Was that angel really Gabriel?
by Jim Walker
Ramadan is the Islamic commemoration of the first revelation to Muhammad. In celebration of Ramadan Muslims perform a number of religious activities including fasting from sun-up to sun-down, acting kindly towards others, and praying. It is a time of good will amongst Muslims and a time to remember Allah’s and Muhammad’s commands.
On day 7 (May 22) I wrote about Muhammad’s experience during his first revelation and I questioned who was actually behind it. Now, I am challenging the accuracy of that first revelation. Since the root of Ramadan is Muhammad’s first revelation it is logical to take a deeper look at the actual revelation.
Here is the revelation, the first 5 verses of sura Al ‘Alaq, (Sura 96):
1: Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created-
2: Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood:
3: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,-
4: He Who taught (the use of) the pen,-
5: Taught man that which he knew not.
Here is the verse from five other English versions of the Qur'an:
DAWOOD: Created man from clots of blood
YUSUFALI: Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood:
PICKTHAL: Createth man from a clot.
SHAKIR: He created man from a clot.
RODWELL: Created man from clots of blood
The problem here is verse 2. Man is not created from a clot of blood.
People are created when male sperm fertilizes a female egg. But since the erroneous science of the Greeks, (prominently Galen’s), had permeated the Arabian Peninsula before Muhammad, he probably learned this wrong belief from that vein of science. He believed it and repeated it as Allah’s word. Over time, the biological sciences later proved Galen, and many others including Muhammad, were wrong. These sciences identified that life was created by the fertilization of the female egg by the male sperm.
The main point here is that since men are not created from a clot, or drop of blood, then the spiritual being that gave this revelation to Muhammad didn’t know what he was talking about; that revelation was not from God.
Since both Muslims and Christians agree that God knows science, and that God would get science right, we can conclude that this spiritual being that appeared to Muhammad was not from God. Gross scientific inaccuracy = not from God.
Some Muslim arguments in defense of this error say that Muhammad was speaking in general terms, or that this verse alludes to the human embryo looking like a blood clot in some stages. I myself don’t see it that way. As I’ve studied the Quran I’ve gotten to know a little but about its tone and tenor, and this passage strikes me as Allah trying to speak literal truth about man’s creation. I don’t read metaphor or generality here, instead I read Allah making a bold statement on man’s creation.
Jesus spoke truth and He loved His followers. God loves them and is their Father. Islam does not have the love of a father. If man is created in God’s image, then Fatherhood is part of God’s identity. I encourage you to seek the face of God the Father. You’ll find it in the heart of Jesus Christ.
This is not an embryo.
*If you would like to participate in a Bible study about this subject and similar ones, email us at comparingfaith@gmail.com or text 313.485.7153.