EVOLUTION OF THE EMBRYO INSIDE THE UTERUS

The Challenge of The Qur’an ~ 371 ~ clad in flesh (defined by a different word from the preceding which signifies ‘intact flesh’). “We fashioned the thing which clings into a chewed lump of flesh and We fashioned the chewed flesh into bones and We clothed the bones with intact flesh.” (23:14) ‘Chewed flesh’ is the translation of the word mudga; ‘intact flesh’ is lahm. This distinction needs to be stressed. The embryo is initially a small mass. At a certain stage in its development, it looks to the naked eye like chewed flesh. The bone structure develops inside this mass in what is called the mesenchyma. The bones that are formed are covered in muscle; the word lahm applies to them. It is known how certain parts appear to be completely out of proportion during embryonic development with what is later to become the individual, while others remain in proportion. This is surely the meaning of the word mukallaq which signifies ‘shaped in proportion’ as used in verse 5, sura 22 to describe this phenomenon.