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==Evidence of influence== | ==Evidence of influence== | ||
This section documents the influence of ideas from other cultures on the Qur’an and hadith regarding reproduction. It will go without saying that these ideas are inaccurate compared with current [[Islam and Science|scientific]] knowledge of [[reproduction]] and [[embryology]]. All Qur’an quotes are from | This section documents the influence of ideas from other cultures on the Qur’an and hadith regarding reproduction. It will go without saying that these ideas are inaccurate compared with current [[Islam and Science|scientific]] knowledge of [[reproduction]] and [[embryology]]. All Qur’an quotes are from the Sahih International translation. | ||
===A mingled drop=== | ===A mingled drop=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|76|2}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran|76|2}}|Indeed, We created man from a sperm-drop mixture [nu<U>t</U>fatin amsh<U>a</U>jin] that We may try him; and We made him hearing and seeing.}} | ||
Ibn Kathir’s [[Tafsir|commentary]] on this verse gives a very useful definition of nu<U>t</U>fah from Muhammad’s companions. | Ibn Kathir’s [[Tafsir|commentary]] on this verse gives a very useful definition of nu<U>t</U>fah from Muhammad’s companions. | ||
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Galen said that the embryo is initially formed out of the male semen mixed (μίγνυται) with what he called the female semen, which also forms an additional membrane entwined (ἐπιπλεκονταί) with that of the male semen. He believed that blood from the woman is subsequently drawn in via the uterus and membrane, and this combined material literally goes on to form the fetus.<ref>Philip De Lacy (editor and translator). “Galen: On Semen (Corpus Medicorum Graecorum 5.3.1.)”, pp.85-89, Berlin: Akademie. Verlag, 1992</ref> This will be explained a little more later. Unlike Galen (and before him, Hippocrates) with the two-semens theory, Aristotle believed that there was only a male semen, which does not itself provide material for the embryo, but triggers its formation from menstral blood.<ref>Philip De Lacy (editor and translator). “Galen: On Semen (Corpus Medicorum Graecorum 5.3.1.)”, p.65, Berlin: Akademie. Verlag, 1992<BR />Available on [https://cmg.bbaw.de/epubl/online/cmg_05_03_01.php The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences website] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20230909084119/https://cmg.bbaw.de/epubl/online/cmg_05_03_01.php archive])</ref> The quoted comments from Muhammad’s companions are good evidence for Galenic influence in 7<sup>th</sup> century Arabia. | Galen said that the embryo is initially formed out of the male semen mixed (μίγνυται) with what he called the female semen, which also forms an additional membrane entwined (ἐπιπλεκονταί) with that of the male semen. He believed that blood from the woman is subsequently drawn in via the uterus and membrane, and this combined material literally goes on to form the fetus.<ref>Philip De Lacy (editor and translator). “Galen: On Semen (Corpus Medicorum Graecorum 5.3.1.)”, pp.85-89, Berlin: Akademie. Verlag, 1992</ref> This will be explained a little more later. Unlike Galen (and before him, Hippocrates) with the two-semens theory, Aristotle believed that there was only a male semen, which does not itself provide material for the embryo, but triggers its formation from menstral blood.<ref>Philip De Lacy (editor and translator). “Galen: On Semen (Corpus Medicorum Graecorum 5.3.1.)”, p.65, Berlin: Akademie. Verlag, 1992<BR />Available on [https://cmg.bbaw.de/epubl/online/cmg_05_03_01.php The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences website] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20230909084119/https://cmg.bbaw.de/epubl/online/cmg_05_03_01.php archive])</ref> The quoted comments from Muhammad’s companions are good evidence for Galenic influence in 7<sup>th</sup> century Arabia. | ||
The Qur’anic verses that are most explicit in stating that the embryo is initially formed out of semen, as per Galen and Hippocrates, are | The Qur’anic verses that are most explicit in stating that the embryo is initially formed out of semen, as per Galen and Hippocrates, are shown below. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|80|18|19}}|From what | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|80|18|19}}|From what substance [shay-in, which means “thing”] did He create him? From a sperm-drop [nu<U>t</U>fatin] He created him and destined for him;}} | ||
