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Islamic Embryology
T H Huxley
I've completed an analysis of the errors in Islamic Embryology for Mukto-mona
readers.
“Islamic Embryology” is derived from both the Qur’an and the Hadith, and is quite
consistent across all the contributing sources. The core of the story can be found
in the Qur’an, 022.005:

YUSUFALI: “O mankind! if ye have a doubt about the Resurrection,

(consider) that We created you out of dust, then out of sperm, then
out of a leech-like clot, then out of a morsel of flesh, partly formed
and partly unformed, in order that We may manifest (our power) to
you; and We cause whom We will to rest in the wombs for an
appointed term, then do We bring you out as babes…”
PICKTHAL: “O mankind! if ye are in doubt concerning the
Resurrection, then lo! We have created you from dust, then from a
drop of seed, then from a clot, then from a little lump of flesh
shapely and shapeless, that We may make (it) clear for you. And
We cause what We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed
time, and afterward We bring you forth as infants…”
SHAKIR: “O people! if you are in doubt about the raising, then
surely We created you from dust, then from a small seed, then from
a clot, then from a lump of flesh, complete in make and incomplete,
that We may make clear to you; and We cause what We please to
stay in the wombs till an appointed time, then We bring you forth as
babies…”

Here we find the three primary stages of embryonic development as defined by

the Qur’an. There is a “seed,” “drop” or “semen” phase (in Arabic, “Nutfah”),
followed by a “clot” or “leach-like clot” phase (in Arabic, “Alaqah”), followed finally
by a “morsel of flesh” or “chewed lump” phase (in Arabic, “Mudghah”).

There are a handful of additional ayaat that deal with this subject, and none of
them disagree with this basic scenario. Yet there is more to learn from the Hadith,
particularly that of Bukhari and Muslim. Again, the accounts are quite consistent,
and the additional information they provide is important.

The first of these tells us about developmental timing: Sahih Bukhari Volume 4,
Book 54, Number 430:
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“Narrated 'Abdullah bin Mus'ud:

“Allah's Apostle, the true and truly inspired said, "(The matter of the
Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the
mother in forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for
a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period.”

These exact details are also given in Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number
549. Sahih Bukhari Volume 8, Book 77, Number 593, Sahih Bukhari Volume 9,
Book 93, Number 546, and Sahih Muslim Book 033, Number 6390.

The key information gained from all these Hadith are that the three phases
(Nutfah, Alaqah and Madghah) each takes 40 days, for a total period of 120 days
from conception to the point at which the embryo becomes a foetus.

One additional piece of testable scientific information is available in the Hadith. It

has to do with the point at which gender is determined. A representative Hadith
would be Sahih Bukhari Volume 8, Book 77, Number 594:

“Narrated Anas bin Malik:

“The Prophet said, "Allah puts an angel in charge of the uterus and
the angel says, 'O Lord, (it is) semen! O Lord, (it is now ) a clot! O
Lord, (it is now) a piece of flesh.' And then, if Allah wishes to
complete its creation, the angel asks, 'O Lord, (will it be) a male or
a female?”

This detail is repeated in Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number 550 and
Sahih Muslim Book 033, Number 6397, and all of them are quite clear that the
embryo is neither male nor female until after the Mudghah phase is reached,
some 80 days (by Islamic counting) after conception.

So, then, these are the details of embryology as reflected in the Qur’an and the
Hadith.

1) The embryo spends 40 days as a drop of sperm or seed.

2) The embryo then spends another 40 days as a “clot” or a “leech-like clot” of
blood.
3) The embryo the spends another 40 days as a “lump of flesh.”
4) At that point bones form.
5) Then the bones are “clothed with flesh.”
6) And finally, an angel at Allah’s direction assigns the gender of the child.
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These then are the details that must be correlated with actual embryonic
development to evaluate the accuracy or inaccuracy of the Islamic account. The
question is actually a simple one:

Does this account describe the first 120 days of embryonic development or
doesn’t it?

Discussion one: The Islamic Phases - Timing

Taken together, the three phases of Islamic embryology take 120 days to go from
conception to the point where the embryo becomes a foetus (i.e. an identifiable
human baby), or right around 17 weeks. Does this reflect what we now know
about embryonic development?

The answer is patently, no. The human embryo becomes a foetus around week
9, or roughly half the time Islamic embryology requires. By day 56 the foetus is
essentially a complete, though tiny, human being with all organ systems in place,
and all tissues developed. This is right in the middle of what Islam calls the
“alaquah” phase. In other words, the developing person is already a complete
human being at a point where the Hadith insists it (not he or she) still has almost
three weeks remaining as a “clot of congealed blood.”

