Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

A Christian friend of mine pointed out an information from Qur`an. He told me "Qur`an is not consistent about creation of man". He did give me some lines from Qur`an that in the beginning may seem kind of ambiguous. I am putting some lines from Qur`an that I would like to get some explanation.

4:1 - "O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord who created you from a single soul and ...".

6:2 - "He it is Who hath created you from clay and hath decreed a term for you. A term is fixed with Him. Yet still ye doubt!"

15:26 - "Verily We created man of potter`s clay of black mud altered."

16:4 - "He hath created man from a drop of fluid, yet behold! he is an open opponent."

22:5 - "O mankind! If ye are in doubt concerning the Resurrection, then lo! We have created you from dust, then from a drop of seed, then from a clot, then from a little lump of flesh shapely and shapeless, that We may make (it) clean for you. And ..."

25:54 - "And He it is Who hath created man from water, and hath appointed for him kindered by blood and kindered by marriage; for thy Lord is ever Powerful."

So my confusion is how was mankind created? In the above lines Allah mentioned many different ways. Even though 22:5 started to explain a little, but then I was again confused with 25:54. My understanding was that man was created form dust. Now that I read so many lines from Qur`an, I am a bit confused as to how man was created in reality - was it dust, or was it clay or was it clot or was it seed, or was it soule or was it water?

Allah knows it all that I have no knowledge about. I am truely sorry for my ignorence, but I wish to learn. Please advise.

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Answer:

The creation of man

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah knows it all that I have no knowledge about. I am truely sorry for my ignorence, but I wish to learn. Please advise.

Beloved brother in Islam, the deen or ‘way of life’ called Al-Islam is based on the Wisdom and Knowledge of the All Knowing Lord, and every single command of the All Wise Lord is abundant in common-sense and logic. Asking any type of questions in Islam to gain more knowledge, or to confirm the Truth so that one’s heart is more content, or to understand and thus follow with more conviction the dictates of the deen is not only permissible, but absolutely encouraged in Islam. It is the right of the brother or sister to ask anything they wish to clarify in the deen; and it is the responsibility and duty of the good scholars to address the question asked to the best of their knowledge and ability, and in the most polite and humble manner.

What is discouraged in Islam is if one asks questions for the sake of asking, or arguing to ridicule the Truth with absolutely no intention of obeying or following when the Truth is made clear to them, etc. But if one asks questions to clarify and seek knowledge so that one may better follow the deen; such seeking of the Knowledge of Truth is absolutely encouraged in Islam

Your Statement: A Christian friend of mine pointed out an information from Qur`an. He told me "Qur`an is not consistent about creation of man".

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 82: Do they (the disbelievers) not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other than Allah they would surely have found therein much discrepancy.

Dear and Beloved Brother in Islam, the Glorious Quran is revealed by none other than the One and Only Creator of the Universe, Who Alone is The All-Knowing, The All-Wise. The All-Mighty Lord has placed an open challenge to the disbelievers of all times in the above Aayah of Surah Nisaa, that if anyone is able to prove even one discrepancy or inconsistency in even one aspect of the Glorious Quran, then this Divine Book would lose its authenticity and could not be from the One Who Created everything in existence!

Such is the absolute challenge of this Revelation of Truth called the Al-Quran! Thus rest assured that there is absolutely no discrepancy or inconsistency in the Glorious Quran.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 34 Surah Saba verse 5: As for those who strive hard to discredit Our Revelations, for them is a painful torment, most humiliating.

Your Question: So my confusion is how was mankind created?

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 32 Surah Sajdah verses 7-8:

7 He Who has made everything which He has created most Good. He began the creation of man with (nothing more than) clay

8 And made his progeny from a quintessence of the nature of a fluid despised:

All the Aayahs of the Glorious Quran quoted by your friend are nothing more than the various stages of the creation of man. The Lord Creator created the first man (Hadrat Adam (a.s.)) from clay, and from Hadrat Adam (a.s.) He created his wife (Hadrat Hawwa), and their progeny or the rest of mankind He created from a fluid despised or sperm.

There are several verses in the Glorious Quran which describe and some explain in detail some of the various stages of the creation of man, and Allah is our witness, every verse is absolutely consistent with the other.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 2:

6:2 - "He it is Who hath created you from clay and hath decreed a term for you. A term is fixed with Him. Yet still ye doubt!"

In the above verse, Allah declares that the the creation of the first human and the common father of all mankind, Prophet Adam (a.s.) was from clay.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 15 Surah Hijr verse 26:

15:26 - "Verily We created man of potter`s clay of black mud altered."

In the above Aayah of Surah Hijr, the Creator further explains which exact type of clay was used in the initial creation of Hadrat Adam (a.s.).

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 1:

4:1 - "O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord who created you from a single soul and ...".

In the above Aayah of Surah Nisaa declares that all of us (mankind) were created from the loins of this one single soul, Prophet Adam (a.s.).

