Embryology and Quran
I've read more than one article about the way
Quran described the development of the embryo and the Muslims claim that
it resembles the modern discoveries in a way that make it impossible for
any body else but god to be its author.
Unfortunately I don't think those articles were
strong enough in revealing the truth probably because at least one of
their writers doesn't speak Arabic so, despite that I don't think I read
enough about the subject but I still think that I can make a positive
contribution.
The Quran says in Arabic 23-13 and 14
"Thom khalaqna alnotfat alaqa, fakhalaqna alalaqat modegha,
khalaqna almodghat azama, fakasawna alesazm lahma, thom anshanah khalqan
akhr"
The way we could put it 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 not more than
what 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.
Now the clear fact that comes in many
documents, out of which I could put my hands only on one of them is
that, that is not the truth.
The truth as in the following document (MS
Encarta 1998)
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 happens
in parallel, (I think that the brain is neither flesh nor bones) and
then long after the "BONES" of the arms starts developing
which contradict the Quranic verses that tells us that all the bones are
made first then it gets covered by flesh (only flesh as if we don't have
members in our bodies!!!).
I think that the issue could be studied in more
details but just wanted to clarify my view
Note: Read
about A. E. disappointment with and departure from Islam in Testimonials.
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