Clarifying the role of the nutfa in creation, He the Almighty says

Clarifying the role of the nutfa in creation, He the Almighty says;

( فَلْيَنظُرِ الْإِنسَانُ مِمَ خُلِقَ. خُلِقَ مِن مَّاء دَافِقٍ) (الطارق 5-6)

“So, let man consider of what he was created. He was created of gushing water” (86: 5-6)

and also says;

( خَلَقَ الإِنسَانَ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ فَإِذَا هُوَ خَصِيمٌ مُّبِينٌ ) (النحل : 4)

“He has created man from a sperm (fluid-drop) and behold this same (man) becomes an open disputer.” (16: 4).

The Quran tells us also that the essence of man is not the whole semen, but only a small part of it. this is explained in the Quran :

( أَيَحْسَبُ الْإِنسَانُ أَن يُتْرَكَ سُدًى ، أَلَمْ يَكُ نُطْفَةً مِّن مَّنِيٍّ يُمْنَى ) القيامة 36-37

"Does man think that he will be left uncontrolled (without purpose)? Was he not once a fluid-drop of ejected semen?" (75:36-37)

As we have seen, the Quran informs us that man is made not from the entire semen, but only a small part of it. That the particular emphasis in this statement announces a fact only discovered by modern science is evidence that the statement is divine in origin. The divine statement also reiterates that man’s characteristics are determined and decreed in the nutfa stage, as He says

( قُتِلَ الْإِنسَانُ مَا أَكْفَرَهُ . مِنْ أَيِّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ . مِن نُّطْفَةٍ خَلَقَهُ فَقَدَّرَهُ ) ( عبس17-19)

“Woe to man! What has made him reject (Allah)? From what stuff has He created him? From a nutfa (fluid-drop) He has created him, and then moulds him in due proportions.” (80: 17-19). 
And Allah says:

(إِنَّا خَلَقْنَا الإِنسَانَ مِنْ نُطْفَةٍ أَمْشَاجٍ نَبْتَلِيهِ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًا ) (الإنسان:2)

“Verily We created man of a fluid-drop (nutfa), mingling (amshaj), in order to try him: so We gave him (the gifts of) hearing and sight.” (76:2).

The mingled nutfa in this verse reveals the Quran miraculous nature. Nutfa, in Arabic, is a single small drop of water, but it was described here as (amshaj) , which means its structure consists of combined mixtures . This fits with the scientific finding, as the zygote is shaped as a drop, and is simultaneously a mixture of male fluid chromosomes and female ovum chromosomes. 

Has anyone ever thought, before the Quran was revealed, that man’s nutfa, when ejected, is responsible for determining if the embryo will be male or female? Has this ever occurred to one’s mind? The Quran says;

( وَأَنَّهُ خَلَقَ الزَّوْجَيْنِ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنثَىِ . من نُّطْفَةٍ إِذَا تُمْنَى) ) النجم 45-46 )

“That He created the pairs, male and female, from a fluid-drop sperm as it is emitted.” (53: 45-46), confirming that man’s gender as male or female is determined when the sperm drop is emitted. Who told the Prophet Mohammed that the sperm (nutfa) with one of its types (Y) or (X) is responsible for determining the sex of the embryo? This was not discovered except after the invention of microscopes in the past century, when it was possible then to know that the embryo being a male or female is only determined by the sperm (nutfa), rather than the ovum. In other words, we were in the beginning of the 20th century and the whole of mankind were not aware that the nutfa decrees if the embryo is male or female. While the Quran, which was revealed 14 centuries ago, has stated this fact in a very clear manner.

Here is a remarkable note! We have mentioned earlier that the sperms are formed in the testicles, which in turn are created, as proved by embryology, from cells underneath the kidneys at the back and then go down to the lower abdomen at the last weeks of pregnancy. This is in confirmation of Allah’s saying:

( وإذ أخذ ربك من بني آدم من ظهورهم ذريتهم ) (الأعراف 172)

“And remember when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their loins, their seeds…” (7: 172). This is a clear indication that the origin of progeny is at the region of the back where the embryonic testicles are formed. So, praise be to Allah the Omniscient.

The uterus, as mentioned before, is considered as a place settled (Makeen) and safe for the growth and protection of the embryo, according to reasons mentioned earlier. We find that Quran mentions and affirms this fact 14 centuries ago, as He Almighty says:

( فَجَعَلْنَاهُ فِي قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ . إِلَى قَدَرٍ مَّعْلُومٍ . فَقَدَرْنَا فَنِعْمَ الْقَادِرُونَ ) ( المرسلات :21-23)

”The which (embryo) We placed in a place of settlement, firmly fixed for a period (of gestation), determined. For We do determine, for We are the best to determine (things). (77: 21-23).