Embryonic development: a precise description

Surah Al-Mu'minun Verse 12-14 2026-09-01 19:29:22

Quranic verses

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ مِن سُلَالَةٍ مِّن طِينٍ. ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُطْفَةً فِي قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ. ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا

And certainly did We create man from an extract of clay. Then We placed him as a drop of fluid in a safe lodging. Then We made the drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump, and We made the lump into bones, and We covered the bones with flesh.

Surah Al-Mu'minun (23:12-14)

Hadiths (Sunnah)

إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ يُجْمَعُ خَلْقُهُ فِي بَطْنِ أُمِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا نُطْفَةً، ثُمَّ يَكُونُ عَلَقَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ يَكُونُ مُضْغَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ يُرْسَلُ إِلَيْهِ الْمَلَكُ فَيَنْفُخُ فِيهِ الرُّوحَ

« Each of you is gathered in his mother's womb for forty days as a drop of sperm, then he becomes a clinging clot (alaqa) for a similar period, then a lump of flesh (mudgha) for a similar period, then the angel is sent to him and breathes the soul into him. »

Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud — Sahih al-Bukhari n°3208 [Sahih]

إِذَا مَرَّ بِالنُّطْفَةِ اثْنَتَانِ وَأَرْبَعُونَ لَيْلَةً بَعَثَ اللَّهُ إِلَيْهَا مَلَكًا فَصَوَّرَهَا وَخَلَقَ سَمْعَهَا وَبَصَرَهَا وَجِلْدَهَا وَلَحْمَهَا وَعِظَامَهَا

« When forty-two nights pass over the drop of sperm, Allah sends an angel to it who shapes it and creates its hearing, its sight, its skin, its flesh and its bones. »

Narrated by Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman — Sahih Muslim n°2645 [Sahih]

In Surah Al-Mu'minun (23:12-14), the Quran describes the stages of human embryonic development with remarkable precision:

"We created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him a drop of sperm in a secure resting place. Then We made the drop into an adhesion; and from the adhesion We created an embryo; then from the embryo We created bones, and We clothed the bones with flesh."

This multi-stage description — drop of sperm (nutfah), adhesion (alaqah), embryo (mudghah), formation of bones then clothing with flesh — corresponds strikingly to the stages of embryonic development described by modern embryology.

Professor Keith Moore, a world-renowned embryologist at the University of Toronto, confirmed that Quranic descriptions of embryonic development are consistent with modern scientific knowledge.

Scientific findings

The "nutfah" (drop) stage corresponds to fertilization and the first days of development
The "alaqah" (leech/adhesion) stage corresponds to embryo implantation in the uterus (days 7-24)
The "mudghah" (chewed substance) stage corresponds to the embryo's appearance between 24 and 40 days
Bone formation before flesh is confirmed by modern embryology

Scientific references

The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology — Keith L. Moore (Elsevier, 2019)
La Bible, le Coran et la Science — Maurice Bucaille (Seghers, 1976)