Source and Purity of Milk and the Holy Quran

 Source and The purity of Milk and the Holy Quran

Wikiislam.net states that:

The Qur'an states that milk is produced, in the body, somewhere between excretions and blood. The mammary glands, where milk is produced and stored, are nowhere near the intestines which are where excrement is stored. Many kinds of cattle and goat milk need processing or pasteurization before they can safely be consumed; the milk is often infected with bacteria and other micro-organisms. A significant number of humans are lactose intolerant and unable to digest milk without experiencing abdominal bloating and cramps, flatulence, diarrhoea, nausea, or vomiting. This makes the Quranic claim that milk is 'pure' and 'agreeable' to those who drink it dubious.

And verily in cattle (too) will ye find an instructive sign. From what is within their bodies between excretions and blood, We produce, for your drink, milk, pure and agreeable to those who drink it.                                                       Quran 16:66

Reply:

This objection of the author of wikiislam.net against the Holy Quran clearly depicts either his knowledgelessness or his slyness. His foxy claim has three parts. Let us analyze them one by one:

1. What is the Relation between Excretions, Blood, and Milk?

Even a simple science student understands the digestive system. Let me revise it for them. The milk produced in the body of the organism is derived from the food it intakes. The food when enters the digestive system is first digested by the stomach and small intestines and then absorbed by the intestines and then transported through the hepatic portal vein to the liver where the absorbed materials are processed and then it becomes the part of the blood. Every body part (including the mammary gland) fulfils its nutritional need then from the blood. The undigested food material is excreted out. 

Now, when the Holy Quran is saying من بین فرث و دم لبنا خالصا سائغا للشربین " From between the excrement and blood, pure milk We produce that is agreeable to those who drink it." It is linguistically asking us to ponder over that how beautifully and intricately is the milk (which is neither blood nor excrement) extracted from the same food through which blood and excrement are produced. I ask the objectors to produce any reference from some old accomplished Muslim book that this verse means that milk is produced in blood and intestines and not in the mammary gland. If they cannot, and I know that they cannot, let me show that How beautifully the grandson of Holy Prophet SAW, Imam Jaffar Sadiq AS described the fate of food in the body:

"Mufazzal, just think about the food and how does a human utilize it? How does this food become pleasant and appetizing? How and through what process does it pass before it reaches each and every part of the body? How does the essence of the food nourish and become a part of the body? To make all this possible, what arrangements, grand and elaborate, were to be made by the Grand Sustainer, God the Almighty? In making these arrangements what great wisdom and grand pre-planning were necessary?"

"Look, when food reaches the stomach, the stomach churns it, and after making it digestible sends it over (through intestines) to the Liver. The stomach also cleans the food. Liver accepts the gist which was extracted out of food. Through a very delicate and precise process, it then turns into blood and flows to each and every part of the human body through a network of veins which work in a fashion similar to water channels for irrigation. The waste products (resulting from this process) are routed to the specific locations earmarked for this process". (Tauheed e Mufazzal page 81 and 87)

2. The Milk we drink contains microbes and is also contaminated sometimes then why does the Holy Quran describes it as "Pure"?

The answer to this question is quite simple. The Holy Quran is not describing the milk we drink as Pure, rather it is describing the milk extracted from food between blood and excrement as pure. And Yes, it is pure. Milk is virtually sterile. It gets contaminated in its storage in either breast or in the containers, or during milking, or during transport or if the organism is suffering from mastitis. For the sake of reference let me quote Technology of Cheesemaking edited by Barry A. Law, Adnan Y. Tamime page no. 1980.

3. People suffering from Lactose Intolerance cannot drink milk, why did the Holy Quran describe milk as ''agreeable''?

The answer is again simple that it is agreeable to those who drink it. Why question those who do not drink it? Secondly, the Arabic word سائغا here translated as ''agreeable'' also means ''pleasing''. If the objector had quoted the translation with the meaning ''pleasant'', then his blunt lie would have been exposed and it would have been clear what the Holy Quran meant.

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Functions of Heart

The function of Heart and Quran

It is a question asked frequently that the heart functions only to pump blood in the body then why did the Holy Quran mention it as an organ of thought, contemplation and understanding. There are almost 22 verses in the Holy Quran regarding the heart as an organ of contemplation. Some of them are:
An Nahl 78, Al Haj 46, Al Hujrat 7, An Najm 11, Al Aaraf 179, At Taghabun 11, Qaf 37, Al Hashar 14, Al Isra 36, Al Baqara verse 7, Al Qasas 10, Al Anaam 110.

There are two words used in these verses which are classically translated as heart; قلب and فواد. In the coming discussion, we will see that these words also refer to the human intellect, the human soul, human perception and thinking.

Meaning of the word Qalb: 

The word Qalb actually means "to topple over, to turn upside down, to roll over, to turn left and turn right, to rummage, to face in and face out" see Hans Wehr Dictionary 4th Edition page no. 917.
Because of the toppling movements by which Heart alternatively contracts and relax to pump the blood in the body, it is referred in Arabic as Qalb. Similarly, as our intellect turns the facts and figures all around to ponder over them it is also referred to as Qalb in Arabic. see Mufridat Imam Raghib Vol 2 page 307, and Lughat Ul Quran by GA Pervez page 1381. Some Scholars say that wherever the Holy Quran has used the word Heart it is meant to describe Human mind and intellect. see Mufridat Vol 2 page 307 and page 9.  So after it is clear that this word refers to both intellect and heart, there remains no problem with the understanding of the verses where قلب is said to be a mean of thinking, comprehending and understanding.

