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Sources of Islamic Theories of Reproduction: Difference between revisions
Sources of Islamic Theories of Reproduction (view source)
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===Nu<U>t</U>fah نطفة=== | ===Nu<U>t</U>fah نطفة=== | ||
The word nu<U>t</U>fah is used 12 times in the Qur’an in the following verses, in each case saying much the same thing, that man is [[Creation|created]] from a nu<U>t</U>fah: | The word nu<U>t</U>fah is used 12 times in the Qur’an in the following verses, in each case saying much the same thing, that man is [[Creation|created]] from a nu<U>t</U>fah: {{Quran|16|4}}, {{Quran|18|37}}, {{Quran|22|5}}, {{Quran|23|13}}, {{Quran|23|14}}, {{Quran|35|11}}, {{Quran|36|77}}, {{Quran|40|67}}, {{Quran|53|46}}, {{Quran|75|37}}, {{Quran|76|2}}, {{Quran|80|19}}. | ||
A nu<U>t</U>fah is a small quantity of liquid. It was also used in reference to semen that was believed to form the embryo. Lane’s Lexicon of classical [[Arabic]] defines nu<U>t</U>fah as: | A nu<U>t</U>fah is a small quantity of liquid. It was also used in reference to semen that was believed to form the embryo. Lane’s Lexicon of classical [[Arabic]] defines nu<U>t</U>fah as: | ||
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===M<U>a</U>a ماء=== | ===M<U>a</U>a ماء=== | ||
Water. Sometimes used for semen (male or female). Used in this way in verses | Water. Sometimes used for semen (male or female). Used in this way in verses {{Quran|32|8}} and {{Quran|77|20}}, and {{Quran|86|6}}. | ||
===Maniyy مني=== | ===Maniyy مني=== | ||
Male or female semen. It is frequently used in hadith about ritual purity, especially narrations saying that [[Aisha]] used to clean semen off Muhammad’s clothes. It is used once in the Qur’an, verse | Male or female semen. It is frequently used in hadith about ritual purity, especially narrations saying that [[Aisha]] used to clean semen off Muhammad’s clothes. It is used once in the Qur’an, verse {{Quran|75|37}}. | ||
==Evidence of influence== | ==Evidence of influence== | ||
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===A mingled drop=== | ===A mingled drop=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran | {{Quote|{{Quran|76|2}}|Verily We created Man from a drop of mingled sperm [nutfatin amshajin], in order to try him: So We gave him (the gifts), of Hearing and Sight.}} | ||
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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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 verses 80:18-19. | 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 verses 80:18-19. | ||
{{Quote| | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|80|18|19}}|From what stuff [shay-in, which means “thing”] hath He created him? From a sperm-drop [nu<U>t</U>fatin]: He hath created him, and then mouldeth him in due proportions; }} | ||
Just as Galen taught about the mixed semens, this nu<U>t</U>fah is stored in the womb where it subsequently undergoes various stages of development. | Just as Galen taught about the mixed semens, this nu<U>t</U>fah is stored in the womb where it subsequently undergoes various stages of development. | ||
{{Quote|{{ | {{Quote|{{quran|23|13}}|Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm [nu<U>t</U>fatan] in a place of rest, firmly fixed;}} | ||
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 despised fluid” section later). | 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 despised fluid” section later). | ||
{{Quote| | {{Quote|{{quran-range|77|20|22}}|Have We not created you from a fluid (held) despicable [m<U>a</U>-in maheenin]? The which We placed in a place of rest, firmly fixed, For a period (of gestation), determined (according to need)?}} | ||
===Semen stage lasts 40 days=== | ===Semen stage lasts 40 days=== | ||
{{Quote| | {{Quote|{{Muslim|33|6395}}|Abu Tufail reported: I visited Abu Sariha Hudhaifa b. Usaid al-Ghifari who said: I listened with these two ears of mine Allahs Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The semen [nu<U>t</U>fata]<ref>For the Arabic see #2645: http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=1238&BookID=25&PID=4856</ref> stays in the womb for forty nights, then the angel, gives it a shape. Zubair said: I think that he said: One who fashions that and decides whether he would be male or female…}} | ||
{{Quote| | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|93|546}}|Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud: Allah’s Apostle the true and truly inspired, narrated to us, "The creation of everyone of you starts with the process of collecting the material for his body within forty days and forty nights in the womb of his mother. Then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period (40 days) and then he becomes like a piece of flesh for a similar period…}} | ||
See also | See also {{quran-range|23|12|14}} to see how the nu<U>t</U>fah and subsequent stages fit together. Now let us compare with the Talmud: | ||
