Edip Yuksel vs Ali Sina Page 43 : Description of Embryo

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Round XII - page 43

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The fact that life depends on water is too obvious and does not require any divine knowledge or laboratory research.   

Thales [ Miletus , 624-546 BC]  went even further and stated that the origin of all matter is water. Although this sounds a bit odd, there may be some truth in it. As we know today, the largest constituent of the universe is hydrogen, which makes two of the three atoms in water (H2O). The missing oxygen atom was added later when our planet formed. Scientists believe that liquid water is prerequisite to life, and we know with certainty that the first life forms flourished in the oceans, so water is indeed a primordial substance.  [source]  

As for the Quran talking about the Big Bang, this is a ludicrous claim and it is refuted in this article.  

The verse 24:45 says “Some of them [creatures] walk on their bellies, some walk on two legs, and some walk on four” Isn’t this obvious? Why should such a banal known fact be even mentioned? But isn’t it ludicrous to claim that there is a hint of evolution in this verse?

The verse is saying that God made Adam from dust like a potter makes a doll with clay and this Muslims’ wild imagination makes him talk about the " essential elements of life contained in earth".  Muslims are desperate to find wisdom even in the most ludicrous verses of the Quran.    

Description of Embryo

Verses (75:37), (16:4) and (96:2) do not contain any information that can be defined as miraculous. Even animals must know that their off springs are born with the help of semen. Isn't this why male animals take care of their off springs. Doesn't this show that even animals are aware of the male contribution in coming to world of their babies?

Verse 22:5 however, contains some interesting information. It says that we created you from dust and subsequently from semen.  

What is Muhammad is saying here? Why “subsequently”?   The use of the world “subsequently” make it clear that Muhammad is talking about the creation of Adam that took place from dust and then the birth of each child that takes place from semen. Obviously this is all mistaken. There is no such thing as the first man and Adam never existed and no one was created from dust. Also sperms are not turned into hanging embryos. In the Quran there is no mention of the egg. Obviously Muhammad, like other ignorant men of his time did not know about the role of the egg in the creation of the embryo and there is no mention of that in the Quran.  

It says that this embryo “becomes a fetus that is given life or deemed lifeless” This is scientifically wrong. It makes one to assume that the semen (that Muhammad thought is embryo) is lifeless and it is given life after it becomes fetus. This is of course not true. In fact both sperm and egg are alive before they meet.    

The rest of the verse is sheer garbage. It states the obvious. "We then bring you out as infants, then you reach maturity. While some of you die young,"  What is so great about this verse?  But it is also wrong when it says: "others live to the worst age, only to find out that no more knowledge can be attained beyond a certain limit." This is foolish. Knowledge is endless and humans will never stop learning and discovering new things. Only this verse should suffice to prove Muhammad was an ignorant man and not a prophet of God. 

To respond to this I am going to quote AE an Arab ex Muslim Medic. He quotes the verse 23:14 and says:  

ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ أَنشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقًا آخَرَ

The way we could put this in English is "Hence we (god), created the sperm into (or made it turn into) clot (or whatever it is) then created from it a lump then we created out of it bones (plural) then we covered the bones with flesh" 

Now, in addition to the fact that many thinkers for 1000's of years had theories and also some experience on the stages of embryo development, the above mentioned description is no more than what an ordinary person could imagine, ...building the structure first then hang the other parts on it or cover it with them...just like erecting a tent. 

This explanation is not true. The development of the embryo as explained by MS Encarta 1998 is:  

“The implanted embryo consists of a hollow sphere, the blastocyst, containing a mass of cells, called the embryonic mass, attached by a stalk to one side of the encircling membrane. In a blastocyst less than two weeks old and measuring 1 mm (0.04 in) in diameter, the microscope reveals the amnion (a sac surrounding the embryo), chorion (a membrane that develops around the amnion and lines the uterine wall), yolk sac, and distinct germ layers.

In the third week a closed tube appears in which the brain and spinal cord are to develop. Another tube, folding on itself, is developing into the heart, and at about this stage a portion of the minute yolk sac is enclosed in the body of the embryo to form a part of the embryonic alimentary canal. At the beginning of its fourth week the embryo, now about 4 to 5 mm (about 0.16 to 0.2 in) long, has the rudiments of eyes and ears, and each side of the neck shows four gill clefts. A tail is also present.

Early in the second month the buds of the arms and legs appear. The major internal organs begin to take shape, and in about the sixth week bones and muscles begin to form. By the third month the embryo is recognizable as that of a primate, and is now called a fetus. It has a definite face, with the mouth and nostrils distinct, and the external ears are forming. By the end of the eighth week the tail has usually been incorporated in the body, and in the 11th or 12th week the external genitals become evident. The human embryo is especially vulnerable to the damaging effects of X rays, of disease viruses such as measles, and of certain drugs during the fourth to the eighth week of gestation. These agents can result in the death of the embryo or in the birth of a child with deformed limbs or other abnormalities. By the fourth month an embryo is clearly recognizable as a human being.  

The creation of the brain and the spine happen in parallel, (the brain is neither flesh nor bones) and then long after the "BONES" of the arms starts developing which contradict the Quranic verses that says all the bones are made first then it gets covered by flesh (only flesh as if we don't have members in our bodies!!!)."

As one can see the entire description of the development of the embryo explained in the Quran is wrong. It makes no difference how we interpret the word alaqa. Whether it is translated and "hanged" or "clot" this description is wrong.  

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