Miracle Of Human Creation
I know this is tooooooo much for a simple reading. I wished i could highlight some points for you but it may takes time. Moreover, everybody even a 10 year old school children has some basic knowledge about this nowadays. But its interesting to know about this in a more Islamic perspective of view and what is says in the Quran. Help to undertsand about yourself and The Creator, Allah S.W.T better, insyaAllah...=>by Harun Yahya from Goodword Book
INTRODUCTION
The human body is the most complicated machine in the world. We see with it, hear with it, breathe with it, walk and run with it, and sense pleasure with it. Its bones, muscles, arteries, veins and internal organs are organized with marvellous design, and when we examine this design in detail we find even more amazing facts. Every part of the body, though each may seem to be so different from another, is made up of the same material: cells.
Cells, each of which is one thousandth of a millimetre, are the structural units that form our body and everything in it. Some of these cells unite to form bones, others to form nerves, the liver, the inner layer of the stomach, the skin or the cornea of the eyeball. Each has the size and shape that exactly meet the requirement of that part of the body.
How and when did cells, which have such varied functions, come into being?
The answer to this question will take us into a process whose every moment is filled with mystery. All the approximately 100 trillion cells that make up your body today came from the division of one single cell. That single cell which had the same structure as all the cells in your body now, came from the union of your mother's egg cell and your father's sperm cell.
In the Qur'an, God sometimes refers to the wonders of the earth and the sky, and sometimes to the mysteries of the creation of living things as various signs of His existence. One of the most important of these signs is His wondrous creation of human beings.
In many verses, as a lesson to human beings, God advises them to turn and look at their own creation. He explains in detail how human beings come to be and what stages they pass through. In Sura 56, He tells of human creation:
We created you, so why do you not confirm the truth? Have you thought about the sperm that you ejaculate? Is it you who create it or are We the Creator? (Qur'an, 56: 57-59)
The essence of a human being composed of 60-70 kilos of flesh and a mass of bones was originally contained in a drop of fluid. It is certainly a wonder that an intelligent, feeling human being with the faculties of speech and hearing and with a remarkably complex physical structure could come into existence from a drop of fluid. This development was certainly not the result of a random process or the operation of chance, but rather of a conscious process of Creation.
We created man from the purest kind of clay; then made him a drop in a secure receptacle; then formed the drop into a clot and formed the clot into a lump and formed the lump into bones and clothed the bones in flesh; and then brought him into being as another creature. Blessed be God, the Best of Creators! (Qur'an, 23: 12-14)
A Miraculous System Created for a New Life
In order for the miracle of human creation to happen, the necessary preparations actually begin many years earlier. First, male and female reproductive cells must become functional. This comes about in every human being through the process called puberty. The most important element in this process is certainly the hormonal system, which establishes communication among the cells under the direction of the brain.
God created a system in which all the needs of the human body and its development would be under the control of the brain. He caused messages coming to the brain from the organs to be evaluated by the brain, which then gives the appropriate response; this is then delivered to the required area in the shortest possible time. In this process the hormonal system is used to deliver the information. God has created in the human body a perfect postal route for communication. On this postal route, message-carrying molecules are called "hormones" each one of which really performs the function of a postman. Just as a postman follows his route throughout the city, delivering letters to the right addresses, so do hormones carry commands from the brain to the relevant cells. In this way, the functions required for human life are activated within the body.
But here we must be reminded that hormones are not human beings who possess the consciousness to know what messages to carry or to what place to carry them, or to determine the direction of their route. They have not received training, nor have they gained experience after years of studies. It will finds its way without ever getting lost in the total darkness of a human body millions of times larger than itself. The hypothalamus is regarded as the controller of the hormonal system; in puberty, it begins to send messages to the pituitary gland to cause the reproductive organs to begin functioning.
The hypothalamus is aware of the developments in the human body. It sends the messages (hormones) at exactly the right moment to the destined reproductive organs and assures the beginning of the development required to allow the human race to How does the hypothalamus make such calculations? Has someone told the hypothalamus what it must do, or has it found out for itself? How does the hypothalamus calculate that the reproductive glands must develop in order for a human being to come into being? How does it know that this particular hormone must be secreted at this particular time? And how does it determine, among all the hormones that it produces, which one will set the reproductive system in operation at exactly the right time? Does it have the foresight to decide on some plan for the future, and make the requisite provisions and preparations to carry out this plan? Why does it wait until the exact time, neither sooner nor later, when the human body is physiologically ready for reproduction?