{{Quote|Babylonian Talmud, Yebamoth 69b|For if she is not found pregnant she never was pregnant; and if she is found pregnant, the semen, until the fortieth day, is only a mere fluid.<ref>[http://halakhah.com/yebamoth/yebamoth_69.html#PARTb Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Yebamoth (Yebamoth 69b)] - Halakhah.com, accessed July 23, 2012</ref>}} | {{Quote|Babylonian Talmud, Yebamoth 69b|For if she is not found pregnant she never was pregnant; and if she is found pregnant, the semen, until the fortieth day, is only a mere fluid.<ref>[http://halakhah.com/yebamoth/yebamoth_69.html#PARTb Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Yebamoth (Yebamoth 69b)] - Halakhah.com, accessed July 23, 2012</ref>}} | ||
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===Gender determined after 40 days=== | ===Gender determined after 40 days=== | ||
{{Quote| | {{Quote|{{Muslim|33|6392}}|Hudhaifa b. Usaid reported directly from Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) that he said: When the drop of [nu<U>t</U>fati]<ref>For the Arabic see #2644: http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=1238&BookID=25&PID=4854</ref> (semen) remains in the womb for forty or fifty (days) or forty nights, the angel comes and says: My Lord, will he be good or evil? And both these things would be written. Then the angel says: My Lord, would he be male or female? And both these things are written…}} | ||
See also | See also {{Muslim|33|6395}} quoted above, for example. Once again, we see that this is an idea from the Talmud: | ||
{{Quote|Babylonian Talmud, Berakoth 60a|Within the first three days a man should pray that the seed should not putrefy; from the third to the fortieth day he should pray that the child should be a male;<ref name="Berakoth 60a">[http://halakhah.com/berakoth/berakoth_60.html Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Berakoth (Berakoth 60a)] - Halakhah.com, accessed July 23, 2012</ref>}} | {{Quote|Babylonian Talmud, Berakoth 60a|Within the first three days a man should pray that the seed should not putrefy; from the third to the fortieth day he should pray that the child should be a male;<ref name="Berakoth 60a">[http://halakhah.com/berakoth/berakoth_60.html Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Berakoth (Berakoth 60a)] - Halakhah.com, accessed July 23, 2012</ref>}} | ||
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===Resemblance of the child to its parents=== | ===Resemblance of the child to its parents=== | ||
{{Quote| | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|55|546}}|…As for the resemblance of the child to its parents: If a man has sexual intercourse with his wife and gets discharge first, the child will resemble the father, and if the woman gets discharge first, the child will resemble her…}} | ||
A similar idea is found in the Talmud: | A similar idea is found in the Talmud: | ||
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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,<ref>For the Arabic see #1438: http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=635&BookID=25&PID=2677</ref> which as mentioned above, means water/fluid and is a euphemism for semen. This is also apparent in another translation of the 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,<ref>For the Arabic see #1438: http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=635&BookID=25&PID=2677</ref> which as mentioned above, means water/fluid and is a euphemism for semen. This is also apparent in another translation of the same hadith: | ||
{{Quote| | {{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3381}}|Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) was asked about ‘azl, whereupon he said: The child does not come from all the liquid (semen) and when Allah intends to create anything nothing can prevent it (from coming into existence).}} | ||
A somewhat similar idea is found in the Talmud: | A somewhat similar idea is found in the Talmud: | ||
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While on the subject of ‘azl, and another practice, ghila, which is a man having intercourse with his wife while she is suckling, we see that Muhammad openly admits to his knowledge of and interest in the reproductive practices of the Byzantines (“Romans”) and Sassanids (“Persians”): | While on the subject of ‘azl, and another practice, ghila, which is a man having intercourse with his wife while she is suckling, we see that Muhammad openly admits to his knowledge of and interest in the reproductive practices of the Byzantines (“Romans”) and Sassanids (“Persians”): | ||
{{Quote| | {{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3394}}|Sa’d b. Abu Waqqas (Allah be pleased with him) reported that a person came to Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) and said: I do ‘azi [‘azil]<ref>For the Arabic see #1443: http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=657&BookID=25&PID=2686</ref> with my wife. Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Why do you do that? The person said: I fear harm to her child or her children. Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (way peace be upon him) said: If that were harmful it would harm the '''Persians and Romans'''.}} | ||
