Overview (Verse 12)

The Origins of Man
 
Having given a detailed account of the qualities and characteristics of believers, the sūrah moves on to point out the indications available within man himself that lead to faith. It speaks of the various stages of development of a human being, starting with the very beginning of human origin, and ending with resurrection on the Day of Judgement, to establish a firm link between this life and the life to come:
 
Indeed, We create man out of the essence of clay, then We place him, a gamete, in a safe place of rest. Then We create out of the gamete a clinging cell mass, and out of the clinging cell mass We create an embryo. Then We create within the embryo bones, then We clothe the bones with flesh. We then bring this into being as another creation. Exalted be God, the best of creators. And then, after all this, you are destined to die; and then, you shall be restored to life on the Day of Resurrection. (Verses 12-16)
 
The gradual formation of man, following the same sequence, confirms first the truth of the Originator, and also the deliberate planning in the course such formation follows. This cannot be the result of blind coincidence. Nor can it be a random beginning leading to a consistent line that never fails or deviates. The truth is that human beings come into existence in the way they do, rather than any other possible way, because our Creator wants it this way, and He does things according to His own plan and design.
 
Moreover, by giving this full picture with the different stages shown to follow each other without fail also indicates that belief in the Creator who plans everything and following the course of action believers follow, as indicated in the first eleven verses of the sūrah, is the only way to achieve the perfect standard human beings can achieve both in this life and in the hereafter. Thus, the two opening passages of the sūrah are interlinked.
 
“Indeed, We create man out of the essence of clay.” (Verse 12) This statement implies that there are stages in the creation of human beings, