Bone are one of the hardest structure present in the body. They give the body its shape and structure, help us to move and most importantly they have bone marrow which produces the blood cells. If we talk about the development of bones and muscles during embryonic stage then Chapter 23 of the Holy Quran talks about their development. The verse 12-14 state that bones (Izam) are formed first, and then flesh (muscles, Lahm) cover the bones.
“then We developed the drop into a clinging clot, then developed the clot into a lump ˹of flesh˺, then developed the lump into bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, then We brought it into being as a new creation.So Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators’’
Chapter 23 (Surah Al-Mu’minun) verse 14
But what did the Prophet Muhammad said about the number of bones and joints?
Prophet Muhammad ( صَلَّى ٱللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ) an Osteologist?
Hazrat Ayesha has reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
“Every one of the children of Adam has been created with three hundred and sixty joints; so he who declares the Glory of Allah, praises Allah, declares Allah to be One, Glorifies Allah, and seeks forgiveness from Allah, and removes stone, or thorn, or bone from people’s path, and enjoins what is good and forbids from evil, to the number of those three hundred and sixty joints, will walk that day having saved himself from the Fire” [1]
As of current estimates, there are around 8 billion human beings in this small planet we call Earth. But every person’s fingerprints are unique. Even identical twins, who share the same genetic makeup, have differences in their patterns on their fingers. But what does the holy Quran say about the fingerprints?
“I do swear by the Day of Judgment! And I do swear by the self-reproaching soul! Do people think We cannot reassemble their bones? Yes ˹indeed˺! We are ˹most˺ capable of restoring ˹even˺ their very fingertips”
Chapter 75 (Surah Al-Qiyamah) verse 1-4
Let’s decipher this verse of the Holy Quran
Fingerprints and Quran
Basically, in Makkah, the non-believers used to say, How could Allah restore our bodies when we would become dust? Then Allah says that He is even able to restore your tiny structures, like fingerprints and the tiniest bones of your body. Now this is not a part of our discussion, but it is a logical thing: “It is difficult to construct a thing at the first try. But on the second try, you become trained, and it is much easier to build that same thing again.”
Fingerprints – nightmare for criminals
The fetus’s fingerprints are generated during the fourth month of pregnancy. It’s much more interesting to learn that these fingerprints last a lifetime and never change, even after injury. The ten fingerprints on both hands are sufficient to determine a person’s identification, and this makes fingerprinting as a tool in forensic science and law enforcement.
Why do fingerprints differ?
There are three fingerprint patterns: whorls, arches, and loops. Your fingerprint is formed by two main factors: your genes and the environmental factors. The genes give you the starting pattern of your fingerprint. But as your skin develops in the womb, random physical forces alter the pattern. A slight change in blood flow, pressure, and even the baby’s movements causes tiny, unpredictable differences in your fingerprints.
Three patterns of fingerprints. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Three-different-types-of-a-fingerprint_fig11_280600727
The pagans of Makkah and Allah’s reply:
The pagans of Makkah refused to acknowledge that Allah could bring them back to life. This verse was sent by Allah. The most amazing thing about this discourse is not that Allah can revive a man’s tiny bone, but rather that He can even arrange fingerprint tips in precisely the right sequence.
The recognition of fetal development in stages has been a gradual accumulation of knowledge over centuries. But what does the Quran say about the development of fetus in stages?
What is the matter with you that you are not in awe of the Majesty of Allah, when He truly created you in stages ˹of development˺?
Chapter 71 (Surah Nuh) verse 13-14
Let’s decipher this verse of the Holy Quran.
Allah created us in Stages
As we now know, there are different stages involved in the whole development process. First, the male and female gametes fuse to form a zygote. That zygote undergoes divisions to form an embryo, then a morula, then a blastocyst at day five of fertilization. Then the whole implantation process starts; the blastocyst hatches from the zona pellucida (a protective outer layer). The embryo undergoes gastrulation, neurulation, and organogenesis before finally becoming a fetus.
