The alaqah stage mentioned in Qura’n and its interpretations , is considered the most controversial stage of the developing embryo that  provoke objections among deniers of the scientific miracles of Qura’n and Sunnah in describing the stages of embryonic development. Some of these objectors , depending upon dictionaries of Arabic language , old commentators and ancient Arab poets , that alaqah means the clotted blood and according to this view , the embryo during alaqah stage is in the form of a clotted blood and this is a scientific error because there is no developmental stage of the embryo in which it is an clotted blood. Another group of objectors , depending upon the explanation given by professor Keith Moore that the embryo at 24 days is like a leech of water pools , although in the lateral view of the developing umbilicus (which is a part of the embryo) it is as large as the part similar to the leech . A third group of objectors describe that the explanation of alaqah to indicate that the embryo is suspended to the uterus was accurately described by Aristotle on the 4th century B.C. and he mentioned the suspension of the embryo in the uterus !! Thus, there are three claims  against alaqah described in Quran .. What is the answers to all these false claims???

To answer these claims, it will be easier to divide the answer into 3 parts :

1- The  appropriate meaning of alaqah:

The word alaqah in Arabic language has several meanings , the first one   is ” attached and hanging to something ” , which a derivative of the Arabic verb “alaqa ” .

When we review the scientific description of the embryo at the early developmental stages in modern embryology , it will be clear that the meaning of ” attached and hanging” that indicated by the word  the alaqah ,  is in complete accordance with the embryo at this stage of its life . How??

At the blastocyst stage , after rupture of the zona pellucida on about  the 5th day , the inner cell mass (which will form the embryo in the future) is suspended inside the blastocyst and attached to uterine endometrium . The adherence of the blastocyst to the endometrium  and begining of implantation , as it have been described , ends the nutfah stage and begins the alaqah stage. At  about , 7 and half  days , the blastocyst has been superficially implanted in the uterine endometrium , and the process of implantation is complete at day 9 ( or 10 ) after fertilization .

The last point of the blastocyst to enter the endometrium is the abembryonic pole and the defect in the endometrium at the site of entry is closed by a fibrin clot. At  the 11th (or 12th ) day after  fertilization , the blastocyst is completely implanted in the uterine stroma and is causing a slight protrusion into the uterine cavity with complete covering of the initial defect in the endometrium by the endometrial epithelium,  through the growth of the tissue surrounding it.

When any one study the photos and diagrams accompanying this explanation , it will be clearly appreciated that the part of the nutfah which will form the embryo is the inner cell mass . That is  a mass of condensed cells that are suspended inside the blastocyst and changed later on into a flat plate of 2 rows of cells that , after the formation of amniotic cavity , become the embryonic disc  , that is also suspended inside chorionic vesicle and connected to its wall by the connecting stalk.

According to  that , the accuracy of  an “alaqah” or a meaning indicating suspension or hanging of the embryo , as described in Qura’n becomes clearly appreciated and is in complete accordance with modern embryology. This answers all who are doubting the miraculous description of Qura’n.

The description of an alaqah to denote hanging of embryo to the uterus by the umbilical cord  is considered a scientific error , because the embryo remains suspended by umbilical cord until the end of pregnancy and the alaqah stage , as we previously described , ends about 24th or 25th day , when somites (that are characteristic features of the next stage , the mudghah ) begin to appear on the embryo.

Accordingly, we can describe that creation of man from an alaqah  or alaq as reported in Qura’n  , refers to his creation from that suspended cellular mass ( or in embryological terms , the inner cell mass and all cells derived from it until the embryonic disc is formed ) that fits the description of alaqah to mean attached and hanging to something …

2- Alaqah is not a clotted blood nor a leech:

As regard the explanation of alaqah to be a clotted blood or a leech , this interpretation is wrong and  is completely refused , even if given by Muslim scholars , commentators and non-specialized scientists. We should not absolutely  assign misconceptions of ancient commentators and non specialized  scientists to be faults of  the great Qura’n . Why??  Suppose that someone saw an animal passing before him and it was dark that he could not clearly see the animal , he guessed that it was a dog as it is the animal familiar to him and accordingly he reported that he had seen a dog . Then , another person saw the same animal in the same darkness , and guessed that it was a fox  as it is the animal familiar to him and accordingly he reported that he had seen a fox . At last , a third person having a source of light and saw the same animal and clearly identified it and reported that he had seen a wolf ! Which one of the three persons  is telling the truth??

In fact, no one can  falsify the first or second person or consider them wrong , the absence of clear vision made them believe that they were telling the truth , despite it was not in accordance with the true description . On contrary , the last person , who had a method that enabled him to clearly see and identify the animal , it is logical that  what he had reported  is truth  and is in accordance with reality…

If any one applied the previous presumptive story to the opinions of  ancient commentators of Qura’n for the verses which  deal with scientific issues , no one can deny their explanation that they had reached depending upon the data available at their time .

Nowadays , after the availability of atool  that could give us a better understanding of the scientific verses of Qur’an , that is the great advances in experimental sciences , we can refuse the old interpretation and introduce the new one that is in accordance with scientific facts . This disagreement with ancient commentators is not wrong and do not offend Quran , which is the word of Allah , that could not be approached by falsehood ; as Allah , the Almighty , Said about Qura’n : “ Falsehood cannot come at it from before it or from behind it. (It is) a revelation from the Wise, the Praised one ” (Surah Fussilat ; 41 : Ayah 42) .