Just as Galen taught about the mixed semens, this nu<U>t</U>fah is stored in the womb | Just as Galen taught about the mixed semens, this nu<U>t</U>fah is stored in the womb before undergoing the next stage of development. | ||
{{Quote|{{ | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|23|13|14}}|Then We placed him as a sperm-drop [nutfatan] in a firm lodging.<br>Then We made the sperm-drop [nutfata] into a clinging clot […]}} | ||
The Qur’an itself confirms that it is semen that is developed in the womb in an almost identical verse. Here m<U>a</U>a (water), the euphemism for semen, is used instead of nu<U>t</U>fah. In this instance it probably just means male semen (see the “Extract of | The Qur’an itself confirms that it is semen that is developed in the womb in an almost identical verse. Here m<U>a</U>a (water), the euphemism for semen, is used instead of nu<U>t</U>fah. In this instance it probably just means male semen (see the “Extract of liquid disdained” section later). | ||
{{Quote|{{quran-range|77|20|22}}| | {{Quote|{{quran-range|77|20|22}}|Did We not create you from a liquid disdained [m<U>a</U>-in maheen'''in''']? And We placed it in a firm lodging For a known extent.}} | ||
In both cases, the | In both cases, the “firm lodging” (qararin makeenin) obviously refers to the womb, with 77:22 adding that it is for a “known extent”. It certainly does not mean the female ovum, which is only penetrated by a single sperm cell and not the “liquid disdained”. | ||
=== The four stages of embryo development === | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|22|5}}|O mankind! if ye have a doubt about the Resurrection, <b>(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,</b> then (foster you) that ye may reach your age of full strength; and some of you are called to die, and some are sent back to the feeblest old age, so that they know nothing after having known (much), and (further), thou seest the earth barren and lifeless, but when We pour down rain on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells, and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs).}}{{Quote|{{Quran|23|12-14}}|Man We did create from a quintessence (of clay); Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest, firmly fixed; Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the best to create!}} | |||
As mentioned in the [https://corpuscoranicum.de/en Corpus Coranicum Project,] the stages of embryo development described in the Qur'an reflect the medical knowledge of the late antique world, compatible with seventh-century AD understanding.<ref>Corpus Coranicum Project - [https://corpuscoranicum.de/en/verse-navigator/sura/22/verse/5/intertexts/986 Galen De Semine I, 8] | |||
Michael Marx, Galen De Semine I, 8 - TUK_986. In: Texts from the Environment of the Koran, edited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities by Michael Marx, with contributions by Sebastian Bitsch, Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki, Emmanouela Grypeou, Dirk Hartwig, Nestor Kavvadas, David Kiltz, Yousef Kouriyhe, Mohammed Maraqten, Adrian Pirtea, Veronika Roth, Johanna Schubert and Nicolai Sinai. Beta version: as of July 28, 2024.</ref> The development of humans in the womb outlined in the Qur'an seems to correspond in its four stages to the communis opinion summarized by Galen for (late) ancient medicine;<ref>Corpus Coranicum Project - [https://corpuscoranicum.de/en/verse-navigator/sura/23/verse/14/intertexts/955 Letter to Archdeacon Mar Julian] | |||
David Kiltz (with the collaboration of Yousef Kouriyhe) (revised by Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki), Letter to Archdeacon Mar Julian - TUK_955. In: Texts from the Environment of the Koran, edited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities by Michael Marx, with contributions by Sebastian Bitsch, Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki, Emmanouela Grypeou, Dirk Hartwig, Nestor Kavvadas, David Kiltz, Yousef Kouriyhe, Mohammed Maraqten, Adrian Pirtea, Veronika Roth, Johanna Schubert and Nicolai Sinai. Beta version: as of July 28, 2024.</ref> | |||
