The Qur’ān mentions the term alaqah علقة as the second stage of human prenatal development. The word alaqah according to many linguistic Arabic dictionaries has several meanings. It is a derivative of alaqa which means attached and hanging to something Alaqah is a leech that li es in ponds and thri es on the blood of animals to which it attaches itself Additionally alaq is “the red blood in general” or “the thick clotted blood ” Alaqah also denotes “the wet blood ”
Description Of Alaqah As Attached And Hanging To Something
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| Figure 2 Diagram showing Ovulation |
Figure 2 Diagram showing Ovulation, Fertilization, and Migration Down the Uterine Tube. A zygote forms when the sperm and egg unite. Cell division results in two-, four-, and eight-cell stages in the uterine tube. By 3 to 4 days, a tight ball of cells termed the morula is ready to enter the uterine cavity. Near the end of the first week, the morula becomes the fluid-filled blastocyst with an inner cell mass (embryoblast) and outer trophoblast. The blastocyst adheres to the uterus and sinks within it during implantation. (From Cochard, L. R., & Netter, F. H.: Netter’s Atlas of Human Embryology, Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier, 2012).
Human development begins when a sperm fuses with the ovum to create a unique single cell called the zygote (Figure 2). The zygote contains all of the genetic information (DNA) needed to become a baby. The zygote travels down the fallopian tube toward the uterus. As it travels the cells of the zygote divide repeatedly to form a hollow ball of cells called a blastocyst. The blastocyst attaches to the endometrium or lining of the uterus on about the 6th day and continues to implant itself in the uterus wall with cells which eventually form the placenta. This process takes more than a week until cell differentiation7 occurs, developing the embryo and placenta from the blastocyst. The embryo is now attached to the primitive placenta is and hanging via the ‘connecting stalk’ that will eventually become the umbilical cord:
Day 12: The endodermal germ layer produces additional cells which form a new cavity, known as the secondary or definitive yolk sac. The extraembryonic coelom expands to form a large chorionic cavity, within which the embryo and the attached amniotic and yolk sac are suspended by the connecting stalk.
By around 14 days the embryo (which is represented by the bilaminar embryonic disc) is attached to the placenta and is hanging or suspended in the chorionic cavity by the connecting stalk as we see in Figure 3 The Qur’ān describes this attachment as alaqah. This is in agreement with the meaning of the word alaqah as “attached and hanging to something”
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| Figure 3 |
Figure 3 Photomicrographs of longitudinal sections of an implanted embryo at approximately 14 days. High-power view (×95). The embryo is represented by the bilaminar embryonic disc composed of epiblast and hypoblast. (From Nishimura H [ed]: Atlas of Human Prenatal Histology. Tokyo, Igaku-Shoin, 1983). The embryo is now attached to the primitive placenta and is suspended or hanging via the ‘connecting stalk’.
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