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Semen Production in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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Semen Production in the Quran (view source)
Revision as of 19:49, 28 September 2016
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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'=== | ===A note on the English word 'loins'=== | ||
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He goes on to quote a phrase of the Arabs that features sulb, translating it and explaining as follows: | 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}} | {{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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{{Quote||The word tara’ib means breastbone, the ribs or the pelvic arch, and this word according to most authors refers specifically to women.}} | {{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 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. | 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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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. }} | 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 that ''tara'ib'' can be translated as [[w:pubic | 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=== | ===Yusuf Ali=== | ||