What is Nutfah?
The Holy Qura’n points , in many verses , that the beginning of the progeny of Adam is from nutfah : ” He has created man from nutfah (a drop of mingled fluid ) ; yet behold ! he is an obvious opponent ..” (Surah A-Nahl ; 16 : Ayah 4 ) –” His companion said to him , while disputing with him : Do you disbelieve in Him (God) Who created you from dust, then from nutfah ( drop of mingled fluid) , then He fashioned you into a man” (Surah Al-kahf ; 18 : Ayah 37 ) — ” O people! if you are in doubt about he Resurrection, then surely We created you from dust, then from nutfah (a drop of mingled fluid) , ….” ( Surah Al-Hajj ; 22 : Ayha 5) — ” And Allah did create you from dust; then from nutfah (a drop of mingled fluid ) …”(Surah Fatir; 35 : Ayah 11) — ” Does not man see that We have created him from nutfah ( a drop of mingled fluid ) ; yet behold ! he is an obvious opponent ..” ( Surah Ya-Seen; 36 : Ayah 77) — ”And that He did create the two sexes ; the male and female * from nutfah when it is poured forth ” (Surah An-Najm ; 53 Ayahat 45 & 46 ) — ” From what thing did He created him * From nutfah ( a drop of mingled fluid ) He created him , then immediately planned (programmed ) him. “. (Surah Abasa ; 80 : Ayahat 18 & 19 )…
From the previous verses including the term nutfah , it becomes clear that the creation of the progeny of Adam (Who is created from the clay or dust ) is from the nutfah ( a drop of fluid) . To know what is the meaning of the term nutfah and its description in Arabic, we can say that the term nutfah in Arabic language has several meanings , of which a small drop or a little amount of fluid.
The term nutfah , as it was explained by prophet Mohammad himself , peace and blessings be upon him , from his haith , when he was asked about creation of children by one of Jews : ” O, Jew , it is created from both ; from a man nutfah and from a woman nutfah ” ( This hadith was narrated in Musnad Ahmad, volume 1, page 465) . To explain this hadith , it is clear from the answer of prophet Mohammad , peace and blessings be upon him , that nutfah is the part by which the man shares in creation of a child and also nutfah is the part by which the woman shares in this creation . Thus , according to this hadith , it is clear that creation of a child occurs from both male and female and that the term nutfah is applicable to both male and female , not only male.
In one verse that describes the creation of progeny of Adam :” Then He made his progeny of an extract , of a little weak fluid ” (Surah As-sajda ; 32 : Ayah 8 ) , this verse means that creation occurs as an extract from that little weak fluid , in Arabic the word extract is the best of that fluid . Despite Qura’n does not mention in the previous verse , to whom belongs this fluid , it could be understood that this fluid originates from both sexes , not only one of them , that meaning could be appreciated from another verse of Qura’n ; ” O mankind ! We created you from a male and a female ..” (Surah Al-Hujraat ; 49 : Ayah 13) , in this verse , Allah , the – Al-mighty , Said that He Have created mankind from both sexes , the male and female , thus no one can longer say that Qura’n states that creation is from male only .
Now , after science have proven that creation is through fusion of a part from the man ( that is the sperm) and a part from the woman (that is the ovum) , Isn’t this the man nutfah and the woman nutfah given in the above hadith without any contradiction ?? Thus , it is possible to apply , the term nutfah to both the sperm (man nutfah) and the ovum (woman nutfah) respectively . In another hadith of Prophet Mohammad , He said : ” Not from all the fluid , the child will form , and if Allah Wants to create any thing , nothing can prevent Him to do so ..” (this is a part of a long Hadith narrated by Muslim , 2: 1064 ) , the meaning is clear as not from all the fluid means from only a little part of it. In essence , nutfah is source of the progeny of Adam.
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