Page 80 - The Miracle of Human Creation
P. 80

THE MIRACLE OF HUMAN CREATION


                                                          ... He creates you stage by
                   stage in your mothers'
                   wombs in a threefold
                   darkness. That is God,
                   your Lord. Sovereignty is
                   His. There is no god but
                   Him. So what has made
                   you turn away from
                   Him? (Qur'an, 39: 6)
                   It will be noticed that
              this verse shows that three
              distinct stages occur in the deve-
              lopment of a human being while it is in the mother's
              womb. Indeed, modern biology has established that the baby in the
              mother's womb does go through three different stages of development,
              just as is stated in this verse. This is a matter of basic information in all the
              books on embryology required to be read as textbooks today in medical
              faculties. For example, Basic Human Embryology, a standard basic work of
              reference on embryology, makes the following statement:

                   The life in the uterus has three stages: (i) pre-embryonic: first two
                   and a half weeks; (ii) embryonic: until the end of the eighth week,
                   and (iii) fetal: from the eighth week to labour. 20
                   These stages comprise the various developmental phases of the baby.
              The salient features of these three stages can be summarized as follows:
                   - Pre-embryonic stage: In this first stage the zygote (the newly fer-
              tilised cell) multiplies. Within the first three weeks, after it has become a
              cluster of cells, it embeds itself in the wall of the uterus. As the cells con-
              tinue to multiply, they form three layers.
                   - The embryonic stage: The second stage lasts a total of five and a
              half weeks, during which the baby is called the embryo. In this stage the
              basic organs and systems of the body take shape from the cell layers.
                   - The foetal stage: Entering the third stage of pregnancy, the embryo



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