Question 20: The following is stated in verses 6 and 7 of the chapter of at-Tariq in the Quran: He is created from a drop emitted - proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs. Evolutionists say that this verse is not scientific.

Question 20: The following is stated in verses 6 and 7 of the chapter of at-Tariq in the Quran: He is created from a drop emitted - proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs. Evolutionists say that this verse is not scientific. I could not answer it since I am not competent at biology. Will you explain the issue?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Answer: It is necessary to know the following first: A Muslim accepts that every verse of the Quran is the word of Allah. Verses shows some truths in different ways. In other words, verses have levels of meaning. Some issues are expressed explicitly while some others are expressed by signs or analogy. Some results we obtain through the studies in science might not comply with the verses of the Quran. Interpretation becomes necessary in such a case; in addition, the reality mentioned in the verses of the Quran might turn out to be true through the studies in the future.

Another issue is that it is excessive optimism to expect someone who does not accept the existence of Allah to approve the meaning of a verse. They try to deny and reject Allah, not to accept Him, through His works. If a believer satisfies his soul about these issues, there is no problem. You do not have the duty of convincing others. You can only present the issue that you know to be true and leave the rest to that person.

When the creation of man is in question, people take into consideration the view of the evolutionists ten times; in that case, it is necessary to see what Allah says regarding the issue at least once because it is Allah who creates man. The one who does knows and the one who knows speaks is a general rule. Allah explains the creation of man in various verses in the Holy Quran. In one verse, attention is drawn to the creation from sperm, and it is stated that sperm comes out between the backbone and the ribs:

“Now let man but think from what he is created! He is created from a drop emitted-Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs: Surely (Allah) is able to bring him back (to life)!”.¹

The verse states the following for man: He is created from a drop emitted. That drop of liquid is the sperm of the male coming from between the backbone and the ribs. There are millions of sperm in it. One of them unites with the woman’s egg and causes the formation of man.

It is stated in the verse that the liquid containing sperm comes from between the backbone and the ribs. However, it is known that the sperm of the male form in the testicles, which are the reproductive organs of the male, and the egg of the female forms in the ovary, which is the reproductive organ of the female. There seems to be an apparent contradiction here. There can be two explanations of it:

The first one: When man is in the stage of fetus in the mother’s womb, the ovary and testicles develop between the backbone and the ribs of the fetus. That is, the testicles and the ovary are produced in the region between the backbone and the ribs. When the fetus reaches the seventh month, the testicles are slowly lowered into the bag outside the body and the ovary into the pelvis.

The second one: The testicles and the ovary take their food from the location between the backbone and the ribs. In other words, the arteries coming from the abdominal aorta and going to the testicles and the ovary pass between the backbone and the ribs. In the same way, the nerves that feed the ovary and testicles come from the cluster of nerves under the stomach, which is literally in the region between the backbone and the ribs. Lymph vessels also emerge from between the backbone and the ribs.²

It is seen that both the testicles and the egg cell take their food, blood and nerves from the region referred to as the backbone and the ribs. This determination of science is in accordance with the concise expression of the Holy Quran about the creation of man.

The development of sperm, which are male reproductive cells, is ensured through testosterone, and the development of eggs, which are female reproductive cells, through estrogen hormones. Both testosterone, the male hormone, and estrogen, the female hormone, are steroid group hormones and their building blocks are cholesterol. The glands located on the kidneys are also involved in the production of testosterone and estrogen. About 20% of these sex hormones are secreted from the adrenal glands. In other words, the kidneys have an important role in both the production of sperm and the production of eggs. In addition, the kidneys are organs in which other hormones like growth hormones, which are important for growth and reaching puberty, are secreted. The kidneys are precisely in the region stated by the verse. They are the issues that we learn with the development of science. Perhaps many more miraculous aspects of this verse will be discovered in the future.

The explanation by the gynecologist Op. Dr. İsmail Selçuk on November 4, 2016 is as follows:

Up to the eighth month of the embryological life, the testicles are located under kidneys around the waist, and the ovaries are located under the diaphragm in the abdomen, corresponding to the bottom of the breasts. The testicles descend into the bags through the inguinal canal close to delivery. If it is seen at birth that the testicles have not descended, they are probably stuck in the inguinal canal. If they do not descend to bags after a certain period of time passes, they are descended through an operation.

1.at-Tariq, verses 5-8.
2.Ali al-Bar. Translated by A.  Öztürk. İnsanınYaratılışı. Diyanetİş. Başk. Yayını,1991.

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