them. And when We willed, We
replaced them completely by people who were of the same kind."
It is highly likely that the `strengthening' mentioned in the above verse refers
to man's physical constitution.
-Sura 6, verse 133: - Transliteration:
133 'in yasha' yudhhib -kum wa- yastakhlif min bacdi -kum maa
yashaa' ka-maa ansha'a -kum min dhurreyah qawm 'aakharen
" If [God] wills, He destroys you and in your place appoints whom He wills as
successors, just as He brought you forth from the descendants of other peoples."
These two verses emphasize the disappearance of certain human communities and
.their replacement by others, according to God's will, during the course of
time.
Early commentators have above all seen in these verses a punishment inflicted by
God on sinful communities. In general, it was the religious aspect that was
primarily stressed. The material fact is there, however, and it is clearly
expressed; it consists of the disappearance of various communities (whose size
is not mentioned) and the replacement, at a certain period, of a particular
human community by the descendants of other peoples.
To sum up, therefore, the human groups that have existed over the course of time
may have varied in their morphology, but these modifications have proceeded
according to an organizational plan ordained by God; communities disappeared and
were replaced by other groups: That, in so many words, is what the Qur'an has to
tell us on the subject. It is futile to seek discrepancies between the Qur'an
and the data of palaeontology, or with the information allowing us to conceive
of a creative evolution, for there are none.
Having reached this stage in our examination of the answers provided by the
Qur'an to the question `What is the Origin of Man?' we may perhaps be inclined
to think that the subject has been exhausted. After all that have learned from
the verses quoted in the preceding two chapters, it would indeed seem so: But.
let us remember that in the case of one of these verses, we noted how useful it
would be to continue our analysis in the light of 'the data in the Qur'an
concerning human reproduction.
In actual fact, the Qur'anic statements dealing with this subject have a bearing
on the question of the transformations that have taken place in human morphology
over the ages. The latter are indeed governed by the genetic code, formed by the
union of chromosomes received from the paternal and maternal reproductive cells.
The genetic inheritance thus brought together determines, first in the embryo
[Before the second month of Pregnancy]
and then in the foetus
[After the second month of Pregnancy], the possible appearance of morphological changes as
compared with the father and mother. These modifications become definitive after
the child is born and during its growth in childhood. At the very least, these
modifications provide the child with a structural personality, which is unique
Apart from identical twins formed from a single ovule, no one human being is
exactly the same as another. At the very most it is a matter of constitutional
differences, which affect the species itself. It is therefore, the combined
total of changes that take place over successive generations, which ultimately
determines the morphological transformations that palaeontologists have noted in
various human groups from past ages.
Consequently, we must review the main points on reproduction contained in the
Qur'an. I shall therefore briefly summarize the detailed study of this question
that appears in The Bible the Qur'an and Science.
For us to grasp the significance of what is to follow (especially with regard to
the comparison between statements contained in the Holy Scriptures and the' data
of science), we must bear in mind that the text was communicated to man in the
seventh century A.D. Any human work composed at that period was bound to set
forth inaccurate statements: Science had not yet developed, so it was inevitable
that any reference to human reproduction would be riddled with notions culled
from myth and superstition. How could it be otherwise, for in order to
understand the complex mechanisms involved. in this process, man had to possess
a knowledge of anatomy and the use of the microscope, and the basic sciences had
to be born, paving the way for physiology, embryology and obstetrics?
Reminder of Certain Notions Concerning Human Reproduction
The intention here is not to put forward theories, but to advance ideas based on
facts: Theories are by nature open to change; when approached from a theoretical
angle, science is always in a state of flux: What is valid today may be
disproved tomorrow. A suitable basis for comparison is therefore one, which
rests on scientific data that are not open to change, having been firmly
established and checked through experimentation, and having possibly even been
effectively put into practice.
It is an established fact that human reproduction takes place in a sequence of
processes, starting with the fertilization, in the Fallopian tube, of an ovule
that has detached itself from the ovary half way through the menstrual cycle.
The fertilizing agent is a cell taken from the male, the spermatozoon, tens of
millions of which are contained in a single cubic centimetre of sperm. All that
is required to ensure fertilization, however, is a single spermatozoon, in other
words, an infinitely small quantity of spermatic liquid. The seminal liquid and
the spermatozoa are produced by the testicles and temporarily stored in a system
of canals and reservoirs. At the moment of sexual contact, they pass from their
place of storage into the urinary tract, and on the way,, the liquid is enriched
with further secretions that do not, however, contain fertilizing agents. These
secretions will nevertheless exercise a considerable influence on fertilization
by aiding the sperm to arrive at the point where the female ovule is fertilized.
