The Scientific Miracle in Sunnah

 

Preface

 

The scientific Miracle of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is manifested through the information presented by the Holy Qur’an concerning a fact that has been confirmed by experimental science but could not have been perceived through the human instruments available at the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and through the Prophetic Sunnah (i.e. his sayings other than the Qur’an and his deeds and approval of the Companions’ deeds) for it was Divine revelation from Allah (SWT) to His Prophet (peace be upon him). Allah (SWT) says: “Nor does he speak of  (his own) desire. It is only a revelation revealed.” (LIII: 3-4)

 

The miraculous information the hadiths of the Prophet (peace be upon him) carry testifies to the truthfulness of the Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) concerning what he conveyed from his Lord (He be glorified). It also confirms the preciseness of transmitting the hadith from the Prophet (peace be upon him). Therefore, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “None of the Prophets but was given such signs as would cause humans to believe, but what I have been given is a revelation revealed to me by Allah. Therefore, I hope I will have the most followers amongst them on the Day of Resurrection.”[1]

 

Truly it will remain a renewed miracle till the Day of resurrection, as Allah (SWT) says: “And you shall certainly know the truth of it after a while.” (XXXVIII: 88)

 

The facts about the earth mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah are manifested during the age of discoveries, and the information and descriptions given in the Qur’an and Sunnah represent the Divine information about what occurs on earth and in the heavens. The Qur’an is also full of information about the Universe and the mysteries of creation, and so is the Sunnah that interprets the Qur’an and gives details, as Allah (SWT) says: “…and We have also sent down unto you the Dhikr (i.e., the Qur’an), that you might explain clearly to men what is sent down to them, and that they may give thought.” (XVI: 44) Therefore, the Sunnah testifies to the truthfulness of our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the truthfulness of what he came with.

 

As the brilliance of the Divine Revelation in the Qur’an is exposed through disclosing the hidden mysteries in the horizons of the earth and the heaven and in the human self, we find similar miracles revealed in the hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him), or in part of a hadith with challenging scientific precision and a brilliance expression. Let us now look into one of these miracles:  

 

 10) The Miracle of Describing the Embryo after the Forty-second Night

 

The embryo in its mother’s womb is surrounded by the darkness of three walls: the abdominal wall, the uterine wall and the placenta with its chorionic-amniotic membranes. The embryo is hidden from the sight of people in these walls and veils of darkness. Man attempted to find out the secrets of creating the fetus but the result was just misconceptions and illusions.

 

People mistakenly thought that the embryo was created from the blood of menstruation. This misconception—which Aristotle imagined—prevailed among people for two thousand years. Professor Keith L. Moore[2] says: “Many embryologists regard Aristotle as ‘the Founder of Embryology’, despite the fact that he promoted the idea that the embryo developed from a formless mass that resulted from the union of semen with menstrual blood.”

 

In a study presented in several international conferences, Professor G.S. Goringer describes the illusion imagined by Aristotle, saying: “This illusion was not removed except after (Hamm) and (Leeuwenhoek) had declared their discovery of the human sperm in 1701”[3]

 

Researchers mistakenly thought that man was created in his full shape from the beginning of its creation, for all that people see on observing all living beings is the increase of the small living being in size. The Scholars of Europe demonstrated this notion at the beginning of the Renaissance by publishing a figure circa 1672 AD. Professor G. S. Goringer commenting on that said: “At about the same time (i.e. 1672 AD) another group of drawings were published to show the creation of the human fetus (figure below). They

all represent the same picture but in various sizes, (and the publishers and referees of the Royal Society of Philosophy did not refer to this at that time), for they had believed till then that the creation of man was nothing but an increase in the size of one form whose dimensions expanded throughout the term of pregnancy, due to the dominance of the idea of preformation of man from the first stage on the minds of scholars.”[4]

 

Theodore Kerckring's drawings of the "little man inside the egg" - whom nobody ever called a "homunculus". An old drawing to illustrate

the    preformation     theory (Permission from Neddam 1959)

 

 Even after the invention of the microscope, the illusion of the preformation of man from the beginning of his creation went on dominating the minds of the scholars of the European Renaissance. Goringer and others[5] say: “The drawing of the sperm that Hartsoeker presented in 1694 AD, a short while after the invention of the microscope, indicates that the microscope was not then able to show the details of the structure of the spermatozoon; therefore, the image was completed from the imagination of scholars. Once again they expressed the idea prevalent among them (i.e. that man was fully formed inside the spermatozoon in the form of a pigmy).[6] They added another illusion: namely, that man was created from the male’s sperm, and that the woman had no role in the creation of the fetus apart from the role of the agricultural land in the cultivation of seeds.

