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Semen Production in the Quran (view source)
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==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
Human semen comprises the product of 4 glands: the testes produce sperm cells, while the fluid in which they are carried comes from seminal vesicles (behind the bladder), the prostate gland (below the bladder), and from the bulbourethral glands (below the bladder). | |||
Many individuals have attempted to defend the Qur'anic idea of semen production from between the ''sulb'' and the ''tara’ib''. This has led to several distinct classes of explanations provided by them. There are already articles available that [[Refutations|refute]] these assertions.<ref>For example, those of Sam Shamoun's found [http://answering-islam.org/Quran/Science/semenproduction.htm here] and [http://www.answeringislam.info/Shamoun/wonders.htm here].</ref> However, this article aims to summarize the case against the various claims, so that a comprehensive review can be made of the issue. | |||
{{Quote|{{ | ===Surah 86:6-7=== | ||
''' | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|86|6}}| | |||
'''Pickthal:''' He is created from a gushing fluid}} | |||
Arabic: خُلِقَ مِن مَّآءٍ دَافِقٍ | |||
Transliteration: Khuliqa min main dafiqin | |||
Literal: He is created from a water gushing out | |||
' | Maa' (water) was a common Arab euphemism for semen. | ||
{{Quote|{{Qtt|86|7}}| | |||
'''Yusuf Ali:''' ''proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs.'' | '''Yusuf Ali:''' ''proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs.'' | ||
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'''Free Minds:''' ''it comes out from between the spine and the testicles.''}} | '''Free Minds:''' ''it comes out from between the spine and the testicles.''}} | ||
Arabic: يخرج من بين الصلب والترائب | |||
Transliteration: ''Yakhruju min bayni alssulbi waalttara-ibi'' | |||
Literal: It emerges/appears from between the spine and the rib bones.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://iknowledge.islamicnature.com/quran/surah/86/lang/englishliteral/|2=2011-11-15}} 86. At-Tariq - The Morning Star (سورة الطارق) - Revealed in Makkah (English: Literal)] - IslamicNature, accessed November 15, 2011</ref> | |||
===A note on the English word 'loins'=== | |||
Islamic websites sometimes will show you the word loins in certain English translations and want you to understand it in the modern euphemistic sense as the reproductive areas of a man. But this meaning is secondary to its primary meaning which is the lumbar portion of the back, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary: | |||
{{Quote|| | |||
Loin, n. | |||
1. | |||
a. In the living body. Chiefly pl. The part or parts of a human being or quadruped, situated on both sides of the vertebral column, between the false ribs and the hip-bone.}} | |||
It's secondary, euphemistic meaning in the O.E.D. is defined as follows: | |||
{{Quote|| | |||
2. Chiefly Biblical and poet. This part of the body, regarded: | |||
a. as the part of the body that should be covered with clothing and about which the clothes are bound; so, to gird (up) the loins (lit. and fig.), to prepare for strenuous exertion.}} | |||
The Lane's Lexicon of classical Arabic definition for sulb includes the following:<ref>sulb - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000436.pdf Lane's Lexicon Book I page 1712]</ref> | |||
{{Quote||and any portion of the back containing vertebrae: (S, MSB, TA:) [and particularly '''the lumbar portion; the loins''':] and the back [absolutely]}} | |||
He goes on to quote a phrase of the Arabs that features sulb, translating it and explaining as follows: | |||
{{Quote||''These are the sons of their loins:'' Because the sperma of the man is held to proceed from the sulb of the man}} | |||
(Sperma is a Late Latin word meaning seed, semen). | |||
===Supporting evidence in other verses and hadith=== | |||
