Embryology in the Quran: Difference between revisions

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====Hanging / Suspended====
====Hanging / Suspended====


Also flawed is a related claim, that 'alaqah is used here in its meaning of a suspended, or hanging thing, because the early embryo is attached via a connecting stalk to the uterine wall. The problem is that not all embryos hang downwards below their connecting stalk. Rather it depends where in the uterus implantation occurs. The uterus lies fairly horizontal at this time, so depending on the side of the uterus implantation occurs, the early embryo can also be above its stalk, as this diagram<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.babycenter.com/fetal-development-twins-images-4-weeks|2=2013-06-01}} Fraternal twins in the womb -- 4 weeks] -  BabyCenter Medical Advisory Board, June 1, 2013</ref> of twins at 4 weeks demonstrates :
Also flawed is a related claim, that 'alaqah is used here in its meaning of a suspended, or hanging thing, because the early embryo is floating in amniotic fluid, and is attached via a connecting stalk to the uterine wall in which it is buried. The problem is that not all embryos hang downwards below their connecting stalk. Rather it depends where in the uterus implantation occurs. The uterus lies fairly horizontal at this time, so depending on the side of the uterus implantation occurs, the early embryo can also be above its stalk, as this diagram<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.babycenter.com/fetal-development-twins-images-4-weeks|2=2013-06-01}} Fraternal twins in the womb -- 4 weeks] -  BabyCenter Medical Advisory Board, June 1, 2013</ref> of twins at 4 weeks demonstrates :


<center>[[File:Fraternal twins in womb-4 weeks.jpg]]</center>
<center>[[File:Fraternal twins in womb-4 weeks.jpg]]</center>
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====Leech====     
====Leech====     
      
      
Apologists who are fond of leech metaphors should consider that unlike a leech, which simply sucks blood from its host, the embryo circulates and exchanges blood and waste products with its mother.<ref>Barry Mitchell & Ram Sharma 2009. Embryology: An Illustrated Colour Text. Second Edition. Churchill Livingstone ElSevier. Page 10-11</ref> A leech has many characteristics such as size, behaviour, shape, color, appearance. Why would the author use 'alaqah intending such a metaphorical meaning when his listeners could not be expected to know in what respect the analogy applies? It is a typical Texan Sharpshooter fallacy<ref>{{cite web|quote= The Texas sharpshooter fallacy is an informal fallacy in which pieces of information that have no relationship to one another are called out for their similarities, and that similarity is used for claiming the existence of a pattern. This fallacy is the philosophical/rhetorical application of the multiple comparisons problem (in statistics) and apophenia (in cognitive psychology). It is related to the clustering illusion, which refers to the tendency in human cognition to interpret patterns where none actually exist. The name comes from a joke about a Texan who fires some shots at the side of a barn, then paints a target centered on the biggest cluster of hits and claims to be a sharpshooter.|url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_sharpshooter_fallacy|title= Texas sharpshooter fallacy|publisher= Wikipedia|author= |date= accessed August 13, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTexas_sharpshooter_fallacy&date=2013-08-13|deadurl=no}}</ref> of apologists to choose one characteristic - shape - then to an arbitrarily very limited degree find a similarity with an embryo, and draw any conclusions, particularly as the early embryo passes through a wide range of shapes and is itself a biological organism. Moreover, such apologetics have to conveniently ignore the embryo's yolk sac, which gradually becomes incorporated into its developing gut, when depicting the embryo.
Apologists who are fond of leech metaphors should consider that unlike a leech, which simply sucks blood from its host, the embryo circulates and exchanges blood and waste products with its mother.<ref>Barry Mitchell & Ram Sharma 2009. Embryology: An Illustrated Colour Text. Second Edition. Churchill Livingstone ElSevier. Page 10-11</ref> Furthermore, leeches attach themselves directly to their surface of their hosts. In contrast, the [[w:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blastocyst|blastocyst]] stage embryo implants into the uterine wall ([[w:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endometrium|endometrium]]) by means of an outer cell layer, called the [[w:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncytiotrophoblast|syncytiotrophoblast]]. It is the syncytiotrophoblast which invades the endometrium, burying the entire embryo within the wall (unlike a leech), establishes a circulatory connection, and will later form the outer layer of the [[w:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placenta#Development|placenta]].
 
A leech has many characteristics such as size, behaviour, shape, color, appearance. Why would the author use 'alaqah intending such a metaphorical meaning when his listeners could not be expected to know in what respect the analogy applies? It is a typical Texan Sharpshooter fallacy<ref>{{cite web|quote= The Texas sharpshooter fallacy is an informal fallacy in which pieces of information that have no relationship to one another are called out for their similarities, and that similarity is used for claiming the existence of a pattern. This fallacy is the philosophical/rhetorical application of the multiple comparisons problem (in statistics) and apophenia (in cognitive psychology). It is related to the clustering illusion, which refers to the tendency in human cognition to interpret patterns where none actually exist. The name comes from a joke about a Texan who fires some shots at the side of a barn, then paints a target centered on the biggest cluster of hits and claims to be a sharpshooter.|url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_sharpshooter_fallacy|title= Texas sharpshooter fallacy|publisher= Wikipedia|author= |date= accessed August 13, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTexas_sharpshooter_fallacy&date=2013-08-13|deadurl=no}}</ref> of apologists to choose one characteristic - shape - then to an arbitrarily very limited degree find a similarity with an embryo, and draw any conclusions, particularly as the early embryo passes through a wide range of shapes and is itself a biological organism. Moreover, such apologetics have to conveniently ignore the embryo's yolk sac, which gradually becomes incorporated into its developing gut, when depicting the embryo.


