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What forms in the embryo first, the muscles or the bones?

The sections of this article are:

1-  The Noble Quran's Divine Claims.
2-  The Scientific Proofs.
3-  Conclusion. (Must read!)

  
Answer:  According to the Glorious Quran and Science, the creation of the bones and muscles happens relatively almost at the same time; "adjacently" to each others.  But, the formation of the bones happens before the muscles are wrapped around them.  See below for great details.  This article is primarily based on Allah Almighty's following claims in the Glorious Quran.

Summary about Embryology in the Glorious Quran:

1. Man is created from the purest and the best sperm (سلالة) that is also drawn with ease (سل ).
     
2. And in another Noble Verse, sperm (نطفة) is said to be a piercing and penetrating one ( تمنى  and  يمنى  (to pierce)), which is exactly how the male's sperm enters the female's egg - through piercing through it. 
     
3. The sperm (نطفة) is injected into (في) a secure and firm base (قرار مكين).  Read the following table:
   
     

   Notice the accuracy here: Notice the accuracy in the description:    ‏23:12 ولقد خلقنا الانسان من سلالة من طين ‏23:13 ثم جعلناه نطفة في قرار مكين [023:012]  Man We did create from a quintessence of clay سلالة; [023:013] Then We placed made him ثم جعلناه as (a drop of) sperm zygote نطفة in a place of rest, firmly fixed قرار مكين; Here Allah Almighty Said that the SULALAH (best sperm) سلالة is placed AS A NUTFAH (zygote) نطفة  in the PLACE OF REST قرار مكين. Clearly, this is referring to the male-sperm when it gets placed into the woman's egg after piercing it.  The egg now becomes a zygote cell, or a fertilized egg.  And of course, the Noble Verse is also referring to the entire womb in general, since the fertilized egg travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus. This journey takes between 1 to 2 days, and the egg will attach itself to the uterine lining, or the endometrium, to begin the pregnancy. 1.  "Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm zygote..."  Refers to male sperm when it enters the egg, and the now-fertilized egg, with the sperm in it, as one Nutfah (sperm) placed in "a place of rest, firmly fixed".  In other words, when the fertilized egg attaches itself inside the womb to begin the pregnancy. 2.  "Then We placed made him ثم جعلناه ..."  Throughout the Glorious Quran, Allah Almighty used the Noble Word جعلنا , to mean: Something "We made from multiple things" Or something "we evolved". I have pointed this out before and thoroughly demonstrated it from the Glorious Quran at: https://www.answering-christianity.com/sunrise_sunset.htm.  Here I quote: 2-  نجعل  = caused it to be, evolved it.  Throughout the Glorious Quran, Allah Almighty used this Noble Word to speak about things being created through a development or an evolution.  The Noble Word means that Allah Almighty Creates, Develops and/or Makes a creation through the process of (1) Evolution, (2) Natural development of a creation, or (3) A process of engagement, mixing and/or development through two or more creations being combined or put together; similar to a chain reaction:    21:31 وجعلنا في الارض رواسي ان تميد بهم وجعلنا فيها فجاجا سبلا لعلهم يهتدون    "And We have made in/on وجعلنا في the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with them, and We have made therein broad highways (between mountains) for them to pass through: that they may receive Guidance.   (The Noble Quran,  21:31)"     ‏21:32 وجعلنا السماء سقفا محفوظا وهم عن اياتها معرضون    "And We have made the heavens وجعلنا السماء sky as a canopy well guarded a protective roof: yet do they turn away from the Signs which these things (point to)!   (The Noble Quran,  21:32)"    We know that the earth's mountains and protective atmosphere were gradually formed after earth's creation.  In fact, there is even evidence from the Glorious Quran that earth was a Planemo Planet, a rogue planet that came from outside outside our solar system:    www.answering-christianity.com/was_earth_a_planemo_planet.htm    Whether earth was formed from our solar system or came from outside, the fact remains that the protective atmosphere was not formed until it became stable in its orbit around our sun.  And most probably, due to this rotation and gravity, our mountains were also formed.  Our gravity exists today on earth because our planet is still hot from inside, and because it has iron in it.  See what the scientists say about this in the following link.  Allah Almighty also said that He sent down iron to earth:    www.answering-christianity.com/iron.htm www.answering-christianity.com/earth.htm       Other Noble Verses in English and Arabic: ‏78:9 وجعلنا نومكم سباتا ‏78:10 وجعلنا الليل لباسا ‏78:11 وجعلنا النهار معاشا ‏78:13 وجعلنا سراجا وهاجا ‏87:5 فجعله غثاء احوى ‏90:8 الم نجعل له عينين ‏105:2 الم يجعل كيدهم في تضليل 05:5 فجعلهم كعصف ماكول    Please visit: (a)-  The Miracle of the Mountains in the Glorious Quran. (b)-  The Ozone layer is a protective ceiling/roof to earth.    (c)-  What forms in the embryo first, the muscles or the bones? So in "Then We placed made him ثم جعلناه ...",  Allah Almighty's choice to use the Noble Word جعلناه clearly indicates that the NUTFAH in this Noble Verse is the NEW NUTFAH, zygote, that now contains the female egg and the male sperm inside it, i.e., the fertilized egg.  And this new NUTFAH is now placed, also through a process, in the a place of rest, firmly fixed قرار مكين.