Both passages speak of a development of the embryo that begins with the '''1) drop of semen''' (Arabic: nuṭfa), which is then followed by the stage of the '''2) blood structure''' (Arabic: ʿalaqa), which then develops into a '''3) flesh structure''' (Arabic: mudġa), from which the "physically formed and not yet fully formed" (Q 22:5 min muḍġatin muḫallaqatin wa-ġairi muḫallaqatin ) embryo then develops. And in Sura 23, the flesh structure becomes bones that are covered with flesh (Arabic: fa-ḫalaqnā l-muḍġata ʿiẓāman fa-kasaunā l-ʿiẓāma laḥman). This form of life then finally takes on a new quality: '''4) The fully formed infant''' In Q 23:14 it says: "Then We created him as a new (i.e. different) creature. Thus God is full of blessings. He is the best creator." In Q 22:5 the formed and at the same time not yet complete creature becomes a sign of divine power, since God "makes his power clear" to man.<ref>Corpus Coranicum Project - [https://corpuscoranicum.de/en/verse-navigator/sura/22/verse/5/intertexts/986 ''Galen De Semine I, 8''] | |||
Michael Marx, Galen De Semine I, 8 - TUK_986. In: Texts from the Environment of the Koran, edited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities by Michael Marx, with contributions by Sebastian Bitsch, Vasiliki Chamourgiotaki, Emmanouela Grypeou, Dirk Hartwig, Nestor Kavvadas, David Kiltz, Yousef Kouriyhe, Mohammed Maraqten, Adrian Pirtea, Veronika Roth, Johanna Schubert and Nicolai Sinai. Beta version: as of July 28, 2024.</ref> | |||
Basim Musallam notes that the stages were sufficiently similar for medieval Islamic authors to use Qur'anic terminology when describing Galen's (incorrect, ''see: [[Embryology in the Quran]]'') four stages of development. | |||
{{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/12237577/Sex_and_Society_in_Islam Basim Musallam Sex and Society in Islam, Cambridge University Press, 1983, pg. 54]|The stages of development which the Quran and hadith established for believers agreed perfectly with Galen's scientific account. In De Semine, for example, Galen spoke of four periods in the formation of the embryo: (1) as seminal matter; | |||
(2) as a bloody form (still without flesh, in which the primitive heart, liver, and brain are ill-defined); | |||
(3) the foetus acquires flesh and solidity (the heart, liver, and brain are well-defined, and the limbs begin formation); and finally | |||
(4) all the organs attain their full perfection and the foetus is quickened. There is no doubt that medieval thought appreciated this agreement between the Quran and Galen, for Arabic science employed the same Quranic terms to describe the Galenic stages (as in Ibn Sina's account of Galen): nutfa for the first, 'alaqa for the second, "unformed" mudgha for the third, and "formed" mudgha for the fourth.}} | |||
=== Three layers of Darkness === | === Three layers of Darkness === | ||
We see the idea of three layers of darkness. | We see the idea of three layers of darkness. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|39|6}}|He created you from a | {{Quote|{{Quran|39|6}}|He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: <b>He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness.</b> such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre)?}} | ||
Ibn Qayyim (d. 1350), a prominent Hanbali jurist, links these to different membranes being mentioned by Hippocrates, quoting previous scholars. | Ibn Qayyim (d. 1350), a prominent Hanbali jurist, links these to different membranes being mentioned by Hippocrates, quoting previous scholars opinions on the matter. | ||
{{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/12237577/Sex_and_Society_in_Islam Musallam, Sex and Society in Islam, Cambridge University Press, 1983, pg. 56]|(A) Hippocrates said in the third chapter of Kitab al-ajinna: . The semen is contained in a membrane, and it grows because of the blood of its mother which descends to the womb, and the semen in these membranes draws in the air and breathes it for the reasons we have mentioned... As the semen becomes a foetus several other membranes are formed, and grow within the original membrane, all being formed the same way as the first. Some membranes are formed at the beginning, others after the second month, and others in the third month. (B) This is why God says, "He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, by one formation after another in three darknesses (Quran 39:6)." (C) Since each of these membranes has its own darkness, when God mentioned the stages of creation and transformation from one state to another, He also mentioned the darknesses of the membranes. (D) Most commentators explain: it is the darkness of the belly, and the darkness of the womb, and the darkness of the placenta...