Thus spermatic liquid is a mixture: It contains seminal liquid and various
additional secretions.
Once the ovule has been fertilized, it descends into the uterus via the
Fallopian tube; even while it is descending, however, it has already begun to
divide. Then it literally `implants' itself by insertion into the thickness of
the mucosa and the muscles, once the placenta has been formed.
As soon as the embryo becomes visible to the naked eye, it appears as a very
tiny mass of flesh devoid of any distinctive parts. There it develops, gradually
acquiring a human shape after stages during which certain parts, such as the
head, are considerably larger in volume than the rest of the body; these
subsequently reduce, while the basic life sustaining structures form: the
skeleton, surrounded by muscles, the nervous system, the circulatory system, the
viscera, etc.
Statements Contained in the Qur'an
The brief summary above outlines the basic stages of development, which in the
following pages, we shall compare with the statements contained in the Qur'an.
To facilitate comprehension, the points raised in the Qur'an may be listed as
follows
- the small volume of liquid required for fertilization;
- the complexity of the fertilizing liquid;
- the implantation of the fertilized egg;
- the evolution of the embryo.
The Small volume
of Liquid required for Fertilization
-Sura 16, verse 4: - Transliteration:
4 khalaqa al- 'insaan min nut.fah fa- 'idhaa huwa khas.em muben
"[God] fashioned man from a small quantity [of sperm]."
This phrase occurs eleven times in 'the Qur'an. The Arabic word translated here
as ‘a small quantity, [of sperm]’ is nuTfat. This is perhaps not the most ideal
rendition, but there does not appear to be any single word in English that quite
captures its full meaning. The word comes from the Arabic verb signifying `to
dribble, to trickle'; its primary meaning refers to the trace of liquid left in
the bottom of a bucket after the latter has been emptied; in other words a very
small quantity of liquid, which is the second meaning of the word: a drop of
water. In this particular instance, it is a small quantity of sperm, since the
word is associated with the word `sperm' (maniyy in Arabic) in the following
verse: -
-Sura 75, verse 37: - Transliteration:
37 'a- lam yakun nut.fah min maney yumnaa
"Was [man] not a small quantity of sperm which has been poured out?"
It is important to realize that the Qur'an states very clearly that the
fertilizing capacity of the sperm does not depend on the volume of liquid
`poured out'. The idea that a tiny quantity of liquid is perfectly effective is
not immediately obvious. Those ignorant of the real facts concerning these
phenomena would tend, indeed, to think the exact opposite. And yet, over one
thousand years before the existence of spermatozoa was discovered in the early
seventeenth century, the Qur'an expresses ideas that were proven correct, due to
the discovery of the identity of the fertilizing agent, measurable in units of 1
/ 1,000 of a millimetre. It is precisely the spermatozoon, present in the
seminal liquid, that contains the D.N.A. tape; this in turn forms the vehicle
for the genes provided by the father, which unite with the genes from the mother
to form the genetic inheritance of the future individual.
The genes contained in the male reproductive cell constitute in conjunction with
those of the female reproductive cell the factors which are to determine the
many characteristics of the future human being. As we have seen earlier in this
book, once chromatic reduction has taken place, the spermatozoa are carriers of
genes that contain factors which dictate that the individual is to be either a
male (hemichromosome Y) or female (hemichromosome X). If, of the innumerable
spermatozoa that cluster around the edge of the ovule as possible fertilizing
cells, the one which actually succeeds in fertilizing it contains a Y
hemichromosome, the future child will be a boy; if the spermatozoon that
penetrates the ovule contains an X hemichromosome, the child will be a girl. The
individual's sex is therefore genetically determined at the actual moment of
fertilization by the fertilizing agent,, in an infinitely small volume, and
thereafter, the child's sexual characteristics remain set. The Qur'an contains
the following statement on the subject (the reference is to man): -
-Sura 80, verse 19: - Transliteration:
19 min nut.fah khalaqa -hu fa- qaddara -hu
"From a small quantity of liquid, [God] fashioned him [in due proportion] and
ordained his fate."
(I have translated the world Khalaqa according to its original meaning mentioned
in the preceding chapter which is `to fashion in due proportion' or `to form',
in preference. to the verb `to create'.)
We must surely admit that there is in this instance a striking conformity
between the statements in the Qur'an concerning a fate ordained at this stage
and our knowledge of the fact that it is the genetic inheritance received from
the father, which determines the sex of the individual a point that was
emphasized above.
