We must compare one of the aspects of water cycle, to which this verse alludes and other details about it in the Qur’an, with the other ideas about water cycle prevailing long ago. The first coherent description of water cycle dated back to 16th century with Bernard Palissy. Prior to this people talk theory whereby the water of ocean under the effective winds was thrust to the interior of the continents. They then returned to the oceans via the great abyss, which, since Plato’s time was called the Tartarus. In the seventeenth century, great thinkers such as Descartes still believed in this myth. Even in the nineteenth century there was talk of a theory according to which water was condensed in cool mountain caverns and formed underground lakes that fed springs. Today, we know that it is the infiltration of rain water into the ground that is responsible for this. If one compares the facts of modern hydrology with the data found in numerous verses of the Qur’an on this subject, one cannot fail to notice the remarkable degree of agreement between the two.
More than anything I was impressed by the statements in the Qur’an relating the human beings, the animal and vegetable kingdoms especially with the origin of man and reproduction. It is a blessing of our time that scientific progress has made the context of many verses of the Qur’an comprehensive to us. The ancient commentators of the Qur’an presented them according to their apparent meanings, which of course was very important since it invokes divine nepotism, but they could give a review of their real meanings due to their lack of scientific knowledge which is necessary to understand these verses of the Qur’an. Even today numerous translations and commentaries, made by men with only a literary background, give a mistaken view of their real meanings. Only a scientist can give their explanation. The biological expressions given in the Qur’an are highly significant. Such is the case with Verse 30, in Chapter 21 Al Anbiya:
أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًا فَفَتَقْنَاهُمَا وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ الْمَاء كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَيٍّ أَفَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ {21/30}
“Do the unbelievers not realize that the heavens and the earth were joined together, then We clove them asunder and We made every living thing out of water. Will they still not believe?”
It is the affirmation of modern idea that the origin of life is aquatic.
Progress in botany at the time of Muhammad (pbuh) was not advanced enough in any country for scientists to know that plants have both male and female parts. Nevertheless, we may read the following in Verse 53 Chapter 20 Taa Haa:
{الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ مَهْدًا وَسَلَكَ لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلًا وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاء مَاء فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِ أَزْوَاجًا مِّن نَّبَاتٍ شَتَّى {20/53
“God is the One Who sent down rain from the sky and with it brought forth a variety of plants in pairs.”
Today we know that fruit comes from plants that have sexual characteristics even when they come from unfertilized flowers, like bananas. In a part of Verse 3, Chapter 13 Ar Ra‘d we read the following :
وَمِن كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ جَعَلَ فِيهَا زَوْجَيْنِ اثْنَيْنِ
“and of all fruits (God) placed (on the earth) two elements of a pair.”
In the field of physiology, there is one verse which appears extremely significant to me. To understand this verse, it must first be known that chemical reactions occur inside the intestines releasing substances (nutrients) extracted from food into the blood stream. Blood stream then transports the nutrients to all the organs of the body, among which are the milk-producing mammary glands. This is precisely what is said in Verse 66, Chapter 16 An Nahl :
وَإِنَّ لَكُمْ فِي الأَنْعَامِ لَعِبْرَةً نُّسْقِيكُم مِّمَّا فِي بُطُونِهِ مِن بَيْنِ فَرْثٍ وَدَمٍ لَّبَنًا خَالِصًا سَآئِغًا لِلشَّارِبِينَ {16/66}
“Verily in cattle there is a lesson for you. We give you drink from their insides, coming from a conjunction between the digested contents (of the intestines) and the blood, milk pure and pleasant for those who drink it.”
The constituents of milk are secreted by the mammary glands which are nourished by the product of food digestion brought to them by the bloodstream. The initial event which sets the whole process in motion is the conjunction of the contents of the intestine and blood at the level of the intestinal wall itself.
The Qur’an Considerably enriched the man whit data about himself as we shall see. But its teachings have been clearly understood in modern times. As a medical doctor, I was naturally attracted to natural sciences and physiology. I must confirm that when I read in its original text for the first time, these data about man was among those which impressed me the most. It is why that as soon I finished my study of the Qur’an I delivered a lecture in French academy of medicine with a special reference to the (verses about) human production in the Qur’an. In order to carry out a valid comparison it must be remembered that a lot of superstitions and myths were present in old times about this topic - human reproduction. Still we don’t find any such myth or superstition is the Qur’an. Let us now isolate, from all these verses, precise ideas concerning the complexity of male fertilizing liquid (the semen) and the fact that an infinitely small quantity of it is required to ensure fertilization. This can also be expressed by Quintessence, if I have correctly translated the Arabic word Sulalah. The Implementation of egg inside the female genetic organ is perfectly described in many verses by the word Alaq علق as in Verse 2, Chapter 96 Al Alaq:
خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ {96/2}
“God fashioned man from something which clings.”