 

 

Copy of a seventeenth century drawing

 by Hartsoeker of a sperm. This human

miniature within it was thought to enlarge

 after the sperm entered an ovum.

 

Even after the discovery of the ovum in the woman, the idea of preformation dominated their minds although the scholars of the European Renaissance changed their opinions regarding the role of man in reproduction. They claimed that man was created fully in the ovum also as a pigmy that would grow through increasing in size only, without any change in the form that began with the beginning of the creation of the ovum. They decided that the man had no role in the formation of the fetus except as a stimulus to induce growth.

 

Professor Goringer says: “While a group of scholars opined that man was preformed in the woman’s ovum, another group decided that he was preformed in the spermatozoon. The controversy between the two groups did not end till around 1775 AD when Spallazani proved the importance of both sperm and ovum in the creation of man. In contrast, we find that these issues have been settled in the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet by showing that the process of creation involves both the male and the female. Concerning this Allah (SWT) says: “O mankind! We have created you from male and female.” (XLIX: 13)[7]

 

Then Professor Goringer says about the scholars of the European Renaissance at that time: “They had not known yet that the creation of man in the womb of his mother passed through various stages of creation and shaping, a fact that had been confirmed in the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah many centuries before. The Holy Qur’an states that the creation of man passes through successive stages in his mother’s womb, as in the Verse: “He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, in three veils of darkness.” (XXXIX: 6)[8]

 

 

These two diagrams were used by the European scholars to express the notion of preformation they believed in during the 17th and

 18th centuries.

 

 

 

 

 

The invalidity of the idea of preformation

 

Professor Keith L. Moore says: “Wolf, in 1759, refuted both versions of the preformation theory after observing parts of the embryo develop from “globules” (probably blastocysts).” Then he added: “The preformation controversy finally ended around 1775, when Spallanzani showed that both the ovum and the sperm were necessary for the development of a new individual.”[9]

 

The Error in estimating the age of the fetus

 

After the minds of the European scholars had been freed from the notion of the preformation of man and learned that the creation of man passed through stages that were different in shape and form, they wondered when the embryo would take its human shape. They faced a major problem, i.e. determining the age of the fetus, for it was very difficult to know—before the discovery of the woman’s ovum and the time of its emergence from the woman’s ovary—the age of the fetus in the womb of its mother, or the age of the aborted fetus because they were unable to determine the beginning of conception. They could not but make an error of plus/minus 21 days in their calculations, as the mark of conception was—at that time—indicated by the end of the woman’s menstrual cycle. If they had started calculating the conception from the beginning of tuhr (ritual purity)—though it could have taken place at its end, in their opinion at that time—the error in the estimation of the age of the fetus would be equal to the term of tuhr, i.e. 21 days. If they had considered the conception as taking place at the end of tuhr—though it could have taken place at its beginning, in their opinion at that time—the error in the estimation of the age of the fetus would be equal to the term of tuhr, i.e. 21 days also.

 

The non-recognition of the development that the fetus undergoes in each temporal stage

 

As the estimation of the age of the fetus without a major error was impossible, it was also impossible to describe the development that the fetus underwent during all its stages, partly because of the scarcity of samples of human fetuses and partly because no one was willing to donate one’s child to be studied by physicians, and because of the pain the mother would have suffered from if her fetus had been aborted, for the pains caused by abortion would be as severe as those of giving birth. What aggravates this is that the systems and organs of the fetus develop so rapidly that it would be difficult to pinpoint the period during which a certain fetal system or organ appears in its human shape.

 

How scholars were able to estimate the age of the fetus and pinpoint the time at which the fetal organs are formed

 

After the discovery of the woman’s ovum in the 19th century AD the researchers were able to specify the day on which the ovum emerged from the woman’s ovary, which enabled them to specify the beginning of conception by an error not exceeding plus/minus one day.

 

After medical scalars were lately able to implant a camera in the woman’s womb during the period of pregnancy, they were able to specify the time when the fetal organs appeared and formed, and to photograph the stages of the formation of the organs.

 

The Prophetic Miracle of describing the creation of the fetus after the forty-second day

   

We have seen how the scholars of the Modern Scientific Renaissance in Europe were engaged randomly in numerous illusions for three centuries, during their study of the creation of the human embryo. Among such illusions are the following:

 

·        Their misconception that man is created from the menstrual blood, which they had not got rid of except in the 17th century AD.