     

4. The sperm develops into a leech-like (علقة) substance.
5. Then the leech-like substance develops into a chewed-like (مضغة) substance.
6. Then from the chew-like substance bones (عظام) are created.
7. Then the muscles (لحم) wrap around the bones.
8. The fetus goes through "three Veils of darkness and Stages" development.  Science just confirmed it recently, and the Glorious Quran mentioned it 1,500 years ago.

Below, you'll find the ample Noble Verses, Definitions from 7 major dictionaries, and Scientific Sources that demonstrate and prove these claims in the Glorious Quran.

1-  The Noble Quran's Divine Claims:

The Holy Quran and Islam are filled with scientific statements and notions.  These are statements of Allah Almighty describing how He created things on earth and in the Universe.  What's most amazing is that all of these scientific statements and notions had been proven to be in perfect agreement with science and our modern-day scientific discoveries.  Allah Almighty made the Noble Quran be Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) Everlasting Divine Miracle and proof for Prophethood.  The Holy Book certainly stood the test of time 1,500 years ago with Its Claims, Prophecies and Miraculous language eloquence, and it does again and again in our day today with Its overwhelming agreement with science and discoveries that were not known to man 1,500 years ago.

Allah Almighty Said: "We will show them Our signs in the Universe and inside their selves, until it will become quite clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not sufficient as regards your Lord that He is a witness over all things?  (The Noble Quran, 41:53)"

With this said, let us now look at the following Noble Verse from the Holy Quran:

Allah Almighty Said in the Noble Quran:

1-  Man is created from the purest and the best sperm (سلالة) that is also drawn with ease (سل ).  The male's sperm that fertilizes the female's egg is the best and strongest sperm from among all of the 100s of millions of sperms that were ejected, and it ultimately draws itself from the protective semen liquid to move into the egg. 

2-  The sperm (نطفة) is injected into (في) a secure and firm base (قرار مكين); the female's egg.

3-  The sperm develops into a leech-like (علقة) substance.

4-  Then the leech-like substance develops into a chewed-like (مضغة) substance.

5-  Then from the chew-like substance bones (عظام) are created.

6-  Then the muscles (لحم) wrap around the bones. 

Notice that Allah Almighty did not say "create".  The Noble Quran does not indicate which is created first, because both are adjacent to each others as science has proven. 
  