Independant corroboration that sulb in the Qur'an refers to the back or backbone is found in another verse on the same subject using a different word for back. Verse 7:172 says that the offspring of the children of Adam are from their backs (loins). Instead of sulb, the word here is thahr, which means the back<ref>thahr - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000212.pdf Lane's Lexicon Book I page 197]</ref>, as is clearly the case in other verses such as {{Quran|6|31}}. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|172}}|When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants...}} | |||
Arabic: مِنۢ بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ | |||
Transliteration: min banee adama min thuhoorihim thurriyyatahum | |||
Literal: from the children of Adam, from their backs their offspring | |||
One other verse in the Qur'an uses the word sulb. In this case there is no mention of tara'ib. It is an example of the simple Arabic phrase mentioned in Lane's Lexicon (see above), based on the belief that the seed of men proceed from their backs. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|4|23}}|Forbidden unto you are your mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters [...] and the wives of your sons who (spring) from your own loins}} | |||
And slightly more explicitly, a hadith in Sahih Bukhari (also in {{Muslim|39|6733}}) uses sulb to say that the source of Adam's future progeny was in his back before they were even conceived. | |||
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|8|76|562}}|The Prophet (pbuh) said, "Allah will say to the person who will have the minimum punishment in the Fire on the Day of Resurrection, 'If you had things equal to whatever is on the earth, would you ransom yourself (from the punishment) with it?' He will reply, Yes. Allah will say, 'I asked you a much easier thing than this while you were in the backbone of Adam, that is, not to worship others besides Me, but you refused and insisted to worship others besides Me."'}} | |||
===Apologetic Claims=== | ===Apologetic Claims=== | ||
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The most prominent explanations are as follows: | The most prominent explanations are as follows: | ||
#Drs Maurice Bucaille and A.K. Giraud: Sulb and tara’ib refer to the sexual areas of the man and woman. | #Drs. Maurice Bucaille and A.K. Giraud: Sulb and tara’ib refer to the sexual areas of the man and woman. | ||
#Ahmed A. Abd-Allah: Accepts and extends Bucaille’s assumption, and claims that all the acknowledged translations and tafsirs are in error, as ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' does not refer to a man’s backbone and ribs, but to the man’s “hardening” (i.e. penis) and a woman’s erogenous zones (not including the vagina). | #Ahmed A. Abd-Allah: Accepts and extends Bucaille’s assumption, and claims that all the acknowledged translations and tafsirs are in error, as ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' does not refer to a man’s backbone and ribs, but to the man’s “hardening” (i.e. penis) and a woman’s erogenous zones (not including the vagina). | ||
#Dr Zakir Naik: Sulb and tara’ib refers to the backbone and ribs of both sexes, however the verses refer only to the gonads in the embryonic stage, and not to adults in the act of sexual reproduction. | #Dr. Zakir Naik: Sulb and tara’ib refers to the backbone and ribs of both sexes, however the verses refer only to the gonads in the embryonic stage, and not to adults in the act of sexual reproduction. | ||
#Dr Jamal Badawi: The verses refer not to semen production but to the blood of the aorta as the ‘gushing fluid poured forth’. | #Dr. Jamal Badawi: The verses refer not to semen production but to the blood of the aorta as the ‘gushing fluid poured forth’. | ||
#Tafsir Ibn Kathir: ''Sulb'' refers to the man’s backbone, and ''tara’ib'' refers to the woman’s chest. | #Tafsir Ibn Kathir: ''Sulb'' refers to the man’s backbone, and ''tara’ib'' refers to the woman’s chest. | ||
##Tafsir al-Jalalayn - issuing from between the loins, of the man, and the breast-bones, of the woman. | ##Tafsir al-Jalalayn - issuing from between the loins, of the man, and the breast-bones, of the woman. | ||
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#Muhammad Asad: ''Sulb'' refers to the man’s loins and ''tara’ib'' refers to the woman’s pelvic arch. | #Muhammad Asad: ''Sulb'' refers to the man’s loins and ''tara’ib'' refers to the woman’s pelvic arch. | ||