·        Their misconception that man is created fully at the very beginning of his formation. They did not realize the falsity of this misconception before the 18th century AD.

·        In 1694—after the invention of the microscope—they mistakenly thought that man was fully created from the spermatozoon. They had not given up this concept before the discovery of the woman’s ovum in 1827, i.e., 150 years after the discovery of the spermatozoon.

·        After the discovery of the ovum they wrongly thought that man was fully created in it. Such illusion had not been abandoned before the last fourth of the 18th century AD.

·        When embryologists calculated the age of the fetus—before the discovery of the woman’s ovum—they would make an error of plus/minus 21 days, and they were unable to determine its age in its various stages till the twentieth century.

·        Embryologists had been unable to trace the developments that the human embryo underwent and the time at which they took place till the forties of the twentieth century, particularly after they were able to see the embryo clearly and even look inside the different parts of the embryo through the available cameras, magnifying instruments and other means of detecting the various structures.

 

But Allah, Who knows what is in the wombs and knows all the secrets in the heavens and on the earth, told the illiterate Prophet in the illiterate Ummah, 1400 years ago, of the exact night after which the human embryo begins assuming its human shape, and forming and shaping its human organs that are known to us. The embryo on that night is no more than 11mm in size.

 

Nowadays, after science in the 20th century observed what developments the embryo underwent and calculated the time needed for each development appearing on the embryonic body, we can regard the Prophetic information conveyed to us 1400 years ago as a proof of the truthfulness of the Prophesy and Message of the Messenger (peace be upon him), who said: “When forty-two nights have passed over the drop (nutfah), Allah sends an angel to it, who shapes it and makes its ears, eyes, skin, flesh and bones. Then he says, ‘O Lord, is it male or female?’ And your Lord decides what He wishes and the angel records it.’”[10]

 

In this hadith Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) confirms two facts of embryology:

1.     Man is created from (nutfah)—the sperm of the man and the ovum of the woman—as has been mentioned before. The Prophetic hadith refers to this fact: “When forty-two nights have passed over the drop (nutfah)….” i.e. man is created from (nutfah) and not from the menstrual blood—as was commonly believed by the physicians of the 17th century.

2.     The hadith specifies a certain night in the embryonic age after which the angel enters: “When forty-two nights have passed over the drop (nutfah), Allah sends an angel to it.” The angel after this night does the following:

3.     “He shapes it”, i.e., the human shape of the embryo begins to appear after the forty-second night.

4.     “And makes its ears” The ears and the auditory system begin to appear.

5.     “And its eyes”, i.e., creates its vision and so the eyes and the visual system begin to appear.

6.     “And its skin” The angel creates the skin after the forty-second night.

7.     “And its flesh” The angel creates the flesh (muscles) after the same night.

8.     “And its bones” The angel creates the bones (the skeleton) after the same night.

9.     “And then says: ‘O Lord, is it male or female?’” The angel begins to shape the genitals, whether male or female, by which the male and female are differentiated, and that is after the forty-second night also.

10.  The embryo passes through stages before the forty-second night in its non-human shape, when none of the organs and systems that are created after the forty-second night according to the hadith has come into existence yet.

 

Let us now ask some of the leading embryologists of our present age their opinions on what the Prophet (peace be upon him) said 1400 years ago.

 

The testimony of modern science to the truthfulness of what the Messenger (peace be upon him) said

 

Professor Joe Leigh Simpson, a famous professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in America, and two others,[11] in a paper presented in a number of scientific conferences[12], said: “By the end of the sixth week and before the forty-second day the image of the face is not clear and does not look like the image of a human face.” (fig…) The eyes, ears and genitals are in their primitive form in their developmental stages before the forty-second day. They do not function and do not resemble the human organs.”[13] Then he added: “The estimation of the age of the fetus before the discovery of the ovum and its relation to the menstrual cycle was very difficult.”[14]

 