====Congealed Blood====
====Congealed Blood====
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* Those who are 46, XX intersex. The person has the chromosomes of a woman, the ovaries of a woman, but external (outside) genitals that appear male.
* Those who are 46, XX intersex. The person has the chromosomes of a woman, the ovaries of a woman, but external (outside) genitals that appear male.


* True Gonadal intersex. Such people have both male and female gonads (ovaries and testes), and may have ambiguous external genitalia.
* True Gonadal intersex (formerly called True Hermaphroditism). Such people have both male and female gonads (ovaries and testes), and may have ambiguous external genitalia.


* Other genetic configurations include XXX, and XXY (1 in 1000 people)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.isna.org/faq/frequency |title=How common is intersex? &#124; Intersex Society of North America |publisher=Isna.org |accessdate=10 October 2016}}</ref>. These people have no discrepancy between their gonads and external genitalia, but there may be problems with sex hormone levels, and overall sexual development.
* Other genetic configurations include XXX, and XXY (1 in 1000 people)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.isna.org/faq/frequency |title=How common is intersex? &#124; Intersex Society of North America |publisher=Isna.org |accessdate=10 October 2016}}</ref>. These people have no discrepancy between their gonads and external genitalia, but there may be problems with sex hormone levels, and overall sexual development.
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Others claim that verses 35:37 and 32:7-8 hint at sperm within the semen. These claims are debunked by means of very similar verses and other reasons at the end of the article [http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Greek_and_Jewish_Ideas_about_Reproduction_in_the_Quran_and_Hadith#Other_apologetic_claims Greek and Jewish Ideas about Reproduction in the Quran and Hadith]
Others claim that verses 35:37 and 32:7-8 hint at sperm within the semen. These claims are debunked by means of very similar verses and other reasons at the end of the article [http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Greek_and_Jewish_Ideas_about_Reproduction_in_the_Quran_and_Hadith#Other_apologetic_claims Greek and Jewish Ideas about Reproduction in the Quran and Hadith]


===Womb has Three Layers===
===Womb has Three Layers of darkness===
 
The word butun (بطن)<ref>بطن butun - [[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000257.pdf Lane's Lexicon] Volume 1, page 220</ref> means belly/abdomen/midriff, though some translators like to use the more specific word "womb". There are many more layers in the human body such as the endometrium, myometrium, perimetrium, peritoneum, besides the cervix uteri, corpus uteri, abdomen (with walls), and placenta (with layers). The idea of three membranes around the fetus ([[w:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorion|chorion]], [[w:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allantois|allantois]], and [[w:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnion|amnion]]) was taught by the highly influential Greek physician, Galen. It is likely that the Qur'anic author is simply repeating this idea, which applies only to the embryonic membranes.


The word butun (بطن)<ref>بطن butun - [[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000257.pdf Lane's Lexicon] Volume 1, page 220</ref> means belly/abdomen/midriff, though some translators like to use the more specific word "womb". There are many more layers in the human body such as the endometrium, myometrium, perimetrium, peritoneum, besides the cervix uteri, corpus uteri, abdomen (with walls), and placenta (with layers). The idea of three membranes around the fetus (chorion, allantois, and amnion) was taught by the highly influential Greek physician, Galen. It is likely that the Qur'anic author is simply repeating this erroneous idea.
The allantois is a sac-like structure which becomes part of the umbilical cord, hardly a 'veil of darkness'. The other two membranes, the chorion and amnion, together form the [[w:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amniotic_sac|amniotic sac]], which is quite thin and transparent.


{{Quote|{{Quran|39|6}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran|39|6}}|
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# The word 'alaqah probably means blood clot in the embryology verses, which corresponds to no actual embryological stage. Even if this was not the intended meaning, the foolishness of using a word with such an explicit biological meaning in a description of a biological process (embryology) means that the Qur'an can not be divine in origin.
# The word 'alaqah probably means blood clot in the embryology verses, which corresponds to no actual embryological stage. Even if this was not the intended meaning, the foolishness of using a word with such an explicit biological meaning in a description of a biological process (embryology) means that the Qur'an can not be divine in origin.
# The stages of bone formation then clothing with flesh is in error, even assuming that 'itham means both bone and cartilage.  
# The stages of bone formation then clothing with flesh is in error, even assuming that 'itham means both bone and cartilage.  
# The Qur'anic view of cell differentiation at the Mudgha stage is incorrect, as modern embryology has discovered cell differentiation occurring before and after the putative ‘Mudgha’ stage.  
# The apologetic claim of cell differentiation at the Mudgha stage is incorrect, as modern embryology has discovered cell differentiation occurring before and after the putative ‘Mudgha’ stage.  
# The claim that the Qur'an correctly predicted the beginning of the fetal stage is shown to be in error because the transition between the embryo and the fetus is arbitrary.  
# The claim that the Qur'an correctly predicted the beginning of the fetal stage is shown to be in error because the transition between the embryo and the fetus is arbitrary.  
# The claim that the Qur'an correctly states the least period of conception at 24 weeks is in error, as according to modern medical knowledge this period is closer to 21-22 weeks or even less with advanced medical science, and at least 30 weeks without modern medical assistance. Similarly, other apologetic claims regarding sperm, the womb, and gender determination are disproved by other verses and scientific knowledge.
# The claim that the Qur'an correctly states the least period of conception at 24 weeks is in error, as according to modern medical knowledge this period is closer to 21-22 weeks or even less with advanced medical science, and at least 30 weeks without modern medical assistance. Similarly, other apologetic claims regarding sperm, the womb, and gender determination are disproved by other verses and scientific knowledge.
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