#Moiz Amjad makes three claims; a) ''Sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' refers to the blood supply of the testes emanating from between the man’s back and ribs, b) The embryonic gonads originate in the area as per Dr Zakir Naik, and c) The ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' region is a euphemism for the male sexual organ. | #Moiz Amjad makes three claims; a) ''Sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' refers to the blood supply of the testes emanating from between the man’s back and ribs, b) The embryonic gonads originate in the area as per Dr Zakir Naik, and c) The ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' region is a euphemism for the male sexual organ. | ||
#Yusuf Ali: Backbone is a symbol of man's strength. Man's seed is a metaphor which flows between the backbone and the ribs. | |||
==Analysis== | ==Analysis== | ||
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{{Quote||Note that 'sulb' is *singular*. In the dictionary by Wehr you cite below, you will see that its meaning of backbone is *only* when we take the *plural* word of sulb (aslaab). In its singular form, it means hardening.}} | {{Quote||Note that 'sulb' is *singular*. In the dictionary by Wehr you cite below, you will see that its meaning of backbone is *only* when we take the *plural* word of sulb (aslaab). In its singular form, it means hardening.}} | ||
Almost all the commonly available translations of the Qur'an refer to ''sulb'' as the backbone, though some refer to loins. Even Ibn Kathir accepts backbone. Is Wehr a more authoritative and knowledgeable authority on the Arabic language than Ibn Kathir? This is difficult to believe. | Almost all the commonly available translations of the Qur'an refer to ''sulb'' as the backbone, though some refer to loins. Even Ibn Kathir accepts backbone. Wehr is a dictionary of modern Arabic. Is Wehr a more authoritative and knowledgeable authority on the Arabic language than Ibn Kathir? This is difficult to believe. | ||
Regardless, Abd-Allah’s proposition is undercut by his own definitions of ''tara’ib''. He failed to show that his tafsirs and dictionaries explain ''tara’ib'' to mean vagina. | Regardless, Abd-Allah’s proposition is undercut by his own definitions of ''tara’ib''. He failed to show that his tafsirs and dictionaries explain ''tara’ib'' to mean vagina. In fact, ''tara’ib'' is defined as the upper chest or ribs, or according to some sources can also mean the two legs, two arms or two eyes<ref name="Lane Lexicon taraib">tara'ib - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000338.pdf Lane's Lexicon Book 1 page 301]</ref>. While erogenous zones are important in foreplay, the sexual act really must be consummated through the vagina. | ||
Abd-Allah’s reference to Ibn Kathir’s tafsir is also disingenuous, as he only mentions the one half of the description which supports his case (i.e. ''tara’ib'' refers to the woman), while leaving out the other half that contradicts it (i.e. ''tara’ib'' is the woman’s ribs). | Abd-Allah’s reference to Ibn Kathir’s tafsir is also disingenuous, as he only mentions the one half of the description which supports his case (i.e. ''tara’ib'' refers to the woman), while leaving out the other half that contradicts it (i.e. ''tara’ib'' is the woman’s ribs). | ||
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(7) issuing from between the loins [of man] and the pelvic arch [of woman]. | (7) issuing from between the loins [of man] and the pelvic arch [of woman]. | ||
<nowiki>*</nowiki> The plural noun tara'ib, rendered by me as "pelvic arch", has also the meaning of "ribs" or "arch of bones"; according to most of the authorities who have specialized in the etymology of rare Quranic expressions this term relates specifically to female anatomy (Taj al-'Arus).}} | <nowiki>*</nowiki> The plural noun tara'ib, ''''rendered by me''' as "pelvic arch", has also the meaning of "ribs" or "arch of bones"; according to most of the authorities who have specialized in the etymology of rare Quranic expressions this term relates specifically to female anatomy (Taj al-'Arus).}} | ||
