The Quran, Unchallengeable Miracle

MAN CREATED FROM DUST AND WATER 12- We created the human being from a quintessence of clay. 23-The Believers, 12 7- Who made all things He created excellent, and He started the creation of the human being from clay. 32-The Prostration, 7 20- Among His signs is that He created you from dust... 30-The Romans, 20 54- And it is He who created from water a human being, then has He established relationship of lineage and marriage. Your Lord is Omnipotent. 25-The Distinguisher, 54

According to the Quran, man is created from dust and water. Sometimes the Quran stresses these elements separately and sometimes in combination. There have been an infinite number of speculations about man’s creation out of clay (the combination made of dust and water). After the developments in biology and chemistry, analytical studies of clay and the human body were carried out. The result showed that the constituents of clay and those of the human body fit exactly. Let us enumerate these constituents: iron, calcium, oxygen, sodium, po- tassium, magnesium, hydrogen, chlorine, iodine, manganese, lead, carbon, zinc, sulfur, and nitrogen. The artistry of God was to combine this inanimate matter to create man. All these constituents are obtainable at reasonable prices. The cost of all these elements is not any higher than a hundred dollars according to the New York Stock Exchange. Yes, a hundred dollars exactly is the basic price of man. God created man out of a combination of elements that costs almost nothing. The mystery does not lie in the material out of which man is made, but in the Creator... 2- Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. 1-The Prologue, 2

QUINTESSENCE OF CLAY As it is explained in the sura “The Believers,” verse 12, man was created from a quintessence. God combined the elements contained in clay as a result of fine cal- culations. These elements are harmoniously and proportionately distributed in the body at birth; the body is programmed to make use of them in due proportion and to dispose of any surplus. The human body contains about 2 kg calcium. If there is a decrease in this amount, the very act of biting into an apple may cause our teeth to break. Our body needs 120 gr of potassium. A decrease of it may cause muscle cramps, fatigue, intestinal troubles, and palpitations. We need only about 2 gr to 3 gr of zinc. Any lowering in these values may cause loss of memory, im- potence, decrease of the capability to act and weakening of the senses of smell and taste. Insufficiency of selenium may bring about the weakening of muscles, hardening of arteries and heart muscles... All these data show that God, while making use of clay as raw material for man, combined its constituents in ideal proportions. The Quran is exact in its state- ments. Creating a living being such as man from such ordinary matter is one of the manifestations of the omniscience of God. Careful combination in due pro- portion of all the constituents of the human body demonstrates God’s matchless design. The creation of man, a masterpiece, out of a matter of simple aspect like clay, shows again the greatness of God.

WATER BECOMES ALIVE 30- ...and from water We made all living things. Will they not believe even then? 21-The Prophets, 30 45- God created every moving creature from water... 24-The Light, 45 In the 54th verse of the sura “The Distinguisher,” it is said that human be- ings are created from water, and in the suras “The Prophets” and “The Light” it is said that all living beings are created from water. Water is the basic biologi- cal element of living matter. Cells are made of water in proportions varying be- tween 60% to 80%. A cell whose basic element is water is a living thing. With- out water there is no life. Water is composed of two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms. Water, whose chemical constituents have been arranged perfectly, is made of inorganic atoms and 99% of it is vacuum. How is it that living beings and animals are created from something of which 99% is void? How is it that an entity made of an inor- ganic and inanimate matter comes to life? 24- He is God, the Creator, the Maker, the Designer; to Him belong the most beautiful names. Whatever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him. He is the Almighty, the Wise. 59-Exodus, 24