In fact, there are no developmental milestones which can be mapped to the three
40 day periods required by Islamic embryology, even though they are stressed in
several authoritative Hadith.

Conclusion: The Hadith is demonstrably wrong concerning the timing of

embryologic development.

Discussion two: The Islamic Phases – Description

The three Islamic phases of development are described in a very visual way,
allowing for an informed evaluation of the accuracy of those descriptions. This
might be expected if for no other reason than that during the Prophet’s day, there
was not even the idea of a microscope, and any descriptions offered would
reasonably be of objects that were visible to an unaided eye. And this is exactly
what we find.

And certainly, each of the three Islamic stages is described at a visible level of
scale. A drop of seed, a clot of blood, a lump of flesh; all of them are objects of a
size with which the ancient Arabs would have been familiar.
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The “Drop of Seed” Phase (Nutfah)

There is little to no debate among Muslims as to the meaning of the word,

“nutfah.” It is a “drop of seed” or “drop of semen” of the sort that would have been
familiar to any adult Arab male. The Arabs rightly understood (as did all of their
non-Arab neighbours) that semen was necessary to begin the process of
procreation. But, exactly as with all their non-Arab neighbours, the writers of the
Qur’an and the Hadith did not seem to understand that there was an egg
produced by the mother that is fertilized by the male’s semen.

The Arabs believed that the woman served simply as an incubator for a child that
was fully contained in the father’s seed. There was no understanding of the
actual biology of sexual reproduction, and no such understanding is apparent in
the Qur’an.

Instead, the Qur’an tells us that the “drop of seed” remains exactly that (a drop of
seed) for the entire nutfah phase (40 days according to Bukhari and Muslim).
What actually IS happening during those 40 days, and how might it be said to
resemble a “drop of seed?”

The actual “drop of seed” provided by the male dissipates within minutes of
ejaculation, so even before conception, the literal “drop of seed” no longer exists.
The case could certainly be made that the fertilized egg resembles a seed until
about day 13 or fourteen, but the “drop” is long gone, replaced with a microscopic
egg that moves through a period called the “Blastocyst.” But by the beginning of
the third week, the embryo has already begun to differentiate into a Trilaminar
embryo with the three layers of ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. A mere two
and a half weeks after conception, the embryo no longer looks anything like a
“drop of seed,” while the Islamic tradition indicates that the nutfah stage should
last for an additional three weeks.

By day 40 of actual embryonic development (when the “drop” stage should be

just ending and the “clot” stage beginning) the embryo is actually very well
advanced. Measuring some 11 millimetres long, and the nervous system is well
along its development. The embryo has eyes and ears, all four limbs have begun
to form, the heart bulge is prominent. It bears no resemblance at this point to
either a “drop of seed” or a “leech-like clot.”

Interim Conclusion: The Qur’an is in error describing the embryo as a “drop of

seed” for any significant period of time, and certainly wrong in assigning a 40 day
period to such a phase.
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The “Leech-Like Clot” Phase (Alaqah)

The word “Alaqah” is a bit more ambiguous than “nutfah,” and so has been
translated a bit more flexibly by Islamic apologists. Although consistently
translated as a “clot of blood” by multiple translators, there are a handful of
instances where it is rendered as “a leech-like clot.” This is the phase that
(according to Bukhari and Muslim) should last from about day 41 to day 80 after
conception.

Among the many images of Allah’s creative power reflected in the Qur’an and the
Hadith, the image of man having been created from a clot of blood is one of the
most common, showing up over a dozen times in the Qur’an, Bukhari and Islam
alone.

What actually IS happening during those 40 days, and how might it be said to
resemble a “leech-like clot?”

The period of development covered by the “Alaqah” stage includes from week six
until week eleven after conception. The first two weeks of this “phase” actually
encompass the final two weeks of embryonic development, for at that point the
baby is essentially completely formed, and from here on out is known as a
foetus.

Interestingly, at no time during this period (or any period for that matter) does the
embryo or fetus resemble a “clot.” And while dependence of the placenta might
be described as being vaguely “leech-like” in that it is attached to the uterine wall,
no one would ever confuse the embryo or fetus with a leech.

This is as good a point as any to point out that embryonic development is

essentially over by day 56, or in less than one half of the time described by
Islamic embryology.

