Page 170 - Allah's Miracles in the Qur'an

Allah's Miracles in the Qur'an

From what thing did He create him? From a drop of sperm He created
him and proportioned him. Then He eases the way for him. (Qur'an,
80:18-20)

The word "qaddara," translated as "proportioned" in the above
verse, comes from the Arabic verb "qadara." It translates as "arranging,
setting out, planning, programming, seeing the future, the writing of
everything in destiny (by Allah)."
When the father's sperm cell fertilises the mother's egg, the par-
ents' genes combine to determine all of the baby's physical characteris-
tics. Each one of these thousands of genes has a specific function. It is
the genes which determine the colour of the eyes and hair, height, facial
features, skeletal shape and the countless details in the internal organs,
brain, nerves and muscles. In addition to all the physical characteris-
tics, thousands of different processes taking place in the cells and body-
and indeed the control of the whole system-are recorded in the genes.
For example, whether a person's blood pressure is generally high, low

or normal depends on the information in his or her genes.
The first cell which forms when the sperm and the egg are joined
also forms the first copy of the DNA molecule which will carry the code
in every cell of the person's body, right up until death. DNA is a mole-
cule of considerable size. It is carefully protected within the nucleus of
the cell and this molecule is an information bank of the human body as
it contains the genes we mentioned above. The first cell, the fertilised
egg, then divides and multiplies in the light of the program recorded in
the DNA. The tissues and organs begin to form: This is the beginning
of a human being. The coordination of this complex structuring is
brought about by the DNA molecule. This is a molecule consisting of
atoms such as carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen.

The information capacity recorded in DNA is of a size which

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