Embryology and Quran https://i.pinimg.com/originals/19/37/d2/1937d2722fb5b0314ef275bd8e42802f.jpg
It must be kept in mind that the early stages of human development can only be seen through high power microscopes.
(I have a detailed blog on this topic, but here I am simply going to briefly explain it.)
The first stage is the fertilization (the fusion of gametes). It is mentioned in a number of verses, like in Chapter 23, verses 12-13 of the Quran.
Around Day 7-10, the embryo attaches to the uterine wall and resembles a leech in shape and function. It is in Chapter 23, verse 14.
The somites appear, and the embryo gives a chewed appearance. It is in Chapter 23, verse 14.
The skeletal system begins forming around week 6, followed by the development of muscles. It is in chapter 23, verse 14.
It is around week 8 that the embryo starts to take on a recognizable human shape. It is in Chapter 23, verse 14.
My final words
The glorious Quran says:
“We will show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that this ˹Quran˺ is the
truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is a Witness over all things?”
– Chapter 41 (Surah Fussilat ) verse 53
Some people require only one sign, while others require numerous signs to embrace the truth. On the other side, there are others who, even after receiving thousands of indications, refuse to embrace the reality. The Quran describes these persons as:
“They are ˹wilfully˺ deaf, dumb, and blind, so they will never return ˹to the Right Path˺.” – Chapter 2 (Surah Al-Baqarah) verse 18
The Bible says the same thing:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” – Gospel of Matthew verse 13 of chapter 13
So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?
My Blogs
Hopefully, that was helpful to you and will assist you in strengthening your belief. You can also visit my other blogs:
I always used to think that if Allah can create anything instantly, why did He take 6 days to create the Universe? I gathered some information and here it is. First of all, if Allah wanted, he could have created the heavens and the earths in one day. But then we would have questioned that why Allah created it in one day. Allah wanted to create in six days and He can do whatsoever He wants. This is the first part of this question. (These six days are not equal to our earthly six days. Click here to learn more:Allah says that He has created the heavens and the earths in six days contradicts science)
Why was world created in 6 days when nothing is impossible for Allah: Be & it will be?
As Muslims and as Jews and Christians, we have no problem in believing that if Allah wants something, He says be and it is. There is no problem in that. So if Allah wanted to create the whole universe in a flash that would have been done. But why did Allah choose to create the universe in six days? Well there are some opinions of this question.
Firstly, it is Allah’s way to teach his servants how to be kind and gentle and to take things thoroughly instead of hasting things.
Secondly, when He created it over a span of six days His magnificence, His wisdom and His power was apparent to the angels because it was created bit by bit. So when you create things bit by bit this shows your power and your excellence and your magnificence. When you see how gradually it was created bit by bit this gives you a lot of appreciation to Allah’s power and to Allah’s wisdom.
Alam-e-Amr and Alam-e-Khalq
When Allah talks about His creations, He use two different ways to describe “How He created them”. Here are two examples from each category:
1. The creation from Kun كُن (BE)
https://legacy.quran.com/3/59
Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created Him from dust; then He said to him, “Be,” and he was.
Chapter 3 (Surah Al-Imran) verse 59
2. The creation of Khalq
https://legacy.quran.com/7/54
“Indeed your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days, then established Himself on the Throne. He makes the day and night overlap in rapid succession. He created the sun, the moon, and the stars—all subjected by His command. The creation and the command belong to Him ˹alone˺. Blessed is Allah—Lord of all worlds!”
Chapter 7 (Surah Al-A`raf) verse 54
If you carefully read these examples, then you will notice that in the creation from Kun, there is no time interference. But in the second example, there is a time frame.
In Islamic theology, “Alam e Amr” translates to “The World of Command” and “Alam e Khalq” means “The World of Creation”.