However, "D.  The lahm stage.  Although precursor cells (myoblasts, or primitive muscle cells) are present adjacent to developing bone (Figure 16), differentiation into skeletal muscle attachments occur after the ossification process in the shaft and ends of the bones has begun.  A major developmental landmark during the eighth week is the lahm stage, which describes the myogenesis (muscle formation) period, and which marks the development of definitive muscles in the trunk and limbs and the beginning of movement.  The muscles take their position around the bones ("clothing the bones") and continue the process of straightening and smoothing (taswiyah) which began in the izam stage.  It is now known that the gonads (sex glands) begin to differentiate into testes and ovaries at this time (8th week), and the Qur'an refers to this development as well (See Table 1).
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The embryo at 24-25 days in the end of the alaqah stage, and it makes a direct change into the mudghah stage at 26-27 days.  The mudghah stage lasts until the 6th week, and then changes directly into the izam by the beginning of the 7th week, since the skeleton begins its appearance at that time.  The lahm stage follows in the 8th week immediately after the izam stage, since muscle precursor cells begin their development into muscle as soon as the bone is formed and the muscles can become attached.  Thus, the word fa is used in the Qur'an to accurately and strongly indicate that these developments follow on another immediately with no delay." (The Qur'an and Modern Science, Keith L. Moore, Abdul-Majeed A. Zindani, and Mustafa A. Ahmed, Pages 37-39, 46-47, ISBN 0-9627236-0-6)
  

The following video-clip further demonstrate this:
  

(Click to play video)

2-  The Scientific Proofs:

So scientifically speaking, which develops first, the bones or the muscles (flesh)?  What does Science say?

Important Note:  Izam, below, is really itham (bones).  Urdu-speaking Muslims always wrongly pronounce the "the" as "za" and "wa" as "va".  This is a deficiency in their tongues, just like the Arabs' deficiency in pronouncing the "P" as "B", since Arabic has no P-like letter.  For example, we pronounce Paul as Baul, and Peter as Beter, and Palestine as Balestine.  It is not right to force erroneous pronunciations into other languages, and most importantly for Islam, it is not right to force the erroneous pronunciations of the "za" and "va" into Arabic because it will cause a misreading and misspelling of the Holy Quran.  Non-Arabic speaking folks are getting the wrong education on how to pronounce Arabic alphabets, which is negatively effecting the way they pronounce and even write the Holy Quran in Arabic as we see Dr. Keith Moore badly mispronouncing some of the Arabic below.

To all Muslims of all nationalities:  Remember, it is you who must learn the Noble Quran in Its original form.  DO NOT try to modify It to suit your language or tongue, and to please your people.  That is an intentional alteration to Allah Almighty's Divine Words!  It is a grave sin and it could also be considered blasphemy according to Allah Almighty, not me, if done intentionally, carelessly and frequently.  So please, pronounce, read and recite the Holy Quran in Its proper original Arabic.

Article #1:

"C.  The izam stage.  The subsequent phase of development is referred to as izam which means "bones", and the fetus does indeed acquire a cartilaginous skeleton of bones after the mudghah stage.  Formation of bone does not begin uniformly throughout the body.  Rather, there is a sequential appearance of bony tissue.  In recent decades, the process of osteogenesis (bone formation) in the human embryo has been reasonably well documented.  Bone development in the limbs commences in the embryonic limb buds from mesenchymal cells.  Primary ossification centers appear in the femur during week 7 (Figure 15) and in the sternum (breast bone) and the maxilla (upper jaw) during weeks 8-9.  The timing of the izam phase has been mentioned in the following hadith:

In the early part of this phase, the embryo takes on a human appearance (tasweer adami), and the hadith describes this with the word "shapes".  Before the 42nd day, it is difficult to distinguish the human embryo from the embryos of many animals, but at this time it becomes clearly distinguishable in its appearance.