{{Quote| | {{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3392}}|Judama daughter of Wahb, sister of Ukkasha (Allah be pleased with her). reported: I went to Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) along with some persons and he was saying: I intended to prohibit cohabitation with the suckling women, but I considered the '''Greeks ["Romans" in the Arabic] and Persians''', and saw that they suckle their children and this thing (cohabitation) does not do any harm to them (to the suckling women). Then they asked him about ‘azl, whereupon he said. That is the secret (way of) burying alive, and Ubaidullah has made this addition in the hadith transmitted by al-Muqri and that is:" When the one buried alive is asked."}} | ||
Of the two centers of Galenic study mentioned above, Syria was under the Sassinid empire and Egypt was under both the Sassinids and Byzantines at different times during Muhammad’s career. Muhammad did not live in a bubble. These hadith suggest that Muhammad would have had access to and had interest in the practices and ideas regarding sexual matters and reproduction transmitted by these other cultures. | Of the two centers of Galenic study mentioned above, Syria was under the Sassinid empire and Egypt was under both the Sassinids and Byzantines at different times during Muhammad’s career. Muhammad did not live in a bubble. These hadith suggest that Muhammad would have had access to and had interest in the practices and ideas regarding sexual matters and reproduction transmitted by these other cultures. | ||
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Here, blood refers to the mother’s blood, some fine and some thick, which Galen believed is drawn via the uterus and membrane into the combined male and female semens after they have mixed in her womb.<ref>Philip De Lacy (editor and translator). “Galen: On Semen (Corpus Medicorum Graecorum 5.3.1.)”, pp.87-91, Berlin: Akademie. Verlag, 1992</ref> That Galen and the Talmud say the fleshy parts are formed from the woman’s blood rather than her semen barely detracts from the other striking similarities with the hadith. | Here, blood refers to the mother’s blood, some fine and some thick, which Galen believed is drawn via the uterus and membrane into the combined male and female semens after they have mixed in her womb.<ref>Philip De Lacy (editor and translator). “Galen: On Semen (Corpus Medicorum Graecorum 5.3.1.)”, pp.87-91, Berlin: Akademie. Verlag, 1992</ref> That Galen and the Talmud say the fleshy parts are formed from the woman’s blood rather than her semen barely detracts from the other striking similarities with the hadith. | ||
Another reason that apologists should best avoid this hadith is that modern Islamic scholars classify it as having | Another reason that apologists should best avoid this hadith is that modern Islamic scholars classify it as having weak authenticity. {{Muslim|3|614}} is a similar hadith, which instead of mentioning nutfah and saying what is formed from each semen, gives the resemblance theory mentioned above after saying that the man’s water (m<U>a</U>a) is white and the woman’s water (m<U>a</U>a) is yellow. {{Muslim|3|608}} is a version of the hadith we look at next, but adds that the man’s water is thick and white and the woman’s water is thin and yellow. | ||
==="Then why does a child resemble (its mother)?"=== | ==="Then why does a child resemble (its mother)?"=== | ||
{{Quote| | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|55|545}}|Narrated Abu Salama: Um Salama said, "Um Salaim said, ‘O Allah’s Apostle! Allah does not refrain from saying the truth! Is it obligatory for a woman to take a bath after she gets nocturnal discharge [ahtalam - have wet-dream]?’ He said, ‘Yes, if she notices the water [m<U>a</U>a](i.e. discharge).’ Um Salama smiled and said, ‘Does a woman get discharge? [ahtalam]‘ Allah’s Apostle said. ‘Then why does a child resemble (its mother)?}} | ||
This, again, is Galen’s idea about “female semen”. Even Muhammad’s reasoning in the hadith is clearly the same as Galen’s, whose main thesis in the 2<sup>nd</sup> part of 'On Semen' is that a generative female semen exists and causes resemblance to the mother. Like Muhammad in this hadith, Galen explicitly uses fluid emitted during nocturnal orgasm as evidence for the existence of a female semen that causes resemblance: | This, again, is Galen’s idea about “female semen”. Even Muhammad’s reasoning in the hadith is clearly the same as Galen’s, whose main thesis in the 2<sup>nd</sup> part of 'On Semen' is that a generative female semen exists and causes resemblance to the mother. Like Muhammad in this hadith, Galen explicitly uses fluid emitted during nocturnal orgasm as evidence for the existence of a female semen that causes resemblance: | ||