MEDICAL EMBRYOLOGY IN THE HOLY QURAN One day , you were stick In the womb of your mother where food and livelihood were coming to you without any effort.

1. Medical Embryology in
the Holy Quran
MEDICAL EMBRYOLOGY
IN THE HOLY QURAN
Md. Hasib Hossen
1403EEE00044
Manarat International University

2. Introduction
Embryology (from Greek word embryon, “the unborn,
embryo” and logia, “study”) is the branch of Biology that
studies the prenatal development of gametes(sex cells),
fertilization and development of embryos and fetuses.
Before widespread use of the microscope and advent of
cellular Biology in the 19th
century, Embryology was a
descriptive studies.
But Allah told us about Embryology in the Holy Qur’an
about fourteen century ago.

3. Introduction

5. 5 6 7
So Blessed is Allah, the Best of
1 2 3
4
Then We made the
Nutfah into a clot
Thereafter We made
him as a Nutfah and
lodged it in a safe
lodging
And then We
brought it forth as
another creation
Then We made the
clot into alittle
lump of flesh
Then We made
out of that little
lump of flesh
bones
Then We clothed
the bones withflesh
Man We did create
from a quintessence
(of clay)

6. God had created human from water and dust , therefore
we find that water is about 2/3 of our body, so mixing
water with dust produce clay , which is our origin, God
says :(And indeed We created man (Adam) out of an
extract of clay (water and Dust) ) ( Surat Al-Mu’minûn - verse 12 )
Quintessence
(of Clay)

7. Which is The produced sperm by man
The Nutfah is not seen by naked
eye because of its smallness, but medical
researches show that secret of life is more
smaller than that and it is in the deep of the
Nutfah, in what is called the hereditary tape
(DNA) which contains all necessary information
to create a Sane man. God says :(Thereafter We
made him as a Nutfah and lodged it in a safe
lodging ) ( Surat Al-Mu’minûn - verse 13 ) the safe lodging
is the uterus, scientists say that the uterus
becomes greater a thousand times after
pregnancy!!!
The Nutfah

8. Large number of sperms are
surrounding the ovum but
only one sperm can
penetrate it to form the
mixed Nutfah ( mixing of
sperm and ovum). If we
examine the chemical
composition of sperm or
ovum we will find that most
of it consists of water , God
says: (So let man see from
what he is created * he is
created from a water
gushing forth )
(Sûrat At-Târiq - Verse 5-6)
Ovum which is
ovulated by the woman every month

10. The inner wall of the uterus
After the merger of the sperm with an ovum, splits start at
once, and then the fertilized ovum goes toward the wall
ofthe uterus to stick and cling to it. God says: ( It is He,
Who has created you (Adam) from dust, then from a
Nutfah [mixed semen drops of male and female sexual
discharge] then from a clot (a piece of coagulated blood) )
(Sûrat Ghâfir- verse 67 )
The clot
Clot

11. Proclaim! (or read!) in
the name of thy Lord and
Cherisher, Who created-
Created man, out of a
(mere) clot of congealed
blood.
(Sura Alaq: 1-2)
The inner wall of the uterus
Embryo while searching in the dark
for a place to cling with it
The place where the embryo
is clinging to the uterus

12. Congealed clot of blood, leech like substance

13. A little lump
of flesh
After that , the embryo is transformed to Something like a
chewed piece of meat , God says about that :(then from a little
lump of flesh - some formed and some unformed (as in the case
of miscarriage) - that We may make (it) clear to you (i.e. to show
you Our Power and Ability to do what We will). And We cause
whom We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed term)
(Sûrat Al-Hajj – verse5 )

14. What happens at this stage?
Now, Length of the embryo is less than 4 mm
At this stage the important organs are created like
nervous system, heart and brain ,as heart
starts pulsing and also many systems like
respiratory system , kidneys and Liver are
rapidly grows up.
Then from alittle lump of flesh -
some formed and some unformed

15. 13 2
An image for an embryo in the stage of (little lump of flesh) , it
looks like a chewed piece of meat, , at this stage it is hard to
see that little lump of flesh by naked eye, it needs microscopes
but Almighty God told us about this stage and He represented
it as if we see it with our eyes !!!