That everything is in God's control is revealed in the verse:
... God is watchful over all things. (Qur'an, 33: 52)
The Development of Reproductive Cells
While a human being is still a newly fertilised egg cell in his mother's womb, God determines all the qualities that he will have in the future and imprints them in the DNA molecules. DNA is found in every one of the approximately 100 trillion cells of our body. if we think about this, we can more easily understand how much information is stored in such a small space.
In the process of His creation, every human being receives one of these two chromosome volumes from his mother and the other from his father. The 23 chromosomes that come from the mother and the 23 that come from the father are of are complementary to one another. That is, the 46 chromosomes in the nucleus of a human cell are actually 23 pairs of chromosomes. The 23rd chromosome has a special function: it is usually denoted by the letter X or Y. In males, one of the members of the pair is the X chromosome, the other is the Y chromosome; in females, the 23rd chromosome is composed of two X's.
In light of this information a question comes to mind: if every human cell is composed of 46 chromosomes, how is it that as a result of the combination of a mother's and a father's cells, the newly born individual has 46 chromosomes? It would seem logical for the mother's 46 chromosomes and the father's 46 chromosomes to produce an abnormal baby with 92 chromosomes. But this is not the case. How is it then that everyone is born with 46 chromosomes?
The answer to this question shows the great wonder of creation.
An Unerring Division...
In the cells of the body two kinds of division take place. Of these, the kind of division called "mitosis" occurs in all the body's cells. During mitosis, one cell gives rise to two genetically identical daughter cells. As a result of this division, the mother cell divides to form two daughter cells, each containing the same number and kind of chromosomes as the mother cell.
Here, it is necessary to make one point clear at the outset. If the reproductive cells divided in this way and if they had the same number of chromosomes as the other cells in the body, it would not be possible for a human being to become a human being because, as we explained above, a birth resulting from the combination of the separate 46 chromosomes of the mother and father would produce a baby with 96 chromosomes causing a complete distortion of the human make-up. But because of the incomparable design of our bodies this does not happen. The kind of division that happens in the formation of the reproductive cells is different; it is called "meiosis". In the course of "meiosis" the number of chromosomes in the cells is reduced by half, that is from 46 to 23.
A PERFECT ARMY SET ON ITS GOAL
A Fluid with a Complex Structure: Semen
When the sperm begins its journey, the prostate gland secretes a fluid and immediately afterwards another fluid comes from the seminal vesicles; they join the sperm and semen is produced. All together they travel towards the mother's body. The function of these fluids is to have the nourishment ready to provide the energy that the sperm need, and particularly to neutralize the acids at the entrance to the mother's uterus, making an environment in which the sperm can move more easily.
The whole of this fluid which is ejected from the male body for the process of fertilisation is called semen. 10% of it comes from the sperm canals, 60% from the seminal vesicles, 30% from the prostate gland and the rest is sperm cells and a small quantity of fluids from other secretory glands.7 That is, what we call semen is a complex combination of fructose, phosphorylcholine, ergothioneine, ascorbic acid, flavins, prostaglandins, citric acid, cholesterol, zinc, acid phosphatase, lactic acid, fibrinolytic and proteolytic enzymes, hyaluronidase and sperm.8 We have before our eyes a wonder that God has revealed in the Qur'an.
In many places in the Qur'an God calls attention to human creation and commands us to think about this matter. Scientists who have investigated these verses of the Qur'an have discovered that a number of wonders of the Qur'an are hidden in those verses that give information about human creation. For example, it has been discovered in research done with the help of modern scientific technology that semen is composed of a mixture of different substances. But this information was made known in the Qur'an 1400 years ago. Semen is described as a "mingled" drop in the Qur'an:
We created man from a mingled drop to test him, and We made him hearing and seeing. (Qur'an, 76: 2)
Of the components which make up this fluid, only one sperm fertilises the egg. A large number of people think that the semen as a whole does the fertilising; however, only a small part of the semen, a sperm, does this. That is, a human being comes into being not from the semen as a whole, but from a small part of it (the sperm).
