In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
MAN IS CREATED FROM ALAQ -
A LEECH-LIKE SUBSTANCE
A few years ago a group of Arabs collected all information concerning embryology from the Qur'an
and followed the instruction of the Qur'an :
All the information from the Qur’an so gathered, after being translated into English and presented to Prof. (Dr.) Keith Moore, Professor of Embryology and Chairman of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Toronto, in Canada. At present he is one of the highest authorities in the field of Embryology.
He was asked to give his opinion regarding the information presented in the Qur'an concerning the field of embryology. After carefully examining the translation of Qur'anic verses presented to him, Dr. Moore said that most of the information concerning embryology mentioned in the Qur’an is in perfect conformity with modern discoveries in the field of embryology and does not conflict with them in any way.
He added that there were a few verses however, on whose scientific accuracy he could not comment. He could not say whether the statements were true or false, since he was himself unaware of the information contained therein. There was also no mention of this information in modern writings and studies on embryology.
One such verse is:
The Arabic word alaq, besides meaning a congealed clot of blood, also means something that clings, a leech-like substance.
Dr. Keith Moore had no knowledge whether an embryo in the initial stages appears like a leech. To check this out he studied the initial stage of the embryo under a very powerful microscope in his laboratory and compared what he observed with the diagram of a leech. He was astonished at the striking resemblance between the two!
In the same manner, he acquired more information on embryology, that was hitherto not known to him, from the Qur’an.
Dr. Keith Moore answered about eighty questions dealing with embryological data mentioned in the Qur’an and Hadith. Noting that the information contained in the Qur’an and Hadith was in full agreement with the latest discoveries in the field of embryology, Prof. Moore said, "If I was asked these questions thirty years ago, I would not have been able to answer half of them for lack of scientific information".
In 1981, during the Seventh Medical Conference in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Dr. Moore said, "It has been a great pleasure for me to help clarify statements in the Qur’an about human development. It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God or Allah, because almost all of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later. This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a messenger of God or Allah".
Dr. Joe Leigh Simpson, Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, U.S.A., proclaims: "...these Hadiths, sayings of Muhammad (pbuh), could not have been obtained on the basis of the scientific knowledge that was available at the time of the writer (7th century).
It follows that not only is there no conflict between genetics and religion ( Islam) but in fact religion (Islam) may guide science by adding revelation to some of the traditional scientific approaches . . . there exist statements in the Qur’an shown centuries later to be valid which support knowledge in the Qur’an having been derived from God."
1. The reference for this statement is the video tape titled ‘This is the Truth’. For a copy of this video tape contact the Islamic Research Foundation.