  Professor T.V.N. Persaud, the Head of the Department of Anatomy at the Medical School of Manitoba, Winnipeg in Canada, tells us about the fetus after the forty-second day, saying: “At the beginning of the seventh week of growth, i.e., around the forty-second day, the cartilaginous osseous skeleton that gives the fetus its special human shape forms, its trunk begins to straighten, and a round head forms for it. (See figure below)   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The fetus at the beginning of the seventh week (days 40-42). The limbs are arched and surround the heart prominence. The rays of the toes of the two feet are apparent. The embryo’s crown-rump length is 20 mm. (1) limb (2) ear (3) elbow (4) eye (5) forebrain (6) heart prominence (7) hindbrain (8) liver prominence (9) midbrain (10) mesenteries (11) mouth (12) notched hand plate (1) umbilical cord. (Permission from: England color Atlas of Life before Birth, Chicago, Year Book, Medical Publishers ins., 1983)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The eyes move forward to take their place in the face, thus revealing the human shape of the fetus (figure above). The same thing happens to the nose that takes the human shape also. As to the arms that appeared as buds at the end of the fourth week, they get longer after the forty-second day, and there appear distinctive digits that were non-existent before. The protruding end of the vertebral column recedes and straightens, leaving an almost invisible trace. To compare the human fetus before the forty-second day with that after it, see figures above.

 

The early development of the external genitals is similar in both sexes. This development starts before the forty-second day, in the fourth week. But the genital tubercle, the labioscrotal swellings and urogenital folds that initiate distinctive sexual characteristics (of male and female genitals) do not appear except in the ninth week (i.e., after the forty-second day). One cannot distinguish between the external male and female genitals till the twelfth week.” Professor Persaud then added: “The Messenger—peace be upon him—mentioned all the developments mentioned above, besides their dates in the hadith narrated by Muslim on the authority of Hudhaifah.” Professor Persaud then read the text of the hadith, adding: “This noble hadith shows the importance of the forty-second day in the life of the fetus in the womb, and shows the fine developments that appear after this day. Modern embryological studies have shown that the fetus acquires its human shape during this period, and the fetus shows all the characteristics mentioned in the hadith fourteen centuries ago.[15]

 

 

 

These two photos were taken with a special camera that can see the human body or any part thereof, scan it, enlarge it or turn it round, and control its transparency so that one can see what is inside the living organism and lighten it from all corners. The first picture shows the fetus on the forty-second day when the angel enters it; the second picture is two days after the entrance of the angel. The two pictures prove the truthfulness of what the Messenger mentioned concerning the work of the angel at this specific time, as is mentioned in the hadith of Hudhaifah that was narrated by Muslim.

 

Thus recent scientific advances prove the truthfulness of what the Messenger (peace be upon him) told us fourteen centuries ago, which indicates that the knowledge conveyed by the noble hadith cannot be attributed to a human source, but must be from Allah, Who knows everything, because humanity discovered these facts only during the last three centuries, the 18th, 19th and 20th, as has been shown above. Besides, the Messenger (peace be upon him) was sent fourteen centuries ago at a time when ignorance, superstitions and myths were prevalent, and he lived among illiterate people that worshipped idols and were enchanted by the allegations of soothsayers and astrologists and had a lot of superstitions and misconceptions. At that time Arabs were not interested in science, and a perfect man among them would be that who was able to read and write and mount horses. The writing implements, if there were any, would be pieces of skin, bone, thin stones or leaves of date palms on which they used to write. Nothing in their sayings or their pre-Islamic poetry, in which they were interested before and after the advent of Islam, indicated their interest in science or their involvement in it. How then would it have been possible for them to know embryology that was hidden from their sight, inside three walls causing three veils of darkness? It is a science the facts of which were not revealed but after the modern scientific renaissance and after three centuries of research and study and after the availability of the modern instruments that had been non-existent before the centuries of modern renaissance. 

 

This correspondence between what the Prophet (peace be upon him) said concerning the details of embryology and the facts that have been discovered by modern science proves the truthfulness of the Messenger (peace be upon him). It is the proof of the Divine Knowledge, which the illiterate Prophet received and was the only person among humanity to transmit it. Modern science then came to confirm what the Messenger (peace be upon him) said. It does not contradict any single point of what the Prophet (peace be upon him) told. Would anyone at the Prophet’s time or many centuries later have disbelieved him if he had mentioned other than the forty-second day, or other than the organs the formation of which he talked about?

 

Was the Prophet (peace be upon him) obliged to mention these facts to convince his people at that time of his truthfulness though they knew nothing about the subject?

 

But it is the Divine Revelation from the Glorified Knowledgeable Creator that carried the Divine Knowledge, the Miracle preserved for the generations of the age of scientific discoveries. It is the Divine testimony to the truthfulness of the Messenger (peace be upon him): “But Allah bears witness that what He has sent to you He has sent from his (own) knowledge.” (IV: 166)

 

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