Abstract

Developmental biology such as human reproduction and development are scattered throughout the Qur'an. It is only recently that the scientific meaning of some of these verses has been appreciated fully. The long delay in interpreting these verses correctly resulted mainly from inaccurate translations and commentaries and from a lack of awareness of scientific knowledge. In the Holy Qur'an, God speaks about the stages of man's embryonic development. Modern embryology is a fairly recent development which has its beginning with the invention of microscope in the 17^th century. However, the concept of the human being developing in stages was not recognized until much later. But the scientists then and most Muslim and non-Muslim scholars do not even know that the Holy Quran and Sunnah [words, deeds, approvals of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) collected by authentic narrators] had provided a detailed description of the significant events in human development from the stages of gametes and conception until the full term pregnancy and delivery or even post partum. Actually, information in the Quran and Hadith corrected many superstitious and vague ideas about human development that were prevalent before. This article highlights different stages of formation of the human embryo along with the description of every stage of the embryonic development as mentioned in the Quran.

Key words: Holy Quran, developmental biology, human embryo.