SEMEN IS A COMPOUND 2- Verily, We created the human from a drop of a liquid mixture in order to try him. Thus We made him a hearer and a seer. (76- The Human, 2) Analyses in detail of organs and substances in the human body could be made with the invention and development of the microscope. These analyses showed that semen is a compound and composed of spermatozoa in their nutrient plasma, secretions from the prostate, seminal vesicles and various other glands. Citric acid, prostaglandin, flavins, ascorbic acid, fructose, phosphorylcholine, cholesterol, phospholipids, fibrinolysin, zinc, acid phosphatase, and sperm are among the various constituents of the semen. Our body is one of the best, the most beautiful and the most complicated of works. Thanks to it, we are able to see and hear, to perpetuate our lineage; thanks to the skills of this body we can design and build machines, computers, bridges and airplanes and do paintings, carve statues and compose music. Our body is the product of one of the initial stages of creation, that entailed the creation of all the constituents of the semen. This was to be followed by the physiochemical processes involved in the union of the male and female gametes to form the zygote, the fertilized ovum before cleavage. The explanation of only the sperm cord or the prostate gland would take hundreds of pages. Our Creator refers in His book to a “liquid mixture.” Our analysis of this mixture and its constituents contributes to our increasing wonder at the presence of the miraculous creation of our body. Our odyssey, that began with the creation of this liquid compound, led us to acquire such skills as seeing, hearing and other processes of extreme complexity. No man within his senses can attribute his or her perfect creation to the skills of a drop of a mixture and coincidences. The Creator who is Omniscient, Omnipotent, who is exalted and beyond all praise, is the Author of these things as stated in the Quran.

CREATION FROM A DROP 36- Does man think that he will be left uncontrolled? (75- The Resurrection, 36) 37- Was he not a drop of semen emitted? (75- The Resurrection, 37) The Quran says that God who created man watches over him. In verse 37 it is stated that he is created from “a drop of semen.” Here again we are in the presence of a scientific fact inaccessible at the time of the Prophet. In this verse, the Arabic words “maney” (semen) and “nutfah” (drop) are differentiated. “Nutfah” means what is left of a liquid in a bucket whose contents have been emptied. Thus the expression refers to a portion and not to all the semen. The semen contains in a single ejaculation, along with its other constituents, sperm numbering between 100 million and 200 million. One out of hundreds of millions of sperm fertilizes the egg. In other words, the zygote, product of the union of two gametes, is but the result of a small part of the semen as described in the verse. The sperm or the spermatozoon, the male gamete, typically consisting of a head containing the nucleus, a middle piece containing a mitochondrion and a comparatively long tail whose structure is similar to that of a flagellum. Hundreds of millions of sperm, leaving the male’s organ, head for the ovum waving their tails. The distance they cover in the woman’s organ of reproduction involves a considerably long journey, if measured in microns the length of a sperm (a micron is equal to one millionth of a meter). To cover such a distance means to swim long distances, kilometers in fact. Many of the sperm die on the way and only a few succeed in reaching the target. Of the multitude of sperm surrounding the egg, only one is allowed to penetrate, barring the way to all others. Half of the genetic data of this sperm is contained in a head of 5 microns. The other genetic code is waiting in the mother’s womb. All these are the result of many concurring details. God displays his artistry in every instance.

CREATION FROM A QUINTESSENCE AND CHILD’S SEX 8- Then made his offspring from the quintessence of the nature of a despised fluid. (32- The Prostration, 8 ) As we have seen in the previous pages, in the Quran our attention is drawn to the fact that man was created from a quintessence of clay (23- The Believers, 12). The Arabic word used for “quintessence” is “sulala.” Just as man is created from a “quintessence” of the earth, he is also created from a “quintessence” of semen. While the word “drop” signifies just a small amount of semen, the word “quintessence” draws attention to the essence of semen. Sperm constitute only a part of the semen, in fact they are the basic elements of it. The particular sperm that fertilizes the egg is but a tiny member of hundreds of millions of sperm in semen; it is also the finest swimmer that reaches the finish, having overtaken all the others. Each of us is the winner sperm’s product. Every human being coming to the world has left behind him hundreds of millions of sperms in this swimming race. We, who are reading these lines, have come out victorious, since we were far ahead of those we have left behind. Each of us has carried the day. And we are the quintessence! 57- It is We who created you, so why do you not affirm the truth? (56- The Inevitable, 57) 58- Do you then see the semen that you emit? (56- The Inevitable, 58) 59- Is it you who create it or are We the creator? (56- The Inevitable, 59)