Asad's own invented definition of ''tara’ib'' is not that it means the pelvis, but the pelvic arch which is a specific part of the pelvis. Even if this and Asad’s definition of ''sulb'' as the male loins (in the modern sense of the word loins, rather than its old and primary meaning of the lower back) is accepted, it is a stretch to accept that sexual reproduction is the consequence of a union between the male loins and the female pelvic arch. Moreover 'pelvic arch' is merely his own speculative definition of tara'ib (he says, "rendered by me") and he doesn't even give any evidence that tara'ib can mean 'arch of bones'. Its actual meaning is the upper ribs<ref name="Lane Lexicon taraib"></ref>. | |||
====Hamza Tzortzis==== | |||
{{Quote||The word tara’ib means breastbone, the ribs or the pelvic arch, and this word according to most authors refers specifically to women.}} | |||
Hamza Tzortzis has an article on his website in which he has misunderstood what Muhammad Asad said, implying that the pelvic arch definition comes from Taj al-Arus, which he cites directly for this claim along with Asad. Hamza has made a mistake, and is even aware of this fact (having ignored private messages pointing this out, and having withdrawn a lengthy paper with the same claim after it was comprehensively debunked<ref>[http://embryologyinthequran.blogspot.com Embryology in the Qur'an Much Ado about Nothing]</ref>). As pointed out above, pelvic arch is merely Asad's own definiton of the word. | |||
===Moiz Amjad=== | ===Moiz Amjad=== | ||
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3. The ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' region is an euphemism for the male sexual organ. | 3. The ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' region is an euphemism for the male sexual organ. | ||
Amjad attempts to show this by drawing lines on pictures of a human skeleton. However, any line can enclose any human organ if that line is drawn on the surface of the body. | |||
Similarly, arguments claiming that the ''sulb'' and ''tara’ib'' is a euphemism for both the male and female sexual organs make little sense. There are better euphemisms for sexual organs than two other unrelated human organs, since sperm never flows between seperate organs; wherever it is, it always flows inside a single organ. | |||
===Tahir Ul-Qadri=== | |||
Tahir Ul-Qadri makes the following claim: | |||
{{Quote|{{cite web|url=http://minhajbook.kortechx.netdna-cdn.com/images-books/creation-man/creation-man_1.pdf |title=Creation of Man: A Review of the Qur'an & Modern Embryology |publisher=Minhaj-ul-Qur'an |author= |date= |archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}|{{Quote||"So let man think from what he is created. He | |||
is created from a gushing fluid that is issued | |||
from between sacrum and symphisis pubis (86:5-7)"}} | |||
Arabic words like many other languages often carry more than one meaning of a single word. For instance the Arabic word ‘salat’ has 60 meanings. ... Moreover the seminal passages do indeed lie between the sacrum referred to as sulb in the Qurā’nic verse and the symphisis pubis referred to as tarā’ib. }} | |||
There is no evidence whatsoever that ''tara'ib'' can be translated as [[w:pubic symphysis|pubic symphysis]] (see the Muhammad Asad section above). Even if Qadri's claim of a single word having a large number of meanings were true and applicable in this case, ''tara'ib'' would have meant many organs other than the pubic symphisis. Those organs would have no relationship with the place where semen flows. It is a typical [[w:Texas sharpshooter fallacy|Texas sharpshooter fallacy]] to focus only on the similarities between two sets of information and draw a conclusion while ignoring the differences. Qadri also ignores the testicles which produce the essential sperms. They are not situated in the zone he mentioned but below the symphisis.<ref>See images here [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray1156.png] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray1136.png] []</ref> | |||
===Yusuf Ali=== | |||
{{Quote||A man's seed is the quintessence of his body. It is therefore said metaphorically to proceed from his loins, i.e., from his back between the hipbones and his ribs. His backbone is the source and symbol of his strength and personality. In his spinal cord and in the brain is the directive energy of the central nervous system, and this directs all action, organic and psychic. The spinal cord is continuous with the Medulla Oblongata in the brain.<ref>{{cite book |last= Yusuf Ali|first= Abdullah|date= |title= The Meaning of the Glorious Quran|url= |page=446|location= |publisher= |isbn= |accessdate= }} </ref>}} | |||