The Complexity of the
Fertilizing Liquid
This is a very precise concept, and it is clearly expressed in the following
verse of the Qur'an
-Sura 76, verse, 2, in which God is speaking: - Transliteration:
2 'in(na) -naa khalaqnaa al- 'insaan min nut.fah amshaaj nabtale -hi fa-
jacalnaa -hu samec(an) bas.er(an)
"Verily, We fashioned man from a small quantity of mingled liquids."
The term ‘mingled liquids’ corresponds to the Arabic word amchaj. Early
commentators took this word to mean a male and a female liquid
[If this were the case, the laws of grammar-an
aspect of the Qur'anic text that is never at fault- would dictate that the word
appear in the dual form, and not in the plural as it appears here.], just as if the
female produced liquids that performed a role in reproduction: This
interpretation is untenable. It is simply a reflection of the ideas current at
the time the Qur'an was communicated to man, a period in which, quite naturally
nothing was known of female physiology or embryology. This explains why early
commentators believed in the existence of a liquid originating from the female,
which took part in the process of fertilization. Opinions such as these, which
are expressed by commentators who are undoubtedly most eminently qualified to
speak of religious questions, unfortunately continue to exercise an influence on
the interpretations given by today's experts concerning subjects of a different
kind, namely the natural phenomena. We must therefore insist on the fact that
the ovule from the female is not contained in a liquid such as sperm, and that
the various secretions which do occur in the vagina and the uterine mucosa have
absolutely nothing to do with the formation of 'a new individual as far as their
actual substance is concerned.
The `mingled liquids' to which the Qur'an refers are specific to spermatic
liquid whose complexity is thus suggested.
As we know, this liquid is composed of secretions from the following glands :
the testicles, the seminal vesicles, the prostate and the glands annexed to the
urinary tract.
This is, not all the Qur'an mentions: It also informs us that the male
fertilizing agent is taken from spermatic liquid:
-Sura 32, verse 8: - Transliteration:
8 thumma ja_ala nasl -hu min sulaalah min maa' mahen
"[God] made his progeny from the quintessence of a despised liquid."
The adjective ‘despised’ (mahiyn in Arabic) should be applied not so much to the
nature of the liquid itself; as to the fact that it is emitted through the
outlet of the urinary tract by way of the canal used for passing urine.
As for the word `quintessence', we are again in the presence of the Arabic word
suldlat, to which we referred earlier in the discussion of the formation of man,
during the Creation, from the `quintessence' of clay. It alludes to a `thing
that is extracted from another thing', as we noted above, and also to the `best
part of a thing'. The concept expressed here inevitably makes us think of
spermatozoon.
The
Implantation of the Egg in the Female Genital Organs
The implantation of the fertilized ovule in the uterus is mentioned in numerous
verses of the Qur'an: The Arabic word used. in this context is ealaq, the exact
meaning of which is `something which clings', as in the following verses:
-Sura 75, verses 37 and 38: - Transliteration:
37 'a- lam yakun nut.fah min maney yumnaa
38 thumma kaana calaqah fa- khalaqa fa- sawwaa
"Was [man] not a small quantity. of sperm which has been poured out? After that,
he was something which clings; then God fashioned him in due proportion and
harmoniously."
It is an established fact that the fertilized ovule is implanted in the uterine
mucosa on roughly the sixth day following fertilization, and anatomically
speaking, the egg is indeed something, which clings.
The idea of `clinging' expresses the original meaning of the Arabic word ealaq.
One of the derived meanings of the term is `blood clot', an interpretation that
we still find in today's translations of the Qur'an. This totally inaccurate
rendition was first given by commentators of long ago who invented their
interpretation according to the derived sense of the word. For lack of knowledge
at the time, they had no way of realizing that the original meaning of the word
was perfectly adequate. Besides, when it comes to verses which have a bearing on
modern knowledge, there, is a general rule which has never been found wrong: The
oldest, most primitive meaning of a word is always the one which most clearly
suggests a comparison with scientific discoveries, while derived meanings
invariably lead to statements that are either inaccurate or just plain
nonsensical.
The Evolution of the
Embryo inside the Uterus
Once it has evolved beyond the stage characterized in the Qur'an by the simple
word `something which clings', the embryo, so the Qur'an tells us, goes through
a phase in which it literally looks like flesh (chewed flesh). As we know, it
preserves this appearance until roughly the twentieth, day, when it then begins
gradually to take on a human form. Osseous. Tissue and the bones appear in the
embryo, which are subsequently, enveloped by the muscles. The idea is expressed
in the Qur'an as follows:
-Sura 23, verse 14, in which God is speaking: - Transliteration:
14 thumma khalaqnaa an- nut.fah calaqah fa- khalaqnaa al- calaqah mud.ghah fa-
khalaqnaa al- mud.ghah ciz.aam(an) fa- kasawnaa al- ciz.aam lah.m(an) thumma
ansha'naa -hu khalq(an) 'aakhar fa- tabaaraka 'allaah ah.san al- khaaliqen
"We fashioned the thing which clings into a lump of chewed flesh and We
fashioned the chewed flesh into bones and We clothed the bones with intact
flesh."