}} | {{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/12237577/Sex_and_Society_in_Islam Musallam, Sex and Society in Islam, Cambridge University Press, 1983, pg. 56]|(A) Hippocrates said in the third chapter of Kitab al-ajinna: . The semen is contained in a membrane, and it grows because of the blood of its mother which descends to the womb, and the semen in these membranes draws in the air and breathes it for the reasons we have mentioned... As the semen becomes a foetus several other membranes are formed, and grow within the original membrane, all being formed the same way as the first. Some membranes are formed at the beginning, others after the second month, and others in the third month. (B) This is why God says, "He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, by one formation after another in three darknesses (Quran 39:6)." (C) Since each of these membranes has its own darkness, when God mentioned the stages of creation and transformation from one state to another, He also mentioned the darknesses of the membranes. (D) Most commentators explain: it is the darkness of the belly, and the darkness of the womb, and the darkness of the placenta...}} | ||
=== Seminal fluid and the backbone === | |||
{{Main|Semen Production in the Quran}}The relationship between seminal fluid and the backbone has many ancient pre-modern scientific roots.{{Quote|{{Quran|86|6-7}}|He was created of a gushing fluid, emerging from between the backbone and the ribs.}}As Noble et al (2014) note.{{Quote|Noble Denis, DiFrancesco Dario and Zancani Diego. 2014. Leonardo da Vinci and the origin of semen. Notes Rec.68391–402 DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.2014.0021|The view that semen was derived from the spinal cord was old enough to be denied by Alcmaeon in the sixth century bc, but Plato and Hippocrates subscribed to it. Plato in his Timaeus considers the brain and spinal ‘marrow’ as but a special form of bone marrow (Timaeus, 73) in which ‘God implanted his divine seed’. | |||
This spinal marrow passes down the back and communicates its ‘universal seed stuff’ to the genitalia for the purpose of procreation. Plato in the Timaeus, and Leonardo on this page, traces the spinal marrow (RL 19097v):}}This was an ancient Egyptian belief too, as Schwabe, Calvin W., et al. (1982) notes, '<nowiki/>''Egyptians believed that sperm was produced in the thoracic spine , a conviction apparently based on their understanding of the bull.''<nowiki/>'<ref>Schwabe, Calvin W., et al. “''[http://www.jstor.org/stable/30027646. Egyptian Beliefs about the Bull’s Spine: An Anatomical Origin for Ankh.]''” Anthropological Linguistics, vol. 24, no. 4, 1982, pp. 445–79. JSTOR, <nowiki>http://www.jstor.org/stable/30027646</nowiki>. Accessed 18 Oct. 2024.</ref> | |||
===Semen stage lasts 40 days=== | ===Semen stage lasts 40 days=== | ||
| Line 167: | Line 191: | ||
Searching for some kind of reference to sperm (rather than merely semen), which was not discovered until the 17<sup>th</sup> century, some Islamic apologists point to the following hadith: | Searching for some kind of reference to sperm (rather than merely semen), which was not discovered until the 17<sup>th</sup> century, some Islamic apologists point to the following hadith: | ||
{{Quote|Sahih Muslim, Book of Marriage, Chapter on al-‘Azl, No. | {{Quote|Sahih Muslim, Book of Marriage, Chapter on al-‘Azl, No. 1438|Not from all the sperm a fetus is created and if God wills to create anything, nothing can debar him.}} | ||
The first thing to point out is that the word translated “sperm” in the apologists’ translation is actually m<U>a</U>a in the Arabic, which as mentioned above, means water/fluid and is a euphemism for semen. This is also apparent in another translation of the exact same hadith: | The first thing to point out is that the word translated “sperm” in the apologists’ translation is actually m<U>a</U>a in the Arabic, which as mentioned above, means water/fluid and is a euphemism for semen. This is also apparent in another translation of the exact same hadith: | ||