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 25 Surah Furqaan verse 54:

25:54 - "And He it is Who hath created man from water, and hath appointed for him kindered by blood and kindered by marriage; for thy Lord is ever Powerful."

In this Aayah of Surah Furqaan, the Creator clarifies the stage regarding how the descendants of Hadrat Adam (a.s.) or the rest of mankind came into being; through water or the sperm of man.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 4:

16:4 - "He hath created man from a drop of fluid, yet behold! he is an open opponent."

In this Aayah of Surah Nahl, the Creator clarifies the Aayah of Surah Furqaan above, that only one drop of the water or fluid, or one sperm of the man was utilized for the further creation of mankind.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 5:

22:5 - "O mankind! If ye are in doubt concerning the Resurrection, then lo! We have created you from dust, then from a drop of seed, then from a clot, then from a little lump of flesh shapely and shapeless, that We may make (it) clean for you. And ..."

In this Aayah of Surah Hajj, the complete package and stages of creation are further explained. The first man, Hadrat Adam (a.s.) was created from ‘turaab’ or literally the dust, which when mixed with water becomes like a potter’s clay, which was then used to shape the initial man as Allah Subhanah Willed his shape to be.

Then from the ‘nutfah’ or drop of fluid or sperm, did He create the descendants of Adam (a.s).

Then when this ‘nutfah’ was placed in the womb of the woman, the next stage was that it developed into a clot of blood, then this clot of blood was developed into a little lump of flesh! These are the stages of the birth of man in the womb of the mother which are further explained in detail in the below Aayah of Surah Muminoon which your Christian friend probably missed in his study of the Glorious Quran.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 23 Surah Muminoon verses 12-13:

12 Man We did create from a quintessence (of clay);

13 Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest firmly fixed;

14 Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then We made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed out of it another creature: so blessed be Allah the Best to create!

In this beautiful Aayah of Surah Muminoon, Allah Subhanah describes the stages of what further happens to the lump of flesh in the mother’s womb: from this very lump of flesh, He creates the bones, and then again these bones are clothed or covered with flesh until the term appointed by Him (nine months) pass, and a creation is established and released.

Thus my beloved brother, rather than the Aayahs being inconsistent with each other, each Aayah confirms the other and further explains in detail the stages of each aspect of the beautiful creation of human life created by the One and Only Perfect Creator. From the absolute initial ‘dust’ which was then mixed with water to make the clay that shaped the first man, to the development of the new-born baby in the womb of the mother….every stage is explained in detail by this Supreme Creator in His Glorious Message.

Although man did not witness the creation of the first man, man today is able to witness the wonder of the creation of a human child in the mother’s womb through the development of modern technology. When one who is indeed learned in the science of medicine and in the process of how exactly a human baby is developed in the womb realizes that this phenomena was described in detail almost 1400+ years ago by a desert Arab (Prophet Mohamed (saws)), he would have no choice but to admit that there is absolutely no way an unlettered man in the deserts of Arabia could have known this phenomena without the use of modern science and tools; unless, of course, the process was revealed to him (saws) by the One Who Created all things in existence!

Blessed and Exalted indeed is Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth and everything that exists in between.

Your Question: My understanding was that man was created form dust. Now that I read so many lines from Qur`an, I am a bit confused as to how man was created in reality - was it dust, or was it clay or was it clot or was it seed, or was it soule or was it water?

Dear and Beloved Brother, all the elements mentioned were used during the various development stages of the creation of man. Initially it was dust, then mixed with water to form a mixture like a potter’s clay, then shaped as the Lord Willed to create the first man and the father of all mankind, Hadrat Adam (a.s.).

Then from this soul or man called Adam, Allah Subhanah declared the process of how his descendants would be created: and that process would be when the ‘seed’ of this man, in the form of water, and that too only a drop of this liquid called the sperm or ‘nutfah’ when it interacts with the egg of the female and Allah Subhanah Wills to create a life, would become a clot of blood, then this clot of blood would develop in the mother’s womb into a lump of flesh, then from this lump will develop some bones, then these bones will again be clothed or covered in flesh, and at the time Decreed by the Creator a complete new formation in the form of a human-baby will be born!

Such are different stages and exact descriptions of these stages described in the Glorious Quran, that modern doctors when confronted with these Aayahs are left absolutely speechless regarding how could this phenomena be documented 1400+ years ago by an uneducated and unlettered desert Arab when modern science has only been able to learn these facts in the last century or so!

Praise be to Allah Subhanah Alone, Who revealed His Timeless Miracle in the form of a Book upon His Last and Final Messenger Mohamed (saws); a Miracle which baffles and dazzles even the worst of disbelievers even 1400+ years after its Revelation and will continue to do so until the end of time, Insha Allah!!!

For some, science might be their barometer of truth; but for the believers the Glorious Quran is the Absolute Barometer of Truth! The disbelievers may wait till their knowledge catches up and confirms the various Truths every believer believes with certainty only because it is related in the Glorious Quran from amongst the sciences of medicine, astronomy, geology, oceanology, archeology, or whatever other sciences their hearts might desire!

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan