|
Allah, the Almighty, says:
[What
is the matter with you, [that you fear not Allah (His
punishment), and] you hope not for reward (from Allah or
you believe not in His Oneness). While He has created
you in (different) stages.]
(Nuh: 13-14) |
|
The Scientific Fact:
In 1651, Harvey was the first person to study the embryo
of a hen using a simple lens. In addition, he studied
deer embryos. Due to the difficulty of following up the
early stages of pregnancy, he concluded that an embryo
is no more than some secretions of the womb. In 1672,
Graaf discovered what was later known as Graafian
follicles. He also observed the wombs of some pregnant
rabbits and came to the conclusion that an embryo is not
formed by secretions from the womb; rather, from the
ovary. The very tiny tissues observed earlier by Graaf
were no more than cavities in the blastocysts. In 1675,
Malpighi found embryos in the eggs of some hens. At
first he thought that the eggs were in no need of being
fertilized and that they contained a little organism
that grows without going through stages. Using a more
advanced microscope, Hamm and Leeuwenhoek discovered
human sperm, for the first time in history in 1677. Yet,
they failed to perceive its significant role in
conception. They even thought that a sperm contains a
tiny human being that grows in the womb without going
through any stages of development. In 1759, Wolff
suggested that an embryo develops from primitive
formations that do not have the form of a complete human
being. In 1775, all such arguments and disputations came
to an end, i.e. an embryo grows up through stages. The
experiments performed by Spallanzani on dogs confirmed
the importance of sperm in the process of impregnation.
Before that, there was only one idea that sperms are
strange beings. It is because of such a belief that
sperms were given the name of semen animals. One hundred
and fifty years after the discovery of sperms and
exactly in 1827, von Baer observed the ovum in the ovary
of a dog. In 1839, Schlieden and Schwann became sure
that a human being is formed from basic living units
that were given the name ‘cells’. Later on, the idea of
the creation of a human being from a cell that comes
into being as a result of the union of a sperm and an
ovum became easily understood. |
|
Facets of Scientific Inimitability:
This Qur’anic text shows that a human embryo does not
come all of a sudden without due development, as was
commonly believed since Aristotle until the 19th
century. The text also stresses the fact that a human
embryo goes through various stages of development,
something that applies to all people of all races and
generations.
The history of embryology shows that embryologists, in
the past, were unable to discern the creation of
embryos. The Ever-Glorious Qur'an declared this fact as
early as the seventh century. It tells us that a human
being goes through various stages of development and
that stands as a living evidence of the wisdom of Allah
and His Power. These stages apply to all people of all
races and generation and this proves His Oneness. |