Accompanying this development is a straightening of the embryo as described by "sawwa".  During this period, the embryo becomes more erect and acquires a more evenly rounded body.  Some of the generalized cells of the embryo begin to differentiate into various lines and modify into different functional moieties.  This process results in straightening and the formation of organs necessary for viability.  As the Qur'an describes:

الذي خلقك فسواك فعدلك

"Who (God) created you, then (fa) made you even and straight (sawwak) and then (fa) modified you ('adalak')"  (Surah Al-Infitar, 82: Ayah 7)

According to Table 1, which compares three ayat on the stages of development, it is apparent that the izam stage corresponds with the straightening stage (taswiyah).  The word of sawwak in the Qur'anic statement indicates the following:

(a)  To straighten the position of the body from a bent position.

(b)  To make uneven things leveled.

The embryo at the 7th week has a bent back thus taking the shape of the letter C during the mudghah stage.  In the izam stage, the bending position is straightened and the surface becomes more even due to the disappearance of prominences and depressions.

D.  The lahm stage.  Although precursor cells (myoblasts, or primitive muscle cells) are present adjacent to developing bone (Figure 16), differentiation into skeletal muscle attachments occur after the ossification process in the shaft and ends of the bones has begun.  A major developmental landmark during the eighth week is the lahm stage, which describes the myogenesis (muscle formation) period, and which marks the development of definitive muscles in the trunk and limbs and the beginning of movement.  The muscles take their position around the bones ("clothing the bones") and continue the process of straightening and smoothing (taswiyah) which began in the izam stage.  It is now known that the gonads (sex glands) begin to differentiate into testes and ovaries at this time (8th week), and the Qur'an refers to this development as well (See Table 1).

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VII. Timing of the developmental events.  Not only is the sequencing of the embryonic and fetal developments indicated by the order in which they are mentioned in the Qur'an, but also the timing of these events is indicated by the use of the conjunctives fa, which means "then with little delay", and thumma, which means "then with some delay".  The occurrences of fa and thumma, both of which are translated as "then", are as follows:

"We (God) created man from a quintessence of clay.  We then (thumma) placed him as a nutfah (drop) in a place of settlement, firmly fixed, then (thumma) We made the nutfah into an alaaqah (leech-like structure) and then (fa) We changed the alaaqah into a mudghah (chewed-like substance), then (fa) We made out of that mudghah, izam (skeleton, bones), then (fa) we clothed the skeleton with lahm (muscles, flesh), then (thumma) We caused him to grow and come into being and attain the definitive (human) form.  So, blessed be God, the best to create"  (Surah Al-Mu'minoon (23): Ayat 13,14).

The use of thumma indicates that there is a delay between the following events:

1.  Nutfah stage developing into the alaqah (first stage of the shaping (khalq) stage).

2.  Lahm (last stage of the shaping (khalq) stage) until the development of the nash'ah (fetal) period.

During the implantation or harth phase (Noble Verse 2:223 "Your wives are tilth (harth)") of the nutfah stage, there is a slow rate of development until the alaqah stage.  It takes about a week from the beginning of harth (day 6) for the connection stalk to form (day 14), such that the embryo becomes "attached and hanging", and it takes about 10 days for the notochord to begin development (day 16) in order for the embryo to take on the appearance of a leech or alaqah.  Thus there is some delay in the formation of the alaqah stage.

The nash'ah or fetal stage can be considered as beginning in the 9th week, but is delayed in the expression of all its characteristics until later.  For example, the period between the beginning of the 9th week and the end of the 11th week is a period of relatively slow growth, and it is not until the 12th week that the rapid growth indicated by "ansha'nahu" begins.  Additionally, the initiation of the development of certain organ systems occurs after the 8th week, or after the lahm stage, but the changes in these organs become more apparent after the 11th week.  Thus, there is a delay until the 12th week for the full expression of nash'ah, and the word thumma accurately indicates this delay.

