,~ ,rt' Haman 'I!

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Figur'B 1: Drarwilng s ill'usltrating the simli:I'arirti es in appearance tH~tween a, leech a,nd a Murnan em,bryo atttJe fj'/s"qan' stage,. (leech drawi'ng from Hum'afl' Developm'enta'$ Des,cribed in' th'e Q'U,~a'n (lInd Sunnah~ Moore and others" p. 371 modi,fl:ed from In'tegrated Principles of Z'ooJogYt Hli:c k.man atn d others,. Embryo draw ingfrom The Developing Huma.f1', Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., Pl. 73,.)

R:gure ,2: We can see In ·thiis diagram, the SU spenslon 011 an embryo d.1I ri: ng'

lhe ~,Jgn .... h, c*'n1nrJI ln ~ I ,lI U "'rAll~i 00"'.' ~ 1l(l.~Il!r

tne womb (uterus) of the mother, .. (The Developing Hum'an" Moore and Persaud.] 5th ed .. , p. 66.)1

t, ID'tfoplwb iD'Stic sh~il

'.~"""",," •. ", r ... ":~~:J~~-~~~~~~--I !lrtiar, If'i Uus,

• liI'I'!Ill livil DUS· SJpce -.

mlaferniU

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Dn'iCllll B rn III [I

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Fi:gure 3: ~n thls phab)m.i;cnlgraphj we can seethe suspenslon of an ern,bryo (mark.ed 8)1 duri:ngl the waif/,an' smg'e (about 15 days cdd'), i:n~lnewomb otthe mOlther. The adual size (if the emollYo ils about 0 .. 0 m,m .. (TheDe"e/~ oping Hum'afI ~ iMoore, 3rdi ed, p, 66ifrom Histology, Leeson and teesm.)

A) The QUI'''''.an on Human Embrynnic Development:

In the Holy Qur'an, God speaks about the stages. of man' s

embryonic development

.( We C rea ted mall frOID au extract of' clay. TheuWemade hna as a '111''011 i., .911Iar;e of setflenaent, fil'lDly fixed~ T'I!J}en We made the l(h"i@P' into au "Elaqal" (leech, s.tlspendr'1l11tbi:ug" :9,Rdblo,od ,clot),tben We made the '(lla,qall iuto :9 IInf,€~glz(J;1l l(cb,elvedsubstl .• ce)., )1 ('QUI:' an 2,,3::12-14)

Literally, the Arabic word aiaqah has three meanings: 1(11)· I' eec h'(?') susp en ded thin g" and (3) bloo d c lo ,t· ,

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In comparing a leech to an embryo in the olaqah stage, wefind similarity between thetwo;' as we can see in figure 1. Also, thee embryo at this stage obtains nourishment from the blood of the mother, similar to the leech, which leeds on the blood of'others.'

The second meaning of the word alaqo]: is "suspended thing .. )) This is whatwe can see in figures 2 and 3.) the suspension of the embryo, during the alaqah stage, in the womb of the mother.

(1) Please note that what is betweenthese special br,aJc~ets(..... in this book is only a translation of the meaning of the Qnr' an. It is, notthe QtUr',al][l itself: which is in Arabie ...

(2) The Del -elopingHuma«, Moore-and Persaud, 5th eel. ~p. 8.,

(3) Humon Development as Described in the Qur'an and S~mnah ..

Moore and othera.p, 36 ..

. ABnef Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam.

TIlle third meaning of the' word alaqah is "blood clot ~" V-Ie find that the external appearance of the embryo and its sacs during the alaqah stage is similar to that of ablood clot. This is due to the presence of relativelylarge amounts of blood present in the embryo during this stage' (see figure 4)., Also during this stage, the blood in the embryo doesnot circulateuntil the end ofthe third wle,ek.2 Tlms, the embryo at this stage is like a clot ofblood

So the three meanings of the word alaqah correspond accurately to the descriptions of the embryo at the alaqah stage.

Thenext stagementioned in the verse is the mudghah stage.

The Arabic word rnudg,lulh means "chewed substance." If 'One were to' take a piece of gurnand chew it in his or her mouth and then COl!.DIJare it with an embryo at tbemtJdghah stage, we would conclude that the embryo. at the ,nudghah stage is similar jn appearance to 8J chewed substance. This isbecause of'the somites at tbe back: of the embryo that "somewhat resemble teethmarksin a. chewed substance.t" (see figures 5 and 6).

How could Muhammad ~. have possibly known all this about fourteen hundred years, ago, when scientists have only recently discovered tbisusmng advanced equipment and powerful microscopes which did not exist at that time? Hamm and

(1) Human Development as Described in the Qur'an and Snnnah, Moore and others.pp, 37-38"

(2) The Developing HUIJUln:o Moore and Persaud, 5tb led. ~ p. 165., (3) The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5tb eel. ,po 8,.

