* The Authenticity of the
Qur'an
* Scientific Discoveries Conform with Qur'anic
Verses
* Sex Determining Factor in the Qur'an and
Science
* Human Development in the
Qur'an
The Authenticity of the Qur'an
Dr. Maurice Bucaille:
Maurice Bucaille (Professor of Surgery, France)
in his book, The Bible, the Qur'an and Science
mentions the following (quoting page 120):
"What initially strikes the reader confronted for
the first time with a text (The Qur'an) of this kind is
the sheer abundance of subjects discussed; The Creation,
Astronomy, the Explanation of Certain Matters concerning
the Earth, the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms and Human
Reproduction.
Whereas monumental errors are to be found in the
Bible, I could not find a single error in the Qur'an. I
had to stop and ask myself; if a man was the author of
the Qur'an, how could he have written facts in the
seventh century AD, that today are shown to be in
keeping with modern scientific knowledge?
There was absolutely no doubt about it, the text
of the Qur'an we have today is most definitely a text of
the period, if I may be allowed to put it in these
terms. What human explanation can there be for this
observation? In my opinion there is no explanation;
there is no special reason why an inhabitant of the
Arabian Peninsula should, at a time when King Dagobert
was reigning in France (629-639 AD) have had scientific
knowledge on certain subjects that was ten centuries
ahead of our own."
Dr. Jacques Cousteau:
Captain Jacques Cousteau, an eminent French
Research Professor embraces Islam as a result of reading
in the Qur'an verses which 1400 years ago were related
to the result of his recent research work. That is,
there are phenomenal barriers at connections of certain
oceans, and that the waters of one sea do not mix with
that of the other.
The
Qur'an clearly states the above fact:
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"He has let free the two bodies of flowing
water, meeting together:
Between them is a barrier which they do not
transgress."
(Qur'an, Ar-Rahman 55:19-20)
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Scientific Discoveries Conform with
Qur'anic Verses
Dr Keith Moore:
Professor Keith Moore (Anatomy, University of
Toronto, Canada) describes the stages of human
development, in his book The Developing Human,
clinically Oriented Embryology:
"Growth of science was slow during the medieval
period and a few high points of embryological
investigation undertaken during this age are known to
us. It is cited in the Qur'an, the Holy Book of the
Muslims, that human beings are produced from a mixture
of secretions from the male and the female.
Several references are made to the creation of a
human being from a sperm drop, and it is also suggested
that the resulting organism settles in the womb like a
seed, six days after its beginning. The human blastocyst
begins to implant about six days after fertilisation.
The
Qur'an also states that the sperm drop develops "into a
congealed clot of blood". An implanted blastocyst or a
spontaneously aborted conceptus would resemble a blood
clot. Reference is also made to the leech-like
appearance of the embryo. The embryo is not unlike a
leech, or a bloodsucker, in appearance."
"The
embryo is also said to resemble 'a chewed piece of
substance' like gum or wood. The somites do in fact
resemble the teethmarks in a chewed substance."
"The
developing embryo was considered to become human at
40-42 days and to no longer resemble an animal embryo at
this stage. The human embryo begins to acquire human
characteristics at this stage.
"The
Qur'an also states that the embryo develops between
'three veils of darkness'. This probably refers to:
- the maternal anterior abdominal wall,
- the uterine wall, and
- the aminiochorionic membrane.
Space does not permit discussion of several other
interesting references to human prenatal development
which appear in the Qur'an." (The Developing Human,
Dr KL Moore, M.Sc, Ph.D, FIAC, FRSM)
Sex Determining Factor in the Qur'an and
Science
Chromosomes X and Y:
Many
theories have been put forward to explain how the sex of
a child is determined. Only recently when techniques for
examining human sex cells were developed did scientists
come to basically understand the sex determining factor
in human reproduction.
The
human female has 46 chromosomes in the nucleus of each
cell, in the form of 23 matched pairs. Whereas the human
male has 46 chromosomes, but only 22 pairs are matched;
the chromosomes of one pair do not match exactly. One is
the same size as those of the twenty third pair in a
female, but the other is smaller. The larger is known as
the (X) chromosome and the smaller is the (Y)
chromosome. Thus, a woman has two (X) chromosomes in
each cell, and a man one (X) and one (Y) chromosome.
During the reproductive process, when ovum
(female sex cells) are formed, each cell contains 22
chromosomes and one (X) chromosome. However, when sperm
(male sex cells) are formed, one half of the sperm will
contain 22 chromosomes and one (X) chromosome whilst the
other half will contain 22 chromosomes and one (Y)
chromosome.
During the fertilisation process if an egg is
fertilised by a sperm cell being a (X) chromosome, a
female offspring will result. If an egg is fertilised by
a sperm bearing a (Y) chromosome, then the resulting
offspring would be male. Therefore, the sperm is a sex
determining factor.
The
following fourteen hundred year old verses clearly
testify that the sperm cell is the sex determining
factor in human reproduction:
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"That He did create in pair, male and
female; from a seed when lodged (in its place)."
(Qur'an, An-Najm 53:45-46)
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"And God created you from dust, then from a
sperm-drop, then He made you in pairs (the male
and the female)."
(Qur'an, Fatir 35:11)
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"We created you from mixtures of germinal
drop..."
(Qur'an, Al-Insan 76:2)
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Human Development in the Qur'an
Dr. Maurice Bucaille:
"The
Qur'anic description of certain stages in the
development of embryo corresponds exactly to what we
today know about it, and the Qur'an does not contain a
single statement that is open to criticism from modern
science.
The
implantation of the egg in the uterus (womb) is the
result of the development of...formations (which) make
the egg literally cling to the uterus. This is a
discovery of modern times."
The
act of clinging is described five different times in the
Qur'an, of which two are shown below:
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"Read, in the name of your Lord and
Cherisher, who fashioned; who fashioned man from
something which clings."
(Qur'an, Al-Alaq 96:1-2)
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""Was (man) not a small quantity of sperm
which has been poured out? Then did he become
something which clings; then God fashioned him in
due proportion."
(Qur'an, Al-Qiyamah 75:37-38)
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"The Qur'an informs us that the embryo then
passes through the stage of 'chewed flesh', then osseous
tissue appears and is clad in flesh."
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"...We fashioned...into something which
clings...into a lump of flesh in proportion and
out of proportion..."
(Qur'an, Al-Hajj 22:5)
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"We fashioned the thing which clings into a
chewed lump of flesh and We fashioned the chewed
flesh into bones, and We clothed the bones with
intact flesh..."
(Qur'an, Al-Mu'minun 23:14)
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"All statements in the Qur'an must be
compared with today's firmly established concepts.
Throughout the Middle Ages, unfounded myths and
speculations were at the origin of the most diversified
doctrines; they persisted for several centuries after
this period. It was in fact, only during the nineteenth
century that people had a slightly clearer view of this
question (human development)."
"More than a thousand years before our time, at a
period when whimsical doctrines still prevailed, men had
a knowledge of the Qur'an. The statements it contains
express in simple terms truths of primordial importance
which man has taken centuries to discover."
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