| Line 231: | Line 255: | ||
==Other apologetic claims== | ==Other apologetic claims== | ||
Some Islamic apologists have hence turned to other arguments to find a reference to sperm (not just semen) or the female ovum in the Qur’an. They are considered below. Qur’an translations are | Some Islamic apologists have hence turned to other arguments to find a reference to sperm (not just semen) or the female ovum in the Qur’an. They are considered below. Qur’an translations are Sahih International’s. | ||
===Single entity that is part of a bigger group of its kind=== | ===Single entity that is part of a bigger group of its kind=== | ||
| Line 249: | Line 273: | ||
===Sperm from semen emitted=== | ===Sperm from semen emitted=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|75|37}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran|75|37}}|Had he not been a sperm from semen emitted? [nu<U>t</U>fatan min manayyin yumn<U>a</U>]?}} | ||
Some | Some apologetics websites claim that this verse shows that nutfah does not refer to the same substance as maniyy, translating the phrase as “sperm-drop from semen”, whereas pretty much all others translate it as “drop [nutfatan] of [min] semen [maniyyin]”, or words to that effect (Sahih International's translation shown above is very much an exception). | ||
However, as demonstrated above, nu<U>t</U>fah meant a small quantity of liquid, in this context in reference to semen that | However, as demonstrated above, nu<U>t</U>fah meant a small quantity of liquid, in this context in reference to semen that was believed to form the embryo, whereas maniyy is simply semen. Whenever the Qur’an mentions nu<U>t</U>fah, which indicates the small quantity of liquid, it is emphasizing the humble beginnings of man. In the hadiths that use maniyy, it is a different context where the quantity is irrelevant. We also saw in the Lisan al-Arab dictionary above that maniyy is called nutfah because it is a small amount of liquid. | ||
In addition, verse 53:46 has virtually the same phrase with the same verb as 75:37, but this time just mentions nu<U>t</U>fah, without maniyy. | In addition, verse 53:46 has virtually the same phrase with the same verb as 75:37, but this time just mentions nu<U>t</U>fah, without maniyy. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|53|46}}|From a drop | {{Quote|{{Quran|53|46}}|From a sperm-drop [nu<U>t</U>fatin] when it is emitted [tumn<U>a</U>];}} | ||
Tumn<U>a</U> in 53:46 and yumn<U>a</U> in 75:37 is the same verb meaning "to emit", and from the same root as maniyy. The same verb is understandably used if it is talking about the emission of the same thing, semen, but without explicitly stating the type of liquid in 53:46. In any case, the evidence is unanimous that nu<U>t</U>fah is always used for a liquid. | Tumn<U>a</U> in 53:46 and yumn<U>a</U> in 75:37 is the same verb meaning "to emit", and from the same root as maniyy. The same verb is understandably used if it is talking about the emission of the same thing, semen, but without explicitly stating the type of liquid in 53:46. In any case, the evidence is unanimous that nu<U>t</U>fah is always used for a liquid. | ||
===Extract of | ===Extract of liquid disdained=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|32|7|8}}|Who | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|32|7|8}}|Who perfected everything which He created and began the creation of man from clay. Then He made his posterity out of the extract of a liquid disdained.}} | ||
The word translated | The word translated “posterity” in Sahih International’s translation is nasl, which means progeny (i.e. descendants).<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000286.pdf Lane’s Lexicon Vol. 8 p.3032]</ref> It is a reasonable assumption that ma-in m<U>a</U>heen'''in''' (liquid disdained) means male semen here (see 86:6-7, which too uses maa). Some apologists like to read sul<U>a</U>latin<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000121.pdf Lane’s Lexicon Vol. 4 p.1397]</ref> (“extract”) as a reference to sperm. There are a couple of problems with this. First, it ignores the role of the female ovum (this is a problem with pretty much any interpretation of the verse). Secondly, we can compare 32:8 with 77:20, which has the exact same last 3 words, and without the word extract. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|77|20}}|Did We not create you from a | {{Quote|{{Quran|77|20}}|Did We not create you from a liquid disdained? [min m<U>a</U>-in maheen'''in''']}} | ||