The Alam-e-Amr is a metaphysical world where there is no time. Creations that are from the Ayam-e-Amr cannot be perceived from the five senses. Souls and angels are the creatures of Alam-e-Amr. Alam-e-Khalq is the physical world. There is a time frame and the creations of Alam-e-Khalq can be perceived from five senses. Our body is a creation of Alam-e-Khalq. The Big Bang, the creation of this universe and everything is from Alam-e-Khalq.
So, when Allah talks about the creations of Alam-e-Khalq, He gives us the time. For example, He created them heavens and the earths in six days. For example, a human baby needs a gestation period of 9 months etc.
When Allah talks about the Alam-e-Amr, He use Kun (no time, be and it is). He Who created Adam without a father or a mother is able to create Isa, as well, without a father. There was no time. He Wills and it becomes.
The Science
This is what even science talks about. Before the Big Bang, there was no time. The science and time starts after the Big Bang. Allah created the souls and angels before He created the universe. Allah SWT asked all of His creatures whether they wanted free will and to be held accountable for their actions in the cosmos. Every entity in His creation declined.
So, when Allah SWT created Hazrat Adam AS, he gathered the souls of all humanity and asked them the same question about being granted the freedom to do whatever they choose while being held accountable for their acts in this life. All human souls accepted Allah SWT’s condition. Of course, we cannot recall this event before our physical body was created after this promise in the Alam-e-Khalq.
Summary
Now because the heavens and the earths are a part of Alam-e-Khalq, that is why Allah has used the time frame.
The scientists tell us that the big bang is a process which has taken millions of years for the formation of the universe but the quran say that Allah has created heavens and the earths [1] in six days. So isn’t it contracting to science?
There are various places in the Holy Quran where Allah says this:
https://legacy.quran.com/7/54
“Indeed your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days”
Chapter 7 (Surah Al-A´raf) verse 54
The Arabic word Ayam
First of all, I want to clear the translation of this verse. The Arabic word used in the quran is ayam أيّام. It’s a plural of the word yom. The one of its meaning is day but the other meaning of yom is also a period, an epoch. So here when Allah says He has created the heaven and the earth in six ayam, it actually refers to six periods, six epochs. So scientists today have no problem with the Quranic narration that the heaven and the earth were created in six long periods. Each period can be a million year or billion years.
The Einstein´s Theory of General Relativity
According to Einstein General Theory of Relativity, time is affected by gravitational fields, a phenomenon known as gravitational time dilation. The stronger the gravitational field, the slower time passes relative to a weaker gravitational field. This means that a clock placed near a strong gravitational source (like a black hole or a massive planet) will tick more slowly than a clock in a weaker gravitational field (like in deep space). So even if here Allah says six days, then these days are not equal to our days. For example, Allah says that the time in the Hereafter does not follow the same measurement as time in this world. A day with Allah is said to be equivalent to 1,000 years of human time.
“And they ask you to hasten the punishment, while Allah will never fail in His promise. And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of what you count.”
Chapter 22 (Surah Al-Hajj) verse 47
Hence, there is no problem in this verse. But it also tells about the time dilation. The scientific proof of time dilation only came with relativity theories in the 20th century.
“We will show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that this ˹Quran˺ is the
truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is a Witness over all things?”
– Chapter 41 (Surah Fussilat ) verse 53
Some people require only one sign, while others require numerous signs to embrace the truth. On the other side, there are others who, even after receiving thousands of indications, refuse to embrace the reality. The Quran describes these persons as:
“They are ˹wilfully˺ deaf, dumb, and blind, so they will never return ˹to the Right Path˺.” – Chapter 2 (Surah Al-Baqarah) verse 18
The Bible says the same thing:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” – Gospel of Matthew verse 13 of chapter 13
So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?
My Blogs
Hopefully, that was helpful to you and will assist you in strengthening your belief. You can also visit my other blogs:
![Surat Fussilat [41:53] - The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم](https://legacy.quran.com/images/ayat_retina/41_53.png)