DETERMINATION OF THE CHILD’S SEX 45- That He did create in pairs, male and female; (53- The Star, 45) 46- From a drop of semen which emitted. (53- The Star, 46) Even today there are still people and families on the husband’s side who blame mothers for giving birth to girls rather than to boys. That it is the mother who decides on the sex of her child is a lingering prejudice among the ignorant. Although well-informed scientific circles were exempt from such misconceptions, even they had until quite recently the impression that the child’s sex was the joint product of equal contribution by the mother’s egg and the father’s sperm. The fact that it is the sperm that determines the child’s sex has only recently been established. In a fabricated hadith falsely attributed to the Prophet, we read: “Male’s water is white. Woman’s water is yellow. If the two come together and the man’s water overcomes the woman’s, a male child is born, if, on the other hand, it is the woman’s water that dominates, the child is a girl.” One can see that during and centuries after the time of the Prophet the factor that determined the sex of the child was not known. The implication in the Quran of the formation of sex is astounding, as it indicates that it is a drop of semen that determines it. The 46 chromosomes that human cells contain form the genetic code of a human being. Two of these determine the child’s sex. Male chromosomes are defined as XY and the female ones as XX. In woman’s side the chromosomes are split during ovulation into two each containing an X chromosome. Some sperms from the man contain X and some Y chromosome. If an X chromosome unites with an X chromosome in the woman’s egg, the sex of the child to be born will be female, while a Y chromosome in man uniting with an X chromosome in woman means the offspring will be of the male sex. We see that whether the future child will be a boy or a girl is entirely dependent on the arrival of an X or Y chromosome from the sperm. Biological research continues. The discovery in the 1990s of the SRY protein in the Y chromosome, and the conclusions derived from it, have enriched the available data on the issue. This information that the Quran implied more than 1400 years ago was not known until quite recently. We can mention, for example, the story of Henry the VIII, who divorced Catherine his queen for having given him a daughter. This fact, alluded to in the Quran, had also an ironical touch. Women have been blamed for centuries for having been responsible in the determination of the sex of the child they were going to give birth to. The discoveries of science have explained this miraculous event, while ruling out the grounds which put the blame on the woman.

SECURE PLACE 20- Have We not created you from an unassuming fluid? (77- The Emissaries, 20) 21- Which We placed in a secure place. (77- The Emissaries, 21) The uterus is described as a secure place. Being placed in the center of the pelvic cavity, it is well protected. Man’s organ is not favored with such an endowment. The uterus is a cavity whose walls are made of muscles and have the shape of a pear. In an adult woman the length of it is 8 cm, the width measures 5 cm and the height 2.5 cm. The uterus, relatively small in size, expands considerably during the last phase of pregnancy. The weight of it is 50gr while it attains about 1000 gr at the end of pregnancy. The child it holds within it can even exceed 5000 grams. This means that the child is 100 times heavier than the uterus itself. It is the only organ that can grow so rapidly and is given to rapid transition. With its tightly wedged thick muscles, it protects the fetus, rapidly growing in size, against all kinds of external impacts and adverse conditions. The fetus, exposed to all sorts of dangers, owes its survival to the solid structure of the uterus, its ideal place. The Quran’s drawing our attention to the solidity and durability of the womb calls for our studying it more deeply is a proof of the God whose grace protects the fetus against all ill intentions. 1- In the name of God, Gracious, Merciful. (1- The Prologue, 1)