This suggests that the extract is or is of the same substance as the disdained | This suggests that the extract is or is of the same substance as the disdained liquid. As we saw above, the next two verses, 77:21-22, indicate that this liquid is gestated in the womb. There are various possible meanings for this verse, but even if it is interpreted as saying that only a special part of semen forms the embryo, that belief would have been common among the Jews with whom Muhammad was acquainted, as we saw from the Talmud quoted earlier: | ||
{{Quote|Babylonian Talmud, Nidda 31a|It teaches that man is not fashioned from all the drop but only from its purest part.<ref name="Nidda 31a"></ref>}} | {{Quote|Babylonian Talmud, Nidda 31a|It teaches that man is not fashioned from all the drop but only from its purest part.<ref name="Nidda 31a"></ref>}} | ||
==Theory that verses about Adam were repurposed as embryology== | |||
In 2023, Thomas Eich and Doru Constantin Doroftei's academic book ''Adam und Embryo'' was published (open access) in which they argue that the Quranic verses about reproduction and embryology have been misinterpreted and instead relate to the creation of Adam.<ref>Eich & Doroftei, 2023. [https://www.nomos-shop.de/de/p/adam-und-embryo-gr-978-3-98740-064-3 ''Adam and Embryo. A contribution to the study of the story of Adam in Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts up to the end of the first millennium.''], Ergon Verlag<BR />The book is in German, though can be downloaded as an open access (free) ebook format via the link and it is easy to then use google document translation for each chapter.</ref> In this theory, the Quranic nutfah is not semen, but rather water that was mixed with dust to create the first man; alaqah is not clotted blood, but rather a lump of clay; and mudghah is not a bite sized lump of meat but rather the creation when it has become flesh. The theory requires that some of the relevant verses were edited or interpolated to reframe them in a pre-natal context, most notably {{Quran|23|14}}<ref>Ibid. pp. 162-66, 206-214</ref>. They also argue that hadiths relating to such verses merely reflect this reinterpretation and contemporary ideas. | |||
The authors identify occurances of the Syriac word nuṭptā (cognate to Arabic nutfah) in the works of early church fathers of the Syriac Church of the East, also known as the Assyrian Church. Ephraim the Syrian (d. 373) wrote: | |||
{{Quote|Eich & Doroftei, 2023. <i>Adam and Embryo. p. 95. </i>|"He is very foolish and blind; for he is also enclosed together with all - in the hollow hand of the Creator. A single grain of dust, - a single drop of water (nuṭptā), which formed together - became the human form through the mercy of the Creator."}} | |||
And similarly Babai the Great (c.551–628CE):<ref>Amar, J. P. ''Babai the Great (c.551–628).'' 2011. Wiley. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470670606.wbecc0106</nowiki></ref> | |||
{{Quote|Eich & Doroftei, 2023. <i>Adam and Embryo. p. 97.</i>|"And they do not understand the works of their Maker, which are formed like a drop of water (nuṭptā) and a grain of dust in the hollow of His incorporeal hand."}} | |||
Eich and Doroftei's theory has a number of strengths, perhaps most interestingly the two above quotes from Ephraim and Babai which use the Syriac cognate for nutfah in the context of the creation of the first man (they also quote a similar passage in the Syriac ''Cave of Treasures'', which likewise mentions the palm of God's hand in this context but with four elements - a grain of dust, drop of water, breath of wind and a little fire, explicitly to create Adam<ref>Ibid. footnote on p. 97</ref>). | |||
