Misconception of
the hadith describing development in the first 40 days
As regard the hadith narrated by Ibn Mas'ud
: the prophet ( peace and blessings be upon him ), the most
truthful and trusted , told us : In any one of
you , all components of
his creation are collected together in his mother’s womb by 40 days , and in
that it is an alaqah like that , then in that it is a mudghah like that. Then
God sends an angle and order him with four instructions. He is told to record his livelihood ( his
sustenance ) , his age , his deeds , whether he will be miserable or happy , and then the spirit
is breathed into him ( the soul is acquired)...” ( revealed
in Sahih Muslim, book of destiny " in Arabic Kitab al-Kadar" and also in
Sahih Al-Bukhari , beginning of creation book "in Arabic Kitab Ba'doul Khalq " ;
the words of the hadith mentioned above is that shown by Muslim narration
, which the the same as that shown in the narration of Al-Bukhari , except
that the phrase “in that” was not
mentioned ).
There is a great controversy about
the timetable of the nutfah, alaqah and mudghah
stages in the previous hadith , some
understood that "like that" referred to the period of 40 days
and concluded that the nutfah, alaqah and mudghah
stages occur in sequential 40 day intervals. Thus , the completion of the mudghah stage occurs after 120 days. That interpretation
is not correct at all , and it should be rejected due to the following reasons :
1-The
Our'an indicates that the bones begin to form after the mudghah stage ; chapter 23( Al- Mu'minun) , verse 14 : "We
changed the mudghah into izam (bones) ..." , and the
Prophet states in the hadith narrated by Hudhaifah that the bones begin
their formation immediately after 42 days from the beginning of the nutfah formation.
This hadith states : "
When 42 nights have passed over the
nutfah ( a drop of mingled fluid ), God sends an angel to it, who shapes it (into human form) and makes its hearing, sight, skin, muscles and bones... " (Sahih Muslim : Book of destiny , in Arabic called Kitab Al-Qadar). Thus , to say that the bones are formed after 120
days would be in contradiction with the apparent meaning of the
hadith narrated
by Hudhaifah, that showed that
bones are formed after 42days.
2-The hadith
narrated by Ibn Mas'ud , as described above has been reported
in Sahih Muslim and Sahih Al-Bukhari , but in Sahih Muslim the phrase "in that "
was included in two places ; " and in that it is an alaqah like that , then in that it is a mudghah like that." i.e. between "and" and "it
is an alaqah " and between "then" and "it is a mudghah " , and this addition
of the phrase "in that " is considered a part of the preceding hadith
. On this basis, the
version of the hadith reported by Muslim
indicates that the stages of nutfah, alaqah, and mudghah are completed during the first 40
days , although the word nutfah is not mentioned in the text of this hadith.
3-According to embryological studies , osteogenesis becomes evident immediately after the 6th , and not after the 17th
week ( about 120 days) . This is in accordance with the explicit
meaning of the hadith as the phrase , “ like that” can not refer to similarity with regard
to the period of 40 days. Moreover , the hadith of Hudhaifah, mentioned
above, prevents us from interpreting “like that” as referring to “40 days”, because in Islamic rules the collective meaning in one text should be understood according to a
detailed, manifest meaning in another one.
4-The demonstrative article “like that” can not
refer to “ the mother’s womb”, since its repetition is inconsistent with the prophet’s eloquence. Otherwise, the text would read : “ In every one of you, all components of your creation are collected together in your mother’s womb by 40 days, then in that womb it is an alaqah like that , then in that womb it is a mudghah like that”. Since the demonstrative “like that”
refers neither to “40 days” nor to “mother’s womb”, then , it refers to
collecting the components of creation together. Ibn Az-Zamlakani , an ancient Muslim scholar , concluded that in the aforementioned 40 days, the meaning of being collected in the mother's womb means being perfected and completely created human being . In that 40 days , the conceptus will be an alaqah which is completely and perfectly created , in the most possible completion and perfection for it , that befits His favors (of God) . Similarly, in that 40 days , the mudghah is fully
developed and perfected, as the perfect and complete creation of the whole embryo in aforementioned 40 days...
Thus , is clear now that the hadith narrated by Ibn Mas'ud indicate that the nutfah, alaqah and mudghah stages occur in the first 40 days , and the completion of the mudghah stage is not after 120 days. Moreover, there is no contradiction between the hadith and modern science.