HANGING ON THE WALL OF WOMB 13- Then We placed him as a drop in a firmly established lodging (23- The Believers, 13) 14- Then We developed the drop into a hanging… (23- The Believers, 14) “Alaq” is the Arabic word referring to something that is hanging on a place. Thanks to modern science and apparatuses we learned that during the early weeks of the pregnancy, embryo hangs to the mother’s womb. Embryology did not exist as a science at the time of the Prophet. Neither was there special terminology yet. The Quran described the stages using the words current at the time and formed its own terminology. The Quran brings clarification to something unknown at the time by this definition. The Quran describes “the hanging” stage that is relevant to our creation. To translate the word “alaq” as embryo may not exactly reflect its original meaning and would fail to convey the spirit of it. On the other hand to translate it as “a clot of blood” also deviates from the literal meaning of the word. The mistranslations of the word “alaq” was due to failure to concieve the true meaning of the word. In 1641, Harvey’s statement, according to which the origin of every living thing was an egg, and saying that the embryo underwent transformations, passing through stages of development, was one of the major contributions to the advancement of science. In the 17th century, when man already had the microscope at his disposal, the respective roles of the egg and of the sperm were topics of discussion. Keith Moore, anatomy professor at the Toronto University of Canada, says that the information contained in the Quran about embryology cannot be accounted for by the data available in the 7th century. He goes further and says that, even a century back, this was hardly known. Only today are we in a position to understand what the verses of the Quran meant, thanks to the development of modern embryology. In history, the only book that exactly describes the development of the human being within the womb is the Quran. Let us once again tackle the subject of hanging to the uterine wall. Only after the invention of the microscope was man able to bring this fact to light as a result of developments in the fields of physiology, anatomy and embryology.

PROOFS FROM THE STAGES OF THE EMBRYO 6- These are the signs of God which We rehearse to you in truth. Then in which word other than God and His signs do they believe? (45-The Kneeling, 6) The sperm that encounters its other half in the fallopian tube continues its way from there toward the womb. The embryo, in its journey, does not cling on to the fallopian tube. The embryo proceeds on, and when it reaches the womb hangs onto a spot where the blood vessels are dense. So the stage of “alaq” referred in the Quran has started. How is it that this powerless cell devoid of all intelligence eventually finds for itself a shelter in the womb, the ideal place for it? How is it that the embryo that arrives at the womb hangs on its wall and is able to receive all the nourishment necessary for its development, like a leech? (One of the meanings of the word “alaq” is “leech.”) All these things are carefully planned by God’s ingenious artistry. Those who are blind to this fact and refuse to see in this God’s doing, interpreting it as pure coincidence or the embryo’s genius, will be in a ridiculous situation. The process of the embryo hanging on the uterine wall is the result of a complicated system. To penetrate the acid layer of the uterine wall, the embryo secretes an enzyme (hyaluronidase) that catalyzes the uterine tissue and allows the penetration of the embryo, which settles in it like a plant. Henceforth, it will supply its need for food and oxygen from this very point. The hyaluronidase secreted by the embryo catalyzes the breakdown of the hyaluronic acid. Furthermore, the embryo releases some chemicals to protect itself from the mother’s immune system, which would otherwise treat the embryo as a foreign invader to be destroyed. The embryo’s discovery of the place where it is going to hang is a marvel. The embryonic cells have so many activities to perform that a scientist who studies them can easily come to the conclusion that they are entities of high intelligence. 1. Read in the name of your Lord who created (96- The Hanging, 1) 2. He created man from a hanging. (96- The Hanging, 2)

CHEWED LUMP OF FLESH 14- Then We developed the drop into a hanging, then developed the hanging into a chewed lump of flesh… (23- The Believers, 14) The Quran continues displaying its miracles in its description of “alaq” succeeded by the “mudga” (chewed lump of flesh) stage. As a matter of fact, the embryo in the womb has the appearance of a chewed lump of flesh, a tiny piece of flesh. Sura 22 “The Pilgrimage”, verse 5, speaks “of chewed lump of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed,” which is a good description of the aspect of the fetus. The aspect presented to our sight is of an indented figure whose head, feet and internal organs have begun to develop (partly formed, partly unformed). Prof. Keith L. Moore says that he had a model made in plastic in the shape of an embryo and bit on it, leaving the marks of his teeth; this seemed to be an exact reproduction of an embryo, and explained the indentation referred to in the Quran.