In the course of sexual union, along with the semen, about 250-300 million sperm are ejaculated from the male. But out of millions of sperm, only about 1000 manage to reach the egg and of these 1000, the egg will only receive one. That is, the essence of a human being is not contained in the semen as a whole, but just in a small part of it. This fact, about which many people either have no knowledge or are misinformed even today, was revealed in the Qur'an 1,400 years ago. The Qur'an explains this reality in these words:
Does man reckon he will be left to go on unchecked? Was he not a drop of ejaculated sperm? (Qur'an, 75: 36-37)
In another verse, it is indicated again that semen is a mixture and humanity is created out of the "extract" of this mixture.
He has created all things in the best possible way. He commenced the creation of man from clay; then produced his seed from an extract of discarded fluid. (Qur'an, 32: 7-8)
If we examine the meaning of the Arabic in this verse, it becomes clear that we are confronted with a wonder of the Qur'an. The English word "extract" translates the Arabic "sulala"; and means the essence or the best part of a thing. By either implication, it is "a part of a whole".
This shows clearly that the Qur'an is the word of a Will that knows about human creation down to the finest detail. This Will belongs to God, the Creator of human beings.
Systems Created for Each Other
When the sperm leave the male body in the semen, they are not completely ready to fertilise the egg.
In order for the process of fertilisation to be facilitated, a number of systems in the female body must be made ready. At this point, some fluids secreted in the female reproductive system come to the help of the sperm by increasing the sperm's ability to fertilise the egg. These are some of the changes that take place in the sperm after they reach the female body:
1. The fluids secreted in the woman's uterus and fallopian tubes contain a chemical that destroys those factors that retard the movements of the sperm in the male reproductive tract. In this way, the movement of the sperm that reach the female reproductive tract is increased.
2. The fluids in the male reproductive tract (seminiferous tubules, in the epididymis, and in the vas deferens) all contain a high level of cholesterol. The cholesterol is continually donated to the cellular membrane covering the acrosome, toughening this membrane and preventing release of the enzymes prematurely.
3. The permeability of the membrane in the head of the sperm which enters the female body increases in relation to calcium ions. With the entrance of a great quantity of calcium into the sperm cell, the movement of the sperm increases. The whip-like tail (flagellum) which causes the movement of the sperm .
all these systems are each a proof of the endless knowledge and power of God Who created everything. God has created in the depths of the human body wonders that are too small for the eye to see and beyond the capacity of the human mind to comprehend. By this, He points out that there are proofs for faith that occur in the body, which are totally independent of human will and knowledge. And He reminds us that His dominion is over everything, including human beings themselves.
Truly, your Lord is vast in forgiveness. He knew you well when He created you of earth, and when you were embryos in your mothers' wombs. So do not claim purity for yourselves. He knows best those who guard themselves against evil. (Qur'an, 53: 32)
THE ROLE OF THE EGG CELL IN THE FORMATION OF A NEW HUMAN BEING
Preparations for Fertilisation
In order for fertilisation to take place, the changes that take place in the uterus are not limited to these. During this period the tubes expand; under the influence of the oestrogen hormones, the mucous membrane that lines the uterus increases in size and weight. The epithelial cells membranous tissues composed of one or more layers of cells separated by very little intercellular substance proliferate. This structure in the mucous assumes a shape that will permit the sperm to pass through these spaces with the movement of its tail. Besides allowing the sperm to move easily, this transformation has another very important function: the tissues serve as a storage and filter area, allowing only normal sperm to pass. Sometimes the sperm do not have a shape that can ensure fertilisation. In this case, they are suspended in these tissues.
As can be seen from the foregoing, it is evident that every movement in the uterus and ovaries is specially designed for the sperm to reach the egg cell. For example, after ovulation has occurred and the possibility for an egg to meet a sperm has been ensured, the mucous begins to perform a reverse operation: it becomes thick and dense, preventing the sperm from entering.