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam

Fi,gure 14:: IIJii ag:rn,m, of the prf miti,ve cardhlV8J,SC ul: 81Y system in an embryo duri In gl the alal}fjlh stag e, Th e eX1temal a.pplea.m.nce of the embryo and its sacs ls s i:mHar toith at Gf a bl.ood clot, due to the presence iJf relatively Ilarge am,ounts of blood present illll the embryo,. (Th'e DeveloplnrJ Hum'(j'fJ', Moorej5th ed.. p. 66,.)

fi.glre 5: Pnmograph of a 2S-d'9Jy-olld embryo at tIl emurJgf1ah' sltatg:e. '~e embl)'o ~ at Uli,s stBlge i!s sim U8Ir in aplpeanmce~o a, c~e'wed . substance.

~ ~ . - - -~ . -- - I

because tile somites Sit Uhe ba,ck of the embryo somewt.lBit resemble teeth marks in a, ch ewed substance,. The actual size of the e rnbryQ rs 4 mm, (The Deve,iop:ing Hum'an., Moore and Persaud, 5U1 ed, Pl. 821 fro m Professor Hdeo Nishi;m ura, Kyot[] Uni-, lIersilyi Kyoto j J epan. )1

Figure 6: When comparilng tie a,pp1earan ce of an emblryo at 'tn e mudgha'h' stage with a pi,ece of gu m that has been chewedl, we find si,milarity betweenti1etwo,.

A) Dra,wl'ng oW an embryo at tJemudgtum' stage,. We can see here the somiites at tM e back of the embryo that I,ook like teeU1 marks. (rna fJe"e/~ Of) HUffl'fm', Moore an d Per-, ssuo, 5th ed., Pi" 79,.)

B) Photog ralpm af a pi'ece af gumltnat has been cnewed,.

c ,~, Embr €I

I hilrdl , rQlnrc:11 ug~1 (I.rc~

yo' (i!n:h~-""""'-

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Leeuwenhoek were the first scientists to observehnman SIJerID cells (spermatozoa) using an improved microscope in ] 677 (more than 1000 years after Muhammad jj) .TIleymisitalbenly thought that the sperm cell contained a miniature preformed human being that grew when it was deposited in the female genital bract 1

Professor BmeritusKeith L.Moom·e is one: of the world's most prominent scientists Jln the fields of anatomy andembryology and is the author of the book enfinedTheDe~jlel()p:ingHun'lan~ which has been translated into eight languages. Thisbook is a scientific reference work and was chosen by a, special committee ill the 'United Stales as the best book authored by one person, Dr'. Keith Moore is Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Cel] Biologynr the University efToronte, Toronto, Canada. There, he was Associate Dean of Bas me Sciences at theFaculty of'Medicine and for 8 years was the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy, ill 1984, he received the most distinguished award presented in the field of anatomy in Canada" the J.'C .. B .. GlI .. ant Award from the Canadian Associarion of An:a[ollllJlists..He has directed many international associations, such as the Canadian and American Association of Anatomists and the Council of the Union of Biolozical Sciences ..

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In I 98, 1,. during the Seventh Medical Conference inDammam, Saudi Arabia, Professor Moore said: "It has beenagreat pleasure forme to help clarify statements in the Qm"aJu abour bnman development. It is clear to lille that these statements must have; come to Muhammad from God.because almostall of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later. This, proves to me that Muhammadmust have been a messenger of God .. ,f1

Conseqaently. Professor Moorewas asked the following question: "Does this meanthat youbelieve that the QUT~an is the word of God?" He replied: "I find no difficulty in accepting this.'?

During •. · one conference, ProfessorMoore stated: u Because

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the staging of human embryos is complex, owing to the continuous

process of change dm'ing development, it is, pr-oposed that a

(1) The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 9,.

(2) The source of ibis comment is This is the Truth (videotape ).Visit 'lVWlV .isl,aID-:g.ide . cem/trath for a copy of thisvideotape or to view the video dips ofProfessor Keith Mo ore' s comments online,

(3) Thisis the Truth (videotape),

A Briefmustmted Guide To Understandina Islam

u

new system of classification could be developed using the terms mentionedin the 'QUI' an and Sun-nan (what Muhammad iii said, did .0,,;11"' appra 'V" ed of) The propose d syste m is 91i1rfJ'1)1'e,' com mrehea-

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sive, and conforms with presentembryologicalknowledge. The intensive studies of the Qu.r'an and hadeeth (reliably transmitted reports by the Prop bet Muhammad 's fj' companions of what he said, did, or approved (1) in the last four years have revealed a system for classifying human embryos that is amazing since it was recorded in the seventh cenllnyA.D',.Althougbl\ristotle" the founder ofthe science of embryology, realized that chick embryos developed in stagesfrom his studies of hen" s eggs in the fourth century B.C ... ~ he did not give any details about these stages. As far asit is known from the history of embryology, little \\13,8 known about the staging and classificatiou of human embryos until the twentieth century, For this reason, the descriptions of the human embryo in the Qur'nn cannot bebased on scientific knowledge in the seventb century. The only reasonable conclusionis: these descriptionswere revealed toMuhammad from God, He: could not have known such details because he was an illiterate man with absolutely no scientific training, ':>1

(11)1 'TI'li~'~f' the .. · T}~ltih(·V·.··1i(1"'lf'>t<,il1"1"") Seefootnote 1(10···.· /:1')! ·10·

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