The word fa indicates that the following stages occur directly after one another:

1.  Alaqah changing to mudghah.

2.  Mudghah changing to izam.

3.  Izam changing to lahm.

The embryo at 24-25 days in the end of the alaqah stage, and it makes a direct change into the mudghah stage at 26-27 days.  The mudghah stage lasts until the 6th week, and then changes directly into the izam by the beginning of the 7th week, since the skeleton begins its appearance at that time.  The lahm stage follows in the 8th week immediately after the izam stage, since muscle precursor cells begin their development into muscle as soon as the bone is formed and the muscles can become attached.  Thus, the word fa is used in the Qur'an to accurately and strongly indicate that these developments follow on another immediately with no delay." (The Qur'an and Modern Science, Keith L. Moore, Abdul-Majeed A. Zindani, and Mustafa A. Ahmed, Pages 37-39, 46-47, ISBN 0-9627236-0-6)

The following video-clip further demonstrate this:
  

(Click to play video)

Article #2:

"2.  Sulalah.  Sulalah refers to the selection from the male and female fluids......The Qur'anic term for this selection is sulalah, which means in Arabic "gentle extraction from fluid".  It is now known that both ovum and sperm are gently extracted from their fluid environments in the process of fertilization.  The ovum is selected from a long stream of follicular fluid, while one sperm out of millions is selected from the seminal fluid.  The first sperm which touches the cell membrane of the ovum enters easily, but immediately afterwards a rapid physical, chemical change occurs in the cell membrane, selecting the sperm only and all other sperm are locked out (Figure 7)." (The Qur'an and Modern Science, Keith L. Moore, Abdul-Majeed A. Zindani, and Mustafa A. Ahmed, Page 27, ISBN 0-9627236-0-6)

3-  Conclusion:

Again, the Holy Quran and Islam are filled with scientific statements and notions.  These are statements of Allah Almighty describing how He created things on earth and in the Universe.  What's most amazing is that all of these scientific statements and notions had been proven to be in perfect agreement with science and our modern-day scientific discoveries.  Allah Almighty made the Noble Quran be Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) Everlasting Divine Miracle and proof for Prophethood.  The Holy Book certainly stood the test of time 1,500 years ago with Its Claims, Prophecies and Miraculous language eloquence, and it does again and again in our day today with Its overwhelming agreement with science and discoveries that were not known to man 1,500 years ago.

Allah Almighty Said: "We will show them Our signs in the Universe and inside their selves, until it will become quite clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not sufficient as regards your Lord that He is a witness over all things?  (The Noble Quran, 41:53)"

Indeed, Allah Almighty's perfect description of the shapes (leech-like and chewed-like substances), and the timings of the different stages and developments that the fetus goes through from conception to birth testify that the Noble Quran is indeed the Divine Truth and Pure and Holy Word of Allah Almighty.

As to the article's title: "What forms in the embryo first, the muscles or the bones?", it is clear that during and after the chewed-like (mudghah) stage, both bones and muscles form adjacently.  However, the wrapping of the muscles around the bones happens after the muscle precursor cells begin their development into muscle.  Notice how Allah Almighty referred to the precursors' development and the wrapping of the muscles around the bones in Noble Verse 23:14 by Saying:

فكسونا العظام لحما

"then we clothed the bones with flesh."

Why did Allah Almighty specifically chose to say فكسونا (then we clothed)?  It is because the Noble Verse wasn't speaking about which was created first, the bones or the muscles, but rather, it was speaking about the wrapping of the muscles around the bones happens after the creation of the the bones.

The Holy Quran, again and again, have proven Itself to be the True Divine Holy Book from Allah Almighty.  Indeed, all Praise and Glory are due to Allah Almighty Alone for making the Noble Quran and the Divine Inspirations that He Sent to Prophet Muhammad be the Perfect and Everlasting Miracle, for us humans, out of all of His Divine Miracles!  And may Allah Almighty send His Peace, Mercy and Blessings upon our Beloved and Blessed Prophet, Teacher and Role Model, Muhammad.  Ameen.