The two types of flesh are given different names in the Qur'an:
The first ‘chewed flesh’ is called muDrat, while the second - intact flesh' is
designated by the word laHm which indeed describes very accurately what muscle
actually looks like.
The Qur'an also mentions the emergence of the senses and the viscera:
-Sura 32, verse 9: - Transliteration:
9 wa- ja_ala la- -kum as- samc wa- al- abs.aar wa- al- af'idah
"[God] appointed for you the sense of hearing, sight and the viscera."
The allusion in the Qur'an to the sexual organs must also be recalled, for the
reference is particularly: precise, as the following verses show:
-Sura 53, verses 45 and 46: - Transliteration:
45 wa- 'anna -hu khalaqa az- zawjain adh- dhakar wa- al- 'unthaa
46 min nut.fah 'idhaa tumnaa
“[God] fashioned the two of a pair, the male and the female, from a small
quantity [of sperm] when it is poured out.”
As we have seen above, the Qur'an stresses the fact that only a very small
quantity of spermatic liquid is required for fertilization.
The male fertilizing agent, the spermatozoon, contains the hemichromosome that
is to determine the sex of the future individual
The decisive moment occurs when the spermatozoon penetrates the ovule, and
thereafter the sex does not change. The verses quoted above state that the sex
of the individual is determined by the small quantity of fertilizing liquid. It
is this liquid which carries the spermatozoon containing the hemichromosome that
determines the sexual features of the new human being. In this context, the text
of the Qur'an and the data of modern embryology are strikingly similar.
All these statements agree with today's firmly established facts. But how could
the men living at the time of Muhammad have known so many details of embryology?
For these data were not discovered until a thousand years after the Qur'anic
Revelation had taken place. The history of science leads us to conclude that
there can be no human explanation for the existence of these verses in the
Qur'an.
The Transformations of the Human Form
Over the Ages and Embryonic Development
For those who are unfamiliar with embryology and genetics, it is not immediately
obvious that each and every modification, which takes place within the
individual, proceeds from changes that occur in the genes given to the new
individual by the chromosomes inherited from its father and mother. As stated
earlier, a division takes place in each genetic inheritance, which is followed
by a unification of elements taken from each half. This quickly results in the
beginnings of morphological changes during pregnancy, and hence of functional
modifications which appear later on; thus transformations are continued after
the birth of the infant, lasting through childhood growth, until the individual
reaches adulthood and the transformations are fully completed.
Unless these concepts are properly understood, errors may occur in the ideas of
those who are accustomed to thinking that the verses from the Qur'an quoted in
this chapter concern only the development of the infant in the uterus, to the
exclusion of the individual's subsequent morphological development. That is why
it is crucial to include all the verses that refer to human reproduction in our
study of the parts of the Qur'anic text, which as far as I can see deal with the
transformations of the human form over the ages.
To clarify the issue, I shall give an example concerning a pathological
transformation consisting of a congenital deficiency that is particularly common
among human malformations: The case in question is mongolism. Discoveries have
shown that the trebling of a chromosome that has been given the number 21, from
which the deficiency derives the name `trisomy 21’, causes it. It is today known
that the cause lies in genes contained in this chromosome, and that the
deficiency occurs with maximum frequency when the mother of the infant is over
forty years old.
The disease is characterized by an infantile physical development and
intelligence and certain specific morphological features which may not be very
pronounced at birth, but later become very obvious. Thus the condition is
recognized more or less early according to its degree of seriousness. Whatever
the case, however, its basic characteristics are acquired during the first few
weeks of life.
Morphological modifications of a different kind in humans follow the same
pattern. The process begins during pregnancy and gradually becomes more and more
pronounced until the individual reaches adulthood. Thus, over the successive
generations separating the Australopithecus from modern man (which fall into
units of 10,000), it is reasonable to suppose that slight modifications took
place in each generation, which gradually accumulated until they produced
transformations that gave birth to man as we know him today.
It is therefore impossible, as far as the final result is concerned, to separate
the slight, concordant modifications that took place with each generation in the
uterus from the overall transformations that occurred over a large number of
generations. This explanation is necessary to an understanding of the way in
which the concept is expressed in the Qur'an, in reference to the evolution of
the embryo in the uterus, according to God's will, as stated quite clearly in
the Qur'an.
