In man

Allah (SWT) says: “O mankind! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection, then verily We have created you (i.e. Adam) from dust, then from a nutfah (drop of liquid), and then from a leech-like structure (‘alaqah), and then from a chewed-like substance (mudghah) with features formed and unformed, 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, and then We bring you out as infants, and then (make you grow) that you may reach your age of full strength.” (XXII: 5)

Allah (SWT) also says: “And indeed We created man (Adam) out of an extract of clay (water and earth). Thereafter, We made him as a nutfah  (and lodged it) in a safe lodging (womb of the woman). Then We made the nutfah into a leech-like structure (‘alaqah), and then We made the leech-like structure into a chewed-like substance (mudghah), and then We made out of that little mudghah bones, and then We clothed the bones with flesh, and then We brought it forth as another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators.” (XXIII: 12-14)

Allah (SWT) also says: “Why should you not strive to reverence Allah, seeing that He has created you in diverse stages?” (LXXI: 13-14)

Allah (SWT) also says: “He creates you in the wombs of your mothers—creation after a creation…” (XXXIX: 6)

Describing these stages, Dr ‘Abd al-Jawad al- Sawi says: “The Holy Qur’an describes the stages of the fetus accurately through giving a name to each stage that has a definite beginning and a definite end.”

1)    The Nutfah stage:

Allah (SWT) says: “Thereafter, We made him as a nutfah  (and lodged it) in a safe lodging (womb of the woman).”

Nutfah in Arabic has several meanings. It may mean “a little water equal to a drop”.  Ibn Manzur says: “nataf or nutaf means small pearls. A single one is nutfah, for it is compared to a drop of water.”[1] In the Noble Hadith we read: “We remained standing and waiting for him till he came out with his head yantufu (dripping) water after taking a bath.”[2]

Nutfah also refers to the first stage of the development of the fetus. It is the stage that extends from the first day of conception, i.e. the moment the egg of the woman is fertilized by the sperm of the man to form a zygote, to the sixth day of pregnancy. Then we have the stage of ‘alaqah.

          2)The ‘Alaqah stage:

Allah (SWT) says: “Then We made the nutfah into a leech-like structure (‘alaqah).”

“‘Alaqah” has the following meanings in dictionaries:

“‘Alaqah” is derived from “‘aliqa” in the sense of sticking or adhering  to something.

 “‘Alaqah”  is a worm that lives in lakes and feeds on the blood it sucks from the animals to which it adheres. The plural form is “‘alaq”. “‘Alaq” may mean “blood” in general, deep red, thick, or clotted blood.[3]  “‘Alaqah”  is the second stage of the development of the embryo; it extends from the seventh day of pregnancy to the third week of it. During this stage the ambryo clings to the internal layer of the womb to feed on the blood of the pregnant woman. The naming of the first stage of the development of the ambryo as “nutfah” is chemical, while the naming of the second stage as   “‘Alaqah” is anatomical and micoscopic, which could not have been suggested by other that Allah (SWT), Who knows well what He has created. The microscope was invented only in the seventeeth century, and the ambryo in the stages of nutfah and ‘alaqah  does not exceed some portions of a millimeter clinging to the mother’s womb to feed on her blood by means of  eating, sucking capillaries.”[4]

Allah (SWT) says: “Man has been created from ‘alaq (a leech-like structure).” (LCVI: 2) Here we have a Qur’anic scientific Miracle, for science had not known before the 20th century that the beginning of creating the organs of the embryo (such as the nervous system, the heart, the blood vessels and the blood) starts in the ‘alaqah stage to be completed in the following stage.”[5]

3)    The Mudghah (chewed-like substance)stage:

Allah (SWT) says: “Then We made the nutfah into a leech-like structure (‘alaqah), and then We made the leech-like structure into a chewed-like substance (mudghah).”

“Mudghah” has several meanings in Arabic: something that is chewed by the teeth.[6] The “mudgh” of things means the small of insignificant things.

This stage starts in the third week of the embryo’s life till the seventh week. During it the somites appear in the embryo. They consist of 42-45 pairs and they give the embryo the shape of chewed meat. Man could not photo the embryo in the mudghah stage—no more than on centimeter in length—except in the 20th century. Under the microscope it appears like a chewed piece of flesh and cartilage, particularly in the section that will form the backbone and the other bones.[7]

4)    The bone stage:

Allah (SWT) says: “and then We made out of that little mudghah bones”

It is a rapid stage that starts in the seventh week of pregnancy. During it some of the somites, which have given the embryo the shape of a chewed substance, change from being  cartilage into osseous tissues to form the backbone and the other parts of the skeleton.[8]

5)    The flesh stage:

Allah (SWT) says: “And then We clothed the bones with flesh.”

This stage begins in the eighth week of pregnancy, when the remaining somites change into muscles to clothe the backbone and also the bones of the limbs.

Ten years ago the  scientist Lenard Nelson photographed the different stages of the creation of man from the beginning of pregnancy till birth. He won the Nobel prize for medical photograhy, for he was able to take wonderfull images of the embryo in the stages of nutfah, ‘alaqah and mudghah, and the stage of bone formation that preceds the stage of clothing the bones with flesh by one week only. A press investigator asked him: “Do you believe in the existence of Allah after spending three years photographing the stages of the fetus?” He answered: “After tracing and photographing the various stages of the creation of the fetus from its being a single cell till it comes out of its mother’s womb nine months later, I cannot but testify that Allah’s power is behind the work of every cell of the fetus.”[9]

6)    The Nash’a (Growth) stage (Fetal Period):

This stage starts in the ninth week and contiues up to the 22nd week. During this stage the following features appear in the fetus: rapid growth, change in the nature of the embro and te development of its organs.

So, the Holy Qur’an mentioned the scientific fact of the creation of man in stages more than fourteen centuries ago.  Non-Muslim scientists had been ignorant of this fact till the middle of the nineteenth century. Most of them adopted the Greek assumption that the fetus was created from the menstrual blood, before the invention of the microscope in the seventeenth century.

During the last two centuries it was discovered that the creation of the fetus is competed through stages. Yet they face difficulty in choosing appropriate names for these stages to reflect the basic features of each stage. The terms used currently do not highlight the distinctive characteristics of each stage. Numerical symbls may be used also without indicating any description. In

contrast, the Qur’anic terms are appropriate, descriptive and understandable to people of various backgrounds.

“He creates you in the wombs of your mothers—creation after a creation…”