*Firstly, Yusuf Ali does not explain what he means by seed: Sperm, semen, ovum or zygote. This should have been clarified because the verse is generally taken to be referring to a male fluid but a human is not created without the female ovum. If "seed" refers to one sex, it is biased and incorrect; but if it refers to both sexes, the interpretation of backbone and ribs must be valid for both. | |||
*If the backbone is so crucial for man to exist, it is hard to comprehend why the similarly crucial seed (or drop) would ''flow'' near the backbone instead of both being the same thing metaphorically. A man's backbone can often be symbolic but in no way is it related to his offspring. | |||
*There is no reason for even mentioning medulla oblongata here. | |||
===Miscellaneous Claims=== | |||
{{Quote||The functioning of two spinal cord centers located between vertebrae and ribs connecting spinal cord and sex organs, and of the nerves controlling valves around urethra, causes ejaculation.}} | |||
This claim is erroneous since it twists the meaning of the verse to say that the force for ejaculation comes from between the backbone and the ribs. The actual verse mentions a "liquid flowing" and not its cause. | |||
{{Quote||A line drawn from the tip of the coccyx to the upper portion of either seminal vesicle and extended forward touches the ribcage. The seminal vesicles from which the semen spurts out, lie between the ribs and the coccyx (lower back, loin, backbone).}} | |||
The ribs are above the seminal vesicles which are above the tip of the coccyx when a standing person's anatomy is viewed. Since only the top of the seminal vesicles falls between the bottom of the coccyx and the bottom of the rib-cage on the above mentioned line, the vesicle is not really between the loins and ribs.<ref>For a visual reference, see [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/hs/pubhealth/modules/reproductiveHealth/images/maleReproAnat.jpg<!-- http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.columbia.edu%2Fitc%2Fhs%2Fpubhealth%2Fmodules%2FreproductiveHealth%2Fimages%2FmaleReproAnat.jpg&date=2014-03-22 --> this] medical diagram. Taken from: {{cite web|url= http://www.columbia.edu/itc/hs/pubhealth/modules/reproductiveHealth/anatomy.html|title= Reproductive Health Module (SECTION I: Reproductive Anatomy and Physiology)|publisher= Columbia University: Mailman School of Public Health|author= |date= accessed March 22, 2014|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.columbia.edu%2Fitc%2Fhs%2Fpubhealth%2Fmodules%2FreproductiveHealth%2Fanatomy.html&date=2014-03-22|deadurl=no}} </ref> This argument also ignores the prostate glands (source of 25-30% of semen), testes (2-5%) and bulbourethral glands (up to 1%). | |||
{{Quote||The word tara’ib refers to the woman’s uterus, since the rib cage surrounds it during pregnancy.}} | |||
Though the ribcage is roughly cylindrical, the uterus is never inside it. Further, the embryo is already "created" much before pregnancy since the verse refers to fertilisation. The liquid being discussed here never flows anywhere close to a woman's ribs. | |||
{{Quote||The verse refers to humans emerging from between the backbone and ribs, so it is about a baby and not sperm.}} | |||
This is partly similar to the claim of tara'ib meaning uterus; a baby has nothing to do with its mother's ribs. If one were to describe the emergence of a baby by referring to external organs, one would have better said "between backbone and abdomen", not ribs. In all major translations, verse 86:7 (Coming from between the backbone and the ribs) is an incomplete sentence which continues from 86:6 ("He is created from a gushing fluid"), hence it is only a fluid that is said to emerge. | |||
{{Quote||The germ cells which later become sperms are formed near the backbone.}} | |||
This is not true. The entire process of spermatogenesis from a spermatogonium to a sperm occurs in various regions of the testicles.<ref>[http://www.embryology.ch/anglais/cgametogen/spermato02.html Spermatogenesis]</ref> | |||
==Conclusion== | ==Conclusion== | ||