ADVENTURE OF THE CHEWED LUMP OF FLESH A single cell undergoes many stages in forming the various organs and tissues of the body. A chewed lump of flesh at one stage, it is transformed into organs, muscles, skeleton, brain, eyes and ears, until in time man finally emerges. To review all the stages of this development renders our awe still greater at the presence of God’s artistry. There is a time when the lump turns into a heart, a heart that beats 100,000 times a day without our being aware of it and without any conscious contribution on our part. Blood that comes to the heart and leaves it does not get mixed together. Blood is distributed in the body in perfect proportions. The ventricles and atriums of the heart are wonders of creation. The organized movement of blood within the arteries and veins presents matchless complexity and would take pages to describe. The day comes when this “chewed lump of flesh” is transformed into a liver, the organ that assumes more than 400 functions. This tiny lump becomes muscles to help us in our numerous movements like eating, running, walking, sitting and laughing. The muscles function within the framework of an extremely complex net of coordination. Merely smiling requires the coordinated functioning of 17 muscles. Our brains, hands, feet, intestines, kidneys, respiratory systems and the blood circulating in our veins and arteries owe their origins to this tiny lump of flesh, once a drop of liquid. The story of our creation would take up a whole encyclopedia. The Quran invites us to study these phenomena and meditate upon them. The prayer and ritual enjoined to man in the Quran have been a topic of long discussions. The verses that refer to ratiocination and meditation, which, although superior in number to those of the rituals, have received less attention. 6- O human beings! What has seduced you from your Lord, Most Beneficent? (82- The Shattering, 6) 7- The One who created you, designed you in due proportion, and disposed you aright. (82- The Shattering, 7) 8- In whatever design He chose, He constructed you. (82- The Shattering, 8 )

BONE FORMATION AND CLOTHING OF BONES WITH FLESH 14- …then created the chewed lump of flesh (mudga) into bones, then covered the bones with flesh (lahm)… (23- The Believers, 14) 259- Look further at the bones, how We construct them and then cover with flesh (lahm). (2- The Cow, 259) The embryo is a boneless lump. Its cartilage tissue is transformed into bones in due time, as stated in the Quran, followed by their being clothed in muscular flesh. The Arabic word “lahm” means the muscular flesh. This process was unknown 1400 years ago. It was believed that the bones and muscles developed simultaneously. Advanced microscopes and micro cameras introduced into the uterus corroborated once again the truth expressed in the Quran.

PERFECT STRUCTURE OF THE SKELETON The verse quoted from the sura “The Cow” draws our attention to the skeleton and invites us to examine it closely. While reading this verse, we will try to meditate upon the miraculous formations within our bodies. Our skeletons, marvels of engineering, are formed of 206 bones of varying sizes. They are towers made of bones connected with each other by joints and ligaments, enabling us to jump, run, bend, sit, etc. To turn the page of a book necessitates the concurrent action of our shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers, without our being aware of the fact that it is the skeleton that performs this act. The skeletal system is made up of structures composed of bones or cartilage or a combination of the two, which provide a framework for the vertebrate body and serve as attachment for muscles. Every part of this system independently performs the duty with which it has been charged. Where the movement is deemed to involve danger, the joints are fixed, like in the skull and pelvis, while in the hips or shoulders they are mobile. Cervical vertebrae permit the head to revolve around its axis up to 180 degrees. Thus, one does not have to turn his body to look around. The lungs and heart are protected by ribs to ensure their proper and safe functioning without being exposed to any hazard. The skeletal system supports the body like the columns and beams of a building. However, it is to be wondered at that while in modern buildings the frame forms 60-70% of the building’s weight, the human skeleton forms but 15% of the body weight. The structural frame is highly resistant. For instance the thighbone (the femur) in vertical position can carry a weight of one ton. Solidity and elasticity coexist. The skeleton has a lubricating system, the details of which the present book can hardly touch. Every joint in our bodies is regularly lubricated with special oily substances. Verse 259 of the sura “The Cow,” “Look further at the bones,” directs our attention to these data that form but a small portion of man’s marvelous makeup. 8- God knows what every female bears, and how much the womb falls short or exceeds. Everything He does is perfectly measured. (13- The Thunder, 8)

