Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: (He created man from a clinging substance)
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Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: (He created man from a clinging substance)]
Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Alaq:2] meaning: He began his creation, [Al-Alaq:2] is a plural noun for 'alaqah, just as shajar is a plural noun for shajarah. Al-'alaq refers to a small red worm of blood, and this is the origin from which life comes; because man is blood, and if he were emptied of blood, he would perish. Allah the Mighty and Majestic has explained that He created man from a clinging substance, but it develops. In other verses, He explained that He created man from dust, in another verse that He created him from clay, in another from clay mixed with water like pottery, in another from weak water, in another from lowly water, and in this verse from a clinging substance. Is there a contradiction in this?
It is impossible for there to be any contradiction in the speech of Allah or in what is authentic from His Messenger, ever.For Allah says: [An-Nisa:82] But He, Glorified and Exalted is He, sometimes mentions the origin of creation from one aspect and the origin of creation from another aspect. So He created him from dust,Meaning: The first thing He created man from was dust, then He poured water on it so it became clay, then it continued for a period so it became black, oozing mud, then its duration lengthened so it became clay mixed with water,Meaning: If you strike it with your hand, you hear a sound like pottery. Then He, the Exalted, created him with flesh, bones, and sinews.
Etc.
This is the beginning of creation related to Adam.
The other creation is from his descendants, whose origin is from a drop of sperm, which is the lowly water, and it is the gushing water. This drop remains in the womb for forty days, then it transforms little by little. At the completion of forty days, it undergoes development and gradual change until it becomes blood, then a clinging substance, then it begins to grow and thicken, developing little by little. When eighty days are completed, it transitions to a lump; which is a piece of meat the size of what a person chews. It remains so for forty days, so this is one hundred and twenty days, which is four months. After four months, Allah sends to it the angel in charge of wombs, and he breathes into it the soul, so the soul enters the body by the permission of Allah the Exalted. We cannot know the essence, reality, or substance of the soul, nor do we know from what substance it is. We know that the body’s origin is from dust, then in the wombs of women from the drop of sperm, but we do not know the soul or know from what essence it is,and from what substance: [Al-Isra:85] The angel breathes the soul into this fetus, and it begins to move; because its initial growth is like the growth of trees without sensation. After the soul is breathed into it, it becomes a human being that moves. For this reason, if the fetus falls from the womb before four months, it is buried in any place on the earth without washing, shrouding, or prayer over it, and it is not resurrected; because it is not a human being. After four months, if it falls, it must be washed, shrouded, prayed over, and buried in the graveyards; because it has become a human being. It is also given a name; because on the Day of Resurrection it will be called by its name, and a sacrifice is made on its behalf. However, the sacrifice for it is not as confirmed as the sacrifice for one who has reached seven days after his birth.
In any case: This fetus in its mother’s womb develops until it becomes a human being, then Allah the Exalted permits it to exit after the period, which is usually at most nine months, and it comes out into the world.
On this occasion: I would like to clarify that man has four stages: the first: in his mother’s womb.
Second: In this world.
Third: In the barzakh.
Fourth: In Paradise or the Fire, which is the end.
[Al-Alaq:2] Al-'alaq is a plural noun for 'alaqah, which is a known worm of blood, and this is the first stage of man’s creation from which the substance of life, which is blood, is formed.
Allah the Exalted said:
He created man
خَلَقَ الإِنْسَانَfrom a clinging substance
مِنْ عَلَقٍIt is impossible for there to be any contradiction in the speech of Allah or in what is authentic from His Messenger, ever.For Allah says:
If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction.
وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ غَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا فِيهِ اخْتِلافاً كَثِيراًEtc.
This is the beginning of creation related to Adam.
The other creation is from his descendants, whose origin is from a drop of sperm, which is the lowly water, and it is the gushing water. This drop remains in the womb for forty days, then it transforms little by little. At the completion of forty days, it undergoes development and gradual change until it becomes blood, then a clinging substance, then it begins to grow and thicken, developing little by little. When eighty days are completed, it transitions to a lump; which is a piece of meat the size of what a person chews. It remains so for forty days, so this is one hundred and twenty days, which is four months. After four months, Allah sends to it the angel in charge of wombs, and he breathes into it the soul, so the soul enters the body by the permission of Allah the Exalted. We cannot know the essence, reality, or substance of the soul, nor do we know from what substance it is. We know that the body’s origin is from dust, then in the wombs of women from the drop of sperm, but we do not know the soul or know from what essence it is,and from what substance:
And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about the soul. Say, "The soul is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little."
وَيَسْأَلونَكَ عَنِ الرُّوحِ قُلِ الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي وَمَا أُوتِيتُمْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلاًIn any case: This fetus in its mother’s womb develops until it becomes a human being, then Allah the Exalted permits it to exit after the period, which is usually at most nine months, and it comes out into the world.
On this occasion: I would like to clarify that man has four stages: the first: in his mother’s womb.
Second: In this world.
Third: In the barzakh.
Fourth: In Paradise or the Fire, which is the end.
