Fetus in three layers of darkness. Meaning?

Fetus in three layers of darkness. Meaning?

The author of wikiislam.net says:

" The word butun (بطن) means belly/abdomen/midriff, though some translators like to use the more specific word "womb". Tafsirs interpreted the "three darknesses" as the placenta, womb (uterus) and belly. There are in fact many more layers in the human body such as the endometrium, myometrium, perimetrium, peritoneum, besides the cervix uteri, corpus uteri, abdomen (with walls), and placenta (with layers). The idea of three membranes around the fetus (chorion, allantois, and amnion) was taught by the highly influential Greek physician, Galen. Perhaps the Qur'anic author is simply repeating this idea, which applies only to the embryonic membranes.

The allantois is a sac-like structure which becomes part of the umbilical cord, hardly a 'a darkness' for the embryo. The other two membranes, the chorion and amnion, together form the amniotic sac, which is quite thin and transparent.

He created you from one soul. Then He made from it its mate, and He produced for you from the grazing livestock eight mates. He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, within three darknesses. That is Allah, your Lord; to Him belongs dominion. There is no deity except Him, so how are you averted?    Quran 39:6

REPLY:

Let us see the verse:

 يَخْلُقُكُمْ فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ خَلْقًا مِنْ بَعْدِ خَلْقٍ فِي ظُلُمَاتٍ ثَلاَثٍ

"He shapes you in the wombs of your mothers from one creative phase into the next in sequence (and completes the process) in three layers of darkness.'' Al Quran 39:6 (translation by Dr Tahir Ul Qadri)

It seems that the author of wikiislam.net desires to prove the Holy Quran wrong by hook or by crook. He stressfully mingles the Quranic verse with Greek embryology and relies on his personal interpretation that the ''three veils of darkness'' refer to ''allantois, chorion, and amnion''. It is against the case. The best tafsir is the one that came in Hadith. We read in Majma Ul Bayan Volume 8 page 766:

عن ابی جعفر علیہ السلام ؛ ظلمۃ البطن و ظلمۃ الرحم و ظلمۃ المشیمۃ

''It is reported from Abu Jaffar (Imam e Baqir) AS that (three veils of darkness means); the darkness of abdomen, the darkness of the womb, and darkness of placenta.''

Imam Baqir AS belonged to the era when the Greek Science was widely studied in the Islamic world. If this verse referred to the three layers described by Greek Galen, and (Naozubillah) Holy Prophet SAW copied it then Imam Baqir AS should have referred to them in his interpretation. It simply divulges the blunt lie of wikiislam and debunks his attempts to prove the Holy Quran as a copy of Greek mythology.

One should remember that the word بطن has dual meanings. It is used as a metaphor (general way to refer the pregnancy of a woman. The Arabs used to say when a woman is pregnant ''she has a child in her abdomen'')  as well as in the true meanings of the abdomen and womb. If we translate it as a metaphor then the three layers of darkness refer to ''abdomen, womb, and placenta'' as described in the hadith. If we translate it as womb then it refers to three layers ''perimetrium, myometrium, and endometrium.''It may refer to the three germinal layers of the embryo,'' ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm.'' Another possible interpretation is the three main stages of Human development:

(i) Pre-embryonic stages (first two and a half weeks)
(ii) Embryonic stage (up to the end of the eighth week)

(iii) Foetal stage (from the eighth week till birth)

Relying on the interpretation that came in Hadith we are impelled to think why did the Holy Quran specifically mentioned the three layers and in the other verse (23:13) referred to them and womb as قرار مکین ''a firm lodging.'' We find the answer in the modern-day embryology that: ''The uterus is for Nutfah (zygote) as well as the other embryonic stages, a lodging for the foetus for nine months. Although the body normally rejects any foreign material, the embryo lodges the foetus and nourishes him. The uterus has muscles and ligaments which protects the foetus within it. It also responds to the foetal growth and expands to a great extent to accommodate him. The foetus is surrounded by amniotic fluid, the amniotic membrane, the placenta, the uterus' thick muscular layer and the abdominal wall. All of these provide the foetus with a suitable place of settlement for its proper growth. The Uterus is in the middle of the body and the centre of the pelvis, surrounded by bones, muscles and ligaments that position it firmly in the body. (Human Development as described in Quran And Sunnah by A Zindani, Marshall Johnson, Gerald C. Goeringer, Joe Leigh Simpson, Keith L. Moore, Mustafa A. Ahmad, and T.V.N. Persuad page 48 to 50) After describing all that beautiful artistry of Him, Allah swt asks the human beings: 

فانی تصرفون

''Then, how you averted?''

Then how you averted from you Lord who shaped you in the womb of your mother. A man is a result of billions and trillions of the mitotic and meiotic divisions. At every point, he is vulnerable to be destructed. A mistake in meiosis or mitosis, transcription or translation, organogenesis or embryogenesis or some other stage can result in his death or crippled creation. Furthermore, a bit change in temperature or lack of nutrition or some physical or chemical agent can also lead to the same. Glory is to Lord and His beautiful artistry Who has made the system of protection of human at every point. Relating to the physical environment, He protects him in the womb which is a firm lodging, and then in three layers of darkness, each of them performing its function either providing him with nutrition or serving him with protection. Glory is to the Lord Who creates a full stout human from microscopic germ cells, Who protects him when he is vulnerable to any of accident or attack, Who has created such a beautiful system. Praiseworthy is He.

Allah swt says in Chapter no. 80 verse 17-23:

قتل الانسان ما اکفرہ0من ای شیء خلقہ0من نطفۃ خلقہ فقدرہ0 ثم السبیل یسرہ0 ثم اماتہ فاقبرہ0 ثم اذا اشاء انشرہ0 کلا لما یقضی ما امرہ0

''Woe!to the man, how ungrateful is He.From what stuff Allah has created him? He created him from a sperm and then determined his fate (from it regarding sex and genes). Then He eased his passage (of delivery or passage of life or passage of creation). Then cased him to die and buried in the grave. Then whenever He wills He will cause him to rise up alive again. VERILY, the (the ungrateful and disobedient man) did not fulfil the obligatory due that Allah has commanded him.''