Semen Production in the Quran: Difference between revisions

{{QualityScore|Lead=3|Structure=4|Content=4|Language=4|References=3}}[[File:Hippocrates.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Qur'an 86:7 says that sperm originates from the backbones and the ribs, a theory similar to another (now known to be erroneous) theory proposed by Hippocrates in 5th century BC (1000 years before Islam). Hippocrates taught that semen comes from all the fluid in the body, diffusing from the brain into the spinal marrow, before passing through the kidneys and via the testicles into the penis.<ref>Hippocratic Writings (Penguin Classics, 1983) pp. 317-318</ref>]]Towards the end of the 20th century and into the early 21st century, drawing on the work of a broad and largely Saudi-financed movement to demonstrate the concordance of [[Islam and Science|Islamic scriptures and modern science]], attempts have been made to not only defend the '''[[Quran|Qur'anic]] idea of semen production''' (found in {{Quran-range|86|6|7}}) from between the ''sulb'' (literally "backbone") and the ''tara’ib'' (literally "ribs"), but also to demonstrate it as an instance of divinely inspired scientific foreknowledge, or, as more commonly referred to, a [[Scientific Miracles in the Quran|scientific miracle of the Quran]]. Several specific [[Tafsir|interpretations]] advocating the miracle have been proposed, critiqued, and withdrawn - none, however, have been welcomed by the professional scientific or historian community.<ref>Sam Shamoun has, for example, considered some of these ideas in the articles found [http://answering-islam.org/Quran/Science/semenproduction.htm here] and [http://www.answeringislam.info/Shamoun/wonders.htm here].</ref>

 

Many Islamic translations opt to translate the word ''sulb'' in {{Quran|86|7}} as 'loins', evoking the euphemistic sense of the word 'loins' which alludes to the reproductive organs of a male. This sense of the word 'loins' is secondary to its primary sense, which refers to the lumber portion of the back (hence the word ''sirloin'', which refers to '(a piece of) meat from the back of an animal near the tail or from the top part of the back legs').<ref>[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/loin "Loin", Cambridge Dictionary]</ref> Both senses of the word are accounted for in the Oxford English Dictionary.{{Quote|"Loin", Oxford English Dictionary|Loin, n.<br>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.<br>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:{{Quote|[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000436.pdf صلب Lane's Lexicon]|and any portion of the back containing vertebrae: (S, MSB, TA:) [and particularly '''the lumbar portion; the loins''':] and the back [absolutely]}}Lane also quotes an Arab saying that features ''sulb'', translating and explaining it as follows (''sperma'' is a Late Latin word meaning seed, or semen):{{Quote|[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000436.pdf صلب Lane's Lexicon]|''These are the sons of their loins:'' Because the sperma of the man is held to proceed from the sulb of the man}}

Abd-Allah extends Bucaille’s interpretation, providing dictionaries and tafsirs to support his case that ''sulb'' means ‘hardening’ and ''tara’ib'' means the sexual areas of the woman. Abd-Allah defines ''sulb'' as follows:{{Quote|{{citation|chapter=Blemish|url=https://www.answering-christianity.com/quran/blemish.htm|publisher=Answering Christianity|author=Ahmed A. Abd-Allah}}|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.}}Critics note that almost all the commonly available translations of the Qur'an refer to ''sulb'' as the backbone, though some refer to loins. Even classical authorities such as Ibn Kathir accept the meaning of the word as "backbone". Additionally, ''Hans Wehr'', a dictionary of modern standard rather than classical Arabic, is an unreliable source for determining the meanings of words in the Qur'an.

{{Quote|{{citation|title=Drop emitted between back bone & ribs|author=Zakir Naik|title=The Qur'an & Modern Science: Compatible or Incompatible?|url=https://sites.google.com/site/quransciences/embryology/drop-from-ribs|year=2012|publisher=Islamic Book Services/Peace Vision|ISBN=9789960984933}}|“Now let man but think From what he is created! He is created from A drop emitted – Proceeding from between The back bone and the ribs.” [Al-Qur’an Surah al-Burooj 86:5-7]

{{Quote|{{cite web|url= http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/wonders.htm|title= A Christian Response to Dr. Jamal Badawi's "Seven Wonders of The Quran"|publisher= Answering-Islam|author= Sam Shamoun|date= accessed February 9, 2014|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/6NG3qZLdv|deadurl=no}}|Badawi must assume that "gushing fluid poured forth" refers to the aorta which according to a book cited by him, Clinical Anatomy, supplies the testes and ovaries with the necessary nutrients and this is what the Quran refers to.<ref></ref>}}According to critics, Badawi’s proposition repeats the error found in Naik’s proposition regarding blood circulation.

This reading takes the meaning of the verse to say that the impetus or nervous command for ejaculation comes from between the backbone and the ribs. Critics argue that the verse itself, however, only mentions a "liquid flowing" and does not refer to its cause which, along this logic, could very well be traced back to the brain itself. Moreover, critics rebut, the ribs are above the seminal vesicles which are above the tip of the coccyx when a standing person's anatomy is viewed. 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 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> It is noted that, in addition to this, the role of the prostate glands (source of 25-30% of semen), testes (2-5%) and bulbourethral glands (up to 1%) is not considered in this analysis.

To the second of these ideas, critics argue that this is partly similar to the claim of ''tara'ib'' meaning uterus and that a baby has nothing to do with its mother's ribs. The idea here is that if one were to describe the emergence of a baby by referring to external organs, one would have said "between backbone and abdomen", rather than ribs. In all major translations, {{Quran|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"), and so it is only a fluid that is said to emerge.