Islam and Science, The Embryological Development of Man in the Quran
23:11
2 Jul 2011
Embryology, Miracles / Ijaz
Zaghloul R. M. El-Naggar (An-Najjar)
Zaghloul El-Naggar discusses human reproduction and embryology and compares it to passages in the Qurʾān in this complete episode of “Islam and Science”.
The original air date of the episode from Peace TV is unknown. The credits have been removed from the end.
Evaluation:
The material on Islam is within the bounds of what Muslims have historically understood as acceptable.
The science used in this video is generally accurate if imprecise. The Qurʾānic description of embryology may be interpreted as metaphorical and not a complete description as the video claims. The embryological passages of the Qurʾān are presented as evidence of miraculous knowledge, but most of the material could have been known by the 7th century. Scientific statement in this video should be verified with additional sources.
There is insufficient historical material on which to base an evaluation.
About Zaghloul R. M. El-Naggar (An-Najjar)
Born in 1933 in Egypt, Zaghloul El-Naggar received a PhD in geology in 1963 from the University of Wales in the UK. The majority of his scholarship has focused on i’jāz, the idea that scientific facts may be found in the Qurʾān, proving its miraculous nature. A collection of his videos can be found on the Discovering Islam website.
He was considered a threat by earlier Egyptian governments; he now is the head of the Committee of Scientific Notions in the Qurʾān, Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs in Cairo.
El-Naggar believes that scientific interpretation may only be done with material that may be experienced, unlike references to the soul, jinn, etc, which should be approached with faith alone. However, he also suggests that the Qurʾān may “orient scientists in attaining new ‘cosmic truths’.” (Bigliardi, 103)
Selected Bibliography:
His own web site: http://elnaggarzr.com/en/
The Quran & Science web site: http://www.quranandscience.com/
“Zaghloul El-Naggar” Wikipedia. Accessed 19 April 2015.
Bigliardi, S. (2014). Islam and the Quest for Modern Science: Conversations with Adnan Oktar, Mehdi Golshani, Mohammed Basil Altaie, Zaghloul El-Naggar, Bruno Guiderdoni and Nidhal Guessoum. Istanbul, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul.
“Dr. Zaghloul Najjar.” Discovering Islam. Discovering Islam, n.d. Web. Accessed 18 June 2015.