Thus , it is not logical to consider the mis-understanding of older commentators or the inaccurate translations of the verses of Qura’n by translators who are not fluent in Arabic language , to be an evidence to the presence of scientific errors in Qura’n , as alleged by the enemies to this great religion …

Alaqah is not a leech

Now , we come to those who described the embryo to be similar to a leech , including the book titled ” Embryo and Qura’n” that was issued by the international commission of scientific signs in Qura’n and Sunnah which was the reference to this description.  The similarity to a leech depended  upon comparing the side view of a leech to a longitudinal section in an embryo , however , the comparison in this way is not scientifically accurate . Despite the noble aim of those Muslim scholars, in their trial to prove that the embryo during alaqah is similar in shape to the leech , to make all the meanings of the term alaqah in Arabic coincide with description of embryo at this time , yet  this description was unfortunately scientifically incorrect due to the following reasons :

First ; a section in an embryo could not give an idea about its shape , as changing the direction of the section would change the resulting shape in the section produced.

Second ; for sound comparison , sections in both leech and embryo , should be the same and this was not done.

Third ; the most important one , there is no stage at all  in embryo development where the embryo is similar to a leech , so those who claim this similarity should revise first the sound knowledge before unfairly sticking such wrong data to the holy Qura’n…

However , it is possible to accept that the embryo at alaqah is similar in behavior , which is very important , not in shape or appearance to a leech  living in water ponds  and attaching itself to animals and thrives on their blood  .  If any one review  the embryo during the period of alaqah in modern embryology , he will find it to be in the form of a flat disc,  being bathed from above and below with fluid in both amniotic cavity and yolk sac , and receiving  its initial nourishment via diffusion from the yolk sac and later from the maternal blood .

Thus , it is stressed here that the embryo is similar to a leech  only in behavior , and  this point was clarified to prevent  the mis-understanding or the faulty interpretation of the verses to be unfairly attributed to Qura’n  , which  could give a chance to the enemies of this religion to overcome it…

Alaqah is not a blood clot

As regard the description of alaqah to be a clotted blood , this is also another  meaning of the term alaqah in Arabic that was,  unfortunately used in the books of  interpretations of Qura’n and in most translations of Qura’n , depending upon Arabic dictionaries and ancient Arabic poets where an alaqah denotes  the blood in general or the thick clotted blood .

According to these meanings  , the objectors to Qura’n miracles claim that the embryo in alaqah is in the form of a clotted blood which is a scientific error of Qura’n , as there is no stage of embryo development in which it is a clotted blood .  This view was also reported in the book titled ” Embryo and Qura’n” , issued by the international commission of scientific signs in Qura’n and Sunnah , and also in all sites that copied from  this book , probably,  to approximate the meaning of clotted blood to the embryo at alaqah period. To explain that , it was  that during  alaqah the primitive cardiovascular system is developing in the intra-embryonic mesoderm  ( between the two layers of the embryonic disc ) .

Scientifically , at this time ( about day 21) , the primitive cardiovascular system is in the form of  2 endothelial tubes , called dorsal aortae, one on each side of the developing notochord .  In the same time, primitive blood vessels are developing in the mesoderm of the yolk sac , called the vitelline vessels , in mesoderm of the wall of the chorionic vesicle , called  chorionic vessels, and in the mesoderm of the connecting stalk , called the umbilical vessels . The 2 dorsal aortae are bent cranially to join the cranial end of heart tube ( the future heart ) and are connected caudally with the umbilical arteries that pass through the umbilical cord to reach the placenta. Therefore , the external appearance of the embryo and its sacs , during this period  of  the alaqah stage , is similar to a mass of clotted blood.

The previous interpretation is more suitable to the later part of the alaqah period , as the primitive cardiovascular system is developing and the aforementioned the primitive blood vessels are like a closed network  containing  blood which, though in a fluid state , it does not circulate  until the end of the 3^rd week ( as the primitive heart begins to beat  with the start of the 4 ^th week , when the blood circulation begins). The primitive cardiovascular system  could not be seen by naked eye , and this minute details were not  known except  recently . Moreover ,suppose that pregnancy have been terminated at this stage , and this conceptus was aborted from the uterus , What would be seen ? only pieces of damaged tissues and clotted parts of blood!!

Although the above facts about the development of the cardiovascular system are scientifically correct , yet the assumption that the embryo during alaqah is in the form of a clotted blood is completely refused . This refusal depends upon the fact that the word alaqah in Arabic  has several meanings , one of them is a clotted blood , which is not suitable in use in describing the stages of embryo development . Therefore , the most accurate and suitable meaning to alaqah , as we have described above  , is attached and hanging to something , which is also a meaning to alaqah in Arabic language.

At last , a word to all who are against the scientific miracles of Qura’n in the description of embryonic stages , Allah , the Almighty , Said : ” O People of the scripture (Jews and Christians) why do you clothe (combine) truth with falsehood , and conceal  the truth while you  know (the truth of prophet-hood of Muhammad in your scriptures “ ( Surah Al-Imran ; 3 : Ayah 71) ; He also Said : “…..And those who disbelieve (in Allah),  dispute with falsehood  in order to refute the truth thereby , and they assume My signs (miracles) and My warnings (to torture them) as a jest “ (Surah Al-Kahf ; 18 : Ayah 56 ).