Meaning of the word Fuad:

The word Qalb and Fuad both are synonyms. They have been alternately used in Quran and Hadith for describing Heart, intellect, and soul. However, some scholars slightly differentiate between the meaning of the words. The Qalb is intellect, comprehension and understanding while Fuad also includes desires, emotions, and feelings. See Lisan Ul Arab page 3714 and Lughat Ul Quran page 1380.

After understanding the meaning of the two words now let us have a translation of the verses containing these words:

1. Allah has set a seal on their UNDERSTANDING and their ears, and there is a veil on their eyes, they will incur a great penalty. Al Baqara 7

2. So, the INTELLECTS of those who do not believe in the Life to come might incline towards this attractive delusion. Al Anaam 113

3. Allah has brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers when you knew nothing and gave you hearing, and sight, and INTELLECT (thinking) so that you may give Thanks. A Nahl 78   

You can see the meaning is clear.

 A Question and its answer:

If by heart the Holy Quran means intellect, mind, understanding, comprehension etc. then what is the meaning of the verse of Al-Haj 46 which says: 

"For indeed it is not the eyes that are blinded; it is rather the hearts in the chests that are rendered blind.''??

The answer to this question is that the word صدر used for chest here, also means '' the materialistic desires, the wishes, the wants, the cravings." So the verse is not saying that their physical hearts in their chests are blind rather it is saying that their intellects which are embedded in worldly desires are misleading them.
see Mufridat e Raghib volume 2 page 10

Second Question and its answer: 

If it is so as you are describing here, then why did not the old Muslim scholars and hadith referred to these meanings? If you now after 1400 years have passed to the reveal of the Quran describe these meanings then this will not prove the Quran correct. Were old Muslims understanding it wrong and you understand it right?

The answer to this Question is quite simple. The question is based on the lack of knowledge of the questioner. The Muslim scholars since the revelation of the Holy Quran have been describing the word Heart in the Holy Quran as Human intellect and perception. Even the companions of the Holy Prophet SAW described the same meaning in their interpretations.
see Tafsir Ibn e Kaseer and Tafseer Jami Ul Ahkam Qurtubi Vol 17 page 23 under the Chapter 50 verse 37 where it is explicitly mentioned that the companions of the Holy Prophet SAW said that the heart refers to Intellect.
Now coming to scholars:

Ibn e Hisham said that قلب means Heart, intellect, summary and best part of a thing. see Lughat Ul Quran page 1381

Ibn e Ashoor said that this word widely refers to intellect and knowledge. see Tafseer At Tehreer wa At Tanveer Vol 7 page 232

Nizam Ud Din Nishapuri said wherever the Holy Quran refers to Heart it refers to human intellect and understanding and wherever the word chest is used it refers to all the attributes like desires, feelings emotions etc." see  Tafseer Gharaib Ul Quran Vol 1 page 158

Nawab Sadiq Hassan Khan said heart refers to the soul in the Holy Quran. see Tafseer Fath Ul Bayan Vol 9 Page 110

Many more references can be made from the old and new Muslim Quranic Interpretations regarding the meaning of heart as intellect, soul, understanding, comprehension etc.

Why did not the Holy Quran directly use the words soul, mind, comprehension etc. to describe these things rather than using the word Heart?

The answer lies in the fact that the Holy Quran is the peak of eloquence. It has so many enigmatic grammatical and linguistic labyrinths that stunned the eloquent Arabs of that time too. One literary reason for doing so, in this case, maybe that  ''All the impacts of thoughts, perception, feeling, thinking, emotions, and desires are firstly felt on the heart in the form of an altered heart beating. So by referring to the word heart, the Holy Quran is taking a metaphor and مجاز to describe thoughts, perception and feelings."

Is there at any place in the Quran or Hadith Circulation of blood is mentioned?

The answer is Yes. Quran and hadith, in a nutshell, describes the vitality of blood and its circulation. Heart and its actions.

In Surah An Nahl verse 78, if we translate af'ida as heart, then the Holy Quran is describing the heart as a vital organ. Similar is the case with other verses of embryological importance. We read in Sahih Bukhari Vol 1 page 34:

"In the Human body, there is a lump of muscles so important that if it is sound the whole body is sound and if it is diseased the Holy Body is diseased. And this lump of muscles is the heart."

The hadith is describing the heart is the vital organ for the body and is also suggesting that the heart has a connection with the whole of the body. The word قلب itself describes the pumping action of the heart. Now after getting that the heart is a vital organ with a relation with the whole body and having a pumping action let us see the other hadith again from Bukhari. We read in Sahih Al Bukhari Vol 3 Book 33 Hadith 251:

"Satan reaches everywhere in the body as THE BLOOD REACHES everywhere IN THE BODY"

Two major blood vessels are mentioned in the Holy Quran are Al Watin and Al Warid which are the Jugular Vein (Chapter 50 verse 16) and the Aorta (Surah Al Haaqqa verse 46).

Ibn e Nafees a Muslim scientist was the first to describe the heart and circulatory system scientifically.

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