For over three weeks of the supposed “Alaqah” phase, rather than a “leech-like
clot” the fetus is actually a fully formed human being, ranging in size from 35 mm
to about 80 mm in length.

Interim Conclusion: The Qur’an and Hadith are in error describing the embryo as
a “leech-like clot” for any period of time, and certainly wrong in assigning the
period from 41 to 80 days for such a phase.
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The “Lump of Flesh” Phase – (Mudghah)

The Arabic word “Mudghah” is uniformly described as a “lump” or “morsel of

flesh.” Sometimes, it is more descriptively referred to as a “chewed lump of
meat.” According to the Hadith, this phase would cover day 81 to 120 of foetal
development, or weeks 12 through 17.

However, rather than a “lump” of anything, this period is one primarily of

increasing size for the already fully formed fetus. During this period of time the
fetus grows finger and toenails, begins to grow hair, and by the end of it the
mother is beginning to feel the child’s movements. At no time during these weeks
does the fetus look like anything other than an obvious human being.

If there were anytime during which the embryo might be described as a “lump of
flesh,” that would have been much earlier, perhaps during the fourth week. But
even then, the embryo was quite organized and complex, hardly “chewed” in any
sense of the word.

Interim Conclusion: The Qur’an and Hadith are in error describing the embryo as
a “morsel of flesh” for any significant period of time, and certainly wrong in
assigning the period from 81 to 120 days for such a phase.

Conclusion: The three Quranic phases are impossible to conform with

actual embryonic development, and that problem is only magnified by the
timing of those phases as prescribed by the Hadith. There are no actual
phases that can be correlated to nutfah, Alaqah or Mudghah, and the level
of development that Islam asserts takes 120 days actually takes less than
half of it.

Discussion 3 – Gender

According to multiple Hadith, it is only after the Mudghha phase (days 81-120)
that an angel of the Lord determines the gender of the baby. But in fact, modern
genetics shows that the gender of the baby is determined at the moment of
conception, and is therefore already set some four months before Islam asserts
the question is even asked of Allah.

Conclusion: The authors of the Qur’an and the Hadith had no idea as to the
genetic nature of gender, and assumed wrongly that it was assigned by
Allah months after it was actually determined by genetics. The Islamic
model is wrong again.

Some Notes on the Interpretations of Dr. Keith Moore

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Dr. Keith L. Moore, Ph.D., F.I.A.C. of the Department of Anatomy, University of

Toronto, Canada, has become a favourite of Islamic apologists ever since he
accepted an invitation to produce a special edition of his Embryology Text Book
specifically for use by Muslim students in Islamic Universities.

In articles published widely across Islamic web sites, Dr. Moore goes on the
record to provide a generous assessment of the Qur’an and Hadith in the light of
modern knowledge about embryology. But a review of his “analysis” shows the
extent to which he had to twist both the Islamic scriptures and modern science in
order to get the “facts” to correlate.

Specifically, Moore’s intellectual lapses are these:

1) He liberally translates Arabic into terms that no Arabic speaker would consider
justified, but that allows him to pretend the Arabic is closer to truth than it really
is. For example, in spite of the fact that almost three-dozen translations of
“Alaqah” found on line never once exclude the word “clot,” Moore writes instead
that “The word "Alaqah" refers to a leech or bloodsucker.”

2) He completely ignores the timing of phases dictated by the Hadith, for to

consider them renders even his mistranslation unintelligible. For example, after
mistranslating “Alaqah” to mean “a leech or bloodsucker,” he then compares it to
the human embryo at 24 days gestation. But 24 days is still firmly within the
“nutfah” phase, when the embryo should actually look like a “drop of seed.” He
does the same with “Mudghah,” comparing it with the embryo at 28 days, still in
the “nutfah” phase and only four days later than he had assigned to “Alaqah.”

One might speculate on the reasons Dr. Moore might have for this travesty of
embryology, but actually the answer is a simple one. He was apparently quite
well paid for essentially no real additional work. The textbook he delivered to the
Saudi Universities that commissioned the work is titled, "The Developing Human:
Clinically Oriented Embryology with Islamic Additions." (ISBN 0-7216-6472-5).

The base textbook is work that Moore had apparently completed years before,
while the “Islamic Additions” appear to be the work of an Abdul-Majeed A.
Azzindani, and not Dr. Moore’s at all.

And an interesting side bar (of no real importance, but entertaining none the less)
is that the Acknowledgments for the book recognize a number of “distinguished
scholars” who supported the book with time or money. And number 6 on the list?

Sheik Osama Bin Ladin.

T.H. Huxley