16. 7 Weeks-old embryo ,do you know what is the length of it? It
is less than 2 cm , bones formation start at this stage.
Bones
Form

17. Flesh Stage
At this stage, Muscles begin to take shape and
to cover bones. This stage lasts for a long time
and it overlaps with the previous stage which is
Bones stage. God be He exalted says:
(then We clothed the bones with flesh)
Now, Length of the embryo is less than 3 cm

18. 7-8 Weeks old embryo and appears on it the beginning of the flesh stage as
muscles start to cover the bones. At the beginning of the eighth week
muscles start to move. Also skin starts to cover the entire body . God be He
exalted says: (Look at the bones, how We bring them together and clothe
them with flesh ) (Sûrat Al-Baqarah- verse 259)

19. The covering process of the Mandible bone
A photo of the Mandible bone in the head of an embryo
Weeks 12

20. The other creation
At this stage , the embryo starts to take its final features , eyes and
ears start to appear also organs of the entire body , the heart start its
electrical activity ,brain is very complicated and its weight is almost
half the weight of the body . The remaining operations are just the
growth of these organs . This stage lasts till the end of pregnancy ,
God says:
(and then We brought it forth as another creation)
(Sûrat Al-Mu’minûn – verse 14)
Length of that embryo is less than 4 cm

21. Now, Embryo is 8 weeks old and it
has 90%of the systems in our
body. Number of cells in that
embryo is 1000 million cell , who
created these cells?
During the first eight weeks ,
Embryo develops and takes
many different shapes . But
after that the appearance of the
embryo remain without any
changes till birth .Therefore all
cited stages by the Qur’an
happens during the first eight
weeks .The final stage starts
from the eighth week till birth
which is called by the Qur’an
“ another creation”:
and then We brought it forth as
another creation.

22. The end of the sixth month is
the Completion of creating the
fetus, this is the minimum
period for pregnancy . God
says: (and the bearing of him,
and the weaning of him is
thirty months ) (Sûrat Al-Ahqâf -
verse 15 ). As breastfeeding
period is 24 months ,hence the
minimum period of pregnancy
is
30-24=6 months
And this is a koranic miracle in
determining the minimum
period of pregnancy.Six months old Fetus

23. Dear brother and sister!! One day , you were stick In the womb of your
mother where food and livelihood were coming to you without any effort .
Shouldn’t you Prostrate for that great God and thanks him for that? Also if
you asked him , is he unable to answer you????
with food , drink and air . it
doesn’t allow harmful
materials to pass , Also it
produce hormones which
organize the temperature
of the Fetus . Scientists
say that placenta cares for
the Fetus better than any
other intensive care room
Glory to God !!
Placenta feeds the FetusPlacenta

24. O’ you son of Adam , your mother begets you when you are crying
at the time when all people around you were happy and smiling
Do a work that will makes you happy when you die
and all of the people around you are sad and crying
Arab poetry

25. References
1Carlson, Bruce M. Human Embryology and Developmental Biology, 2nd ed. New York:
Mosby, 1999.
2Gilbert, Scott F. Developmental Biology, 3rd ed. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates,
Inc., 1991.
3Moore, Keith L., and T. V. N. Persaud. Before We Are Born: Essentials of Embryology
and Birth Defects, 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: W. B. Saunders, Co., 1998.
4Embryo, Wikipedia.
5The Biology of Prenatal Development, www.ehd.org.
6Vaughn, C. How Life Begins: the science of life in the womb. New York: Times Books,
1996.
7The Visible Embryo, www.visembryo.com
8Larsen, W. Human Embryology. New York: Churchill Livingston Co. 1993.
9Horder, T.J. and others. A History of Embryology, Cambridge University, Press, 1986. 10-
Balinsky, B.I. An Introduction to Embryology, SCP, 1981.
10Moore, P.D. Embryology, Mosby, 1986.
11Gilbert, Stephen. Pictorial Anatomy of the Human Embryo, University, of Wash. Press,
1988.