CREATION IN THREE DARKNESSES 6- …He creates you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after the other, in three darknesses… (39- The Throngs, 6) The fetus in the mother’s womb is a fragile thing. If it were not protected well, heat, cold, temperature variations, impacts or even the mother’s sudden movement might kill it or cause it irreparable damage. The three zones within the mother’s womb protect the fetus against all sorts of dangers. These are: 1- The abdominal wall, 2- The uterine wall, and 3- The amniotic sac. With the level of knowledge at the time, this information could not have been available. The fetus continues to develop in the dark of these three regions. The amniotic sac contains a fluid that fills the amnion to protect the embryo from desiccation and shock. This substance is a kind of cushion that absorbs shocks, balances exerted pressures, prevents the amniotic membrane from adhering to the embryo and enables the fetus to change position in the womb. If the fetus could not easily move in the said fluid, it would remain idle as a mass of flesh and would likely suffer injuries leading to various complications. Equal distribution of heat enables the fetus to be at a constant temperature: 31°C. We observe that our Creator has designed everything perfectly in its minutest detail, satisfying all the requirements of our body and protecting it against the dangers lurking in the outside world.

FROM ONE STAGE TO ANOTHER It was also said that verse pointed to the fact that during the stages of creation we passed through three different phases of development. According to this view the three veils of darkness refer to: 1- The fallopian tubes: The sperm, having fertilized the egg, proceeds on along the fallopian tubes. The zygote during this journey begins to divide and reproduce itself. 2- The uterine wall: The stage during which the embryo hangs on the wall. 3- The amniotic sac: The sac fills with a fluid that surrounds the fetus. The next step of evolution calls for a longer period of development in this sac. A glance at the outward aspect presents a uniformity of sight. But were we to shrink to the size of a tiny cell and explore the environment, we would see how different these chambers were. The first dark space reminds us of a monumental tunnel. The second compartment is a dark forest where no light penetrates, and the third compartment reflects the dark depths of the sea. As we can see the Quran describes either 3 intertwined layers or 3 consecutive dark spaces. God knows whether the reference is to one or to the other. (We think that the first ternary separation we did is the fundamental indication of the verse.) And in addition there are three stages through which the embryo evolves.

The three stages in question are: 1- The pre-embryonic stage: This stage is called the “first trimester.” As the cells multiply, they get organized in three layers; this process takes two weeks. 2- The embryonic stage: Basic organs begin to emerge from the cell layers. This stage is referred to as the “second trimester” extending from the second week to the eighth week. 3- The fetus stage: The face, hands and feet appear and the human figure is formed. This is the “third trimester” that extends from the 8th week until birth. Our shaping up takes place in stages, in each of which new evidences emerge. Data relative to embryology have been acquired only in the recent past. Neither before the descent of the Quran, nor in the course of the millennium succeeding it can you find such information available. The Quran indicated the composition of the semen, from a drop of which man was created. The Quran coined names that describe the development stages of the embryo; namely hanging to the wall of the womb (alaq), succeeded by the chewed lump of flesh (mudga). Thus the Quran uses terminology based on the positions the fetus assumes. Again there was no source before the Quran which asserted that the muscles were made after the formation of bones. To assert a scientific fact, a scientific background is a must. It is on such a foundation that other data can rest, which, in turn, calls for advanced microscopes and micro cameras. At the descent of the Quran, there was no such scientific background or such instruments. Nobody of sound mind can come forward and say that the information in the Quran was a result of fortunate coincidences. 35- Were they created of nothing or were they themselves the creators? (52-The Mount, 35)