This clearly shows that the great harmony that exists between the male and female reproductive cells is the work of a deliberate and planned creation. It is Almighty God, the Lord of the universe Who has created mankind from a drop of fluid, male and female, in harmony with each other. Human beings should consider the perfection of God's creation and submit themselves unconditionally to Him, bowing before the eternal power of the Lord.
And in your creation and all the creatures He has spread about, there are Signs for true believers. (Qur'an, 45: 4)
The Sperm Meets the Egg
How will the sperm pass through these obstacles?
In that section of the sperm called the "acrosome", about which we spoke earlier, the hyaluronidase and proteolytic enzymes are stored. The hyaluronidase enzyme in the acrosome breaks down a substance (hyaluronic acid) binding the multiple layers of granulosa cells attached to the outside of the ovum. In this way, it opens a way for the sperm to traverse the egg envelope. The proteolytic enzymes ensure the dissolution of the proteins in the tissues attached to the egg. With the help of these two enzymes, the sperm reaches the egg.15
It is not the sperm itself which does these things. it is impossible for the sperm by itself to form the system in the human body which will produce this enzyme. For example, if you ask anyone who has not had training in medicine or chemistry the name of the enzyme that destroys the structure of hyaluronic acid, or if you asked him to write the formula of the structure of this acid, he would certainly not be able to give you an answer. But a sperm cell does things that a conscious human would not be able to do; with a seeming awareness of chemical formulas which it could not, however, know, it contains substances within its own body to ensure reaching its goal. The perfect design in the structure of sperm is one of the plainest proofs of the fact that God created human beings, together with everything else.
The Last Stage of Fertilisation
When the sperm enters the egg, it sheds its tail and leaves it outside. We may compare this to a space shuttle which detaches its fuel tank when returning to earth. As we know, when the fuel tanks which carry the shuttle outside the earth's atmosphere have fulfilled their purpose, they are released into space; when the fuel inside them is used up, the tanks are an unnecessary weight. To facilitate leaving the earth's atmosphere, it is necessary that these tanks be released at exactly the right time. In the same way, the tail of the sperm, which provides the required energy and movement capability, is left behind as the sperm attempts to enter the egg.
THE CREATION OF A HUMAN BEING FROM A CELL
The Transformation Begins:
The Three Stages of the Baby in the Womb
Today we know that the baby undergoes three stages of embryonic development while it is in the mother's womb. But this information, which it has taken long years of research to attain with the help of modern technology, was made known in the Qur'an 1400 years ago. These scientific facts are revealed in this verse:
... 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 development 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 fertilised 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 continue 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 is now called the foetus. This stage begins from the eighth week of pregnancy and continues to birth. In this stage, as distinct from the earlier ones, the face, hands and feet of the foetus become distinguishable and it takes the external appearance of a human being. At the beginning of this stage, all the organs of the 3 cm. foetus are in place. This stage lasts for thirty weeks and development continues until the week of birth.
The Special Protective System Prepared For the Embryo
The cells which attach to the mother's uterus continue to develop and be nourished in this secure place. But this is an amazing thing, because the quickly growing embryo is normally confronted by a serious danger—the mother's immune system.
The immune system regards every kind of foreign material entering the body as an enemy and attacks it. The embryo's genetic make-up is different from that of the mother and, for her body, it is a foreign organism. The moment the mother's defensive cells become aware of the presence of this foreign organism, they rush towards the uterus. If no special precautions were taken, the defensive cells would surely kill the embryo.
But there is no such occurrence under healthy conditions, because the embryo is taken from the beginning under special protection.
Before the embryo attaches itself to the wall of the uterus, trophoblast cells begin to form around the surface of the embryo, forming a kind of filter between the mother's blood vessels and the embryo. The mother's immune cells are unable to detect the trophoblastic tissues because they lack some proteins that most other cells carry and which help the immune cells to detect them. Thanks to this characteristic of trophoblast cells, the embryo is protected from assault by the maternal immune system. Moreover, some of the trophoblast cells assist in causing oxygen, nutrients and other necessary substances to reach the embryo.On the seventh day, these cells send out projections in every direction and begin to grow. The purpose of this change is to penetrate into the wall of the uterus. During this passage, they meet the mother's blood vessels and penetrate their outer surface. So, within 7-8 days, the embryonic tissue becomes connected to the mother's blood.
The Placenta: The Bridge of Life
Life support systems produced by the latest technology, used in most hospitals and valued at millions of dollars, are primitive and nearly useless when compared with a piece of flesh weighing only a few kilograms. This piece of flesh is the placenta, called by scientists "the real hero of birth".32
At a particular time the embryo begins to take nutrients, oxygen and other material from the mother's blood. The placenta, which is created to supply all the needs of the developing foetus, acts as a bridge ensuring the passage of this material between the mother and the foetus (From the beginning of the third month, the embryo is called a foetus). The placenta is filled with soft blood vessels which will carry to the baby the nutrient material seeping from among the trophoblast cells; it sends all this nutrient material, oxygen, and important minerals such as iron and calcium that come from the mother, first to the umbilical cord and then to the capillary vessels of the foetus. Moreover, the placenta not only ensures the supply of nutrients needed for the metabolism of the foetus, it also chooses and transports to the foetus the nutrients needed for the formation of its tissues. The placenta selects these elements and takes them from the mother's blood. This is generally done by special carriers. The placenta also expertly performs the reverse operation, carrying waste material from the foetus to the mother's blood.
Preparations for the World Outside
The baby, whose organs are slowly developing and who is beginning to move, awaits a further development. In order for the baby to survive in an environment totally different from the secure one in which it now lives, it is necessary that the required arrangements be made.
To this end, the baby needs to start moving slowly and put its newly formed organs into operation. This problem has been solved in the most wonderful way. In the membrane separating the baby from the uterus, a special fluid called "amniotic fluid" begins to be produced. The baby's kidneys and lungs, the amniotic membrane and the surrounding uterus contribute to the formation of this fluid.
Preparations for the First Breath
After birth the most important thing for the baby is to breathe; it is necessary that the lungs, which had never known air before, fill with it and start to breathe. The baby, who had previously received oxygen from the mother's blood, must now take it from the air with his own lungs. And in a miraculous way, the lungs, when had never taken a breath before the first moment of birth, begin to breathe quite normally.
At the moment the baby is born, God creates everything in readiness and ensures that the preparation of the lungs has been completed as required. For the preparation of the lungs, the diaphragm comes into play; it is located between the stomach and the rib cage. The diaphragm begins to function towards the sixth month of pregnancy. At first it expands and contracts intermittently several times an hour, but after birth it will do this continuously.
It can be seen from this that the baby is constantly under special protection, but it must be remembered that this is not the mother's protection. As the foetus develops, the mother carries on her normal life; none of the changes in her body are under her control. Even if she wanted to intervene, she could not. All these developments occur by the eternal power of our Lord. God has created all the things required for a child to come into the world as a normal human being in the most wonderful way. All the needs of the baby while it is in the foetus stage are met, and the mother is spared the necessity of thinking about what she must do to bring the baby into the world and ensure that the baby will survive.
Even if she thought about doing something to this end, there is nothing she could do. For example, taking waste material from the body of the foetus into her own kidneys, purifying it and discharging it are things which no mother could do on her own. It is God Who determines all the needs for a new human being to come into the world and constructs the system in the way that will best respond to these needs.
The First Food of This World: MOTHER'S MILK
And these stages continue after the baby has come into the world. The production of milk by the mother increases according to the baby's need for nourishment. In the first days, up to 50 g. is produced; in the sixth month, the production may be as high as one litre. Those scientists who have tried to find the formula for mother's milk have been unsuccessful after long investigations because there is no standard type of mother's milk. In every mother's body, milk is produced according to the needs of her own baby, and this milk nourishes the baby in a way that no other extraneous nourishment can. Research has shown that the antibodies, hormones, vitamins and minerals in mother's milk are determined by the needs of the baby.
It can be understood from this confession that Haeckel's attempts to use embryology as a proof for evolution are completely without foundation and amount to nothing more than sophistry. The details we have given in the course of this book, as general as they were, of the miracle of human creation are an undeniable proof of the truth of creation.
posted by Balqis @ 4:29 PM
Comments: 0