Their view that {{Quran|23|14}} was edited or interpolated is a common one among scholars for stylistic and rythmic reasons.<ref>Ibid. pp. 162-66</ref> Their interpretation provides a simple reason for the dust stage being mentioned in some verses before other stages. It works particularly well for {{Quran|18|37}} and {{Quran|35|11}},<ref>Ibid. pp. 147-151</ref> in the latter of which pairs/mates would refer to Adam and Eve rather than the birth of males and females (though others may note that the verse immediately then mentions normal pregnancy and childbirth, and comparisons with {{Quran-range|75|37|39}} and {{Quran-range|53|45|46}} may suggest that the conventional interpretation is stronger). Eich and Dorotei also observe that a number of verses which only mention nutfah can be interpreted as the creation of the first man rather than conception: {{Quran|16|4}}, {{Quran|36|77}}, and {{Quran-range|76|1|2}}, the first of which they note is surrounded by verses about the creation of the world.<ref>Ibid. pp. 170-181</ref> They cleverly offer a reinterpretation of {{Quran-range|80|17|23}} as the conception, life, death and resurrection of Adam. | |||
At the same time, various difficulties and problems may be observed in their theory. {{Quran-range|37|7|9}} provides context to verses that mention dust before other stages. It clarifies that the first man was created from dust, and his progeny from "liquid disdained" (a synonym for nutfah, as discussed in this article). The authors try to explain "disdained" here by appealing to an obscure and certainly metaphorical mid 7th century Syriac passage on baptismal theology which compares the race of Adam to water polluted by the devil. <ref>Ibid. p. 101, pp. 154-161</ref> As argued elsewhere in this article, another passage, {{Quran-range|77|20|22}} mentions liquid disdained placed in a firm lodging (similar to {{Quran|23|13}} which instead uses the word nutfah), and is easily understood as semen placed in the womb in line with Greek and Talmudic concepts. Eich and Dorotei interpret the "firm lodging" as a prominent fixed place and attempt a connection with the creation story, though their evidence may seem very thin here.<ref>Ibid. pp. 156-61</ref> Some may also find it hard to see how the disdained liquid being placed there for a known extent/determination in {{Quran|77|22}} sounds like the creation of Adam more than gestation in the womb. | |||
Eich and Doroftei's theory relies crucially on editorial processes and interpolations to explain verses that do not fit a first man interpretation. Like many scholars, they regard {{Quran|23|14}} as an interpolation. But in addition, {{Quran|75|37}} uses a noun and verb relating to seminal emission to remind man that he was a nutfah of semen emitted. They accept that this verse refers to semen, but suggest that an editorial insertion has occurred.<ref>Ibid. pp. 194-99</ref> Perhaps the greatest difficulty arises in {{Quran|22|5}} and {{Quran|40|67}}. The authors attempt to divide the part mentioning various stages from the part about pregnancy and childbirth in Q. 22:5, which they consider to be a revision and expansion of Q. 40:67 to add an element about the creation of the first man. They attempt to explain Q. 40:67 itself as a deliberate parallelism of prenatal development with the creation of primordial man.<ref>Ibid. pp. 199-206</ref> | |||
Another possible weakness is that the verses that mention dust and nutfah separate them chronologically with the word thumma ("then") but never say "dust and nutfah" (in their theory these two elements are combined to create Adam). Similarly, the theory is also perhaps somewhat challenged by the fact that many verses just mention creation of man from dust, and others just mention a nutfah (or liquid disdained as a synonym for nutfah), though {{Quran-range|25|53|54}} which says man was made from water after describing the world's creation could perhaps be offered in response to that point.<ref>Ibid. p. 152</ref> | |||
Eich and Doroftei present virtually no positive evidence that the nutfah and later stages were ever interpreted by early Muslims as descriptions of Adam's creation (nor would this be expected if they are correct that the Quran had already been edited to reframe the meaning to a pre-natal context). Nevertheless, even if they are correct that Q. 23:14 and some other verses were edited or interpolated to reframe the original context of nutfah, alaqah, and mudghah, the Quran as we have it ''today'' certainly uses these terms with a pre-natal meaning in at least some passages, reflecting the influence of pre-scientific contemporary beliefs which are also apparent to an even greater extent in hadiths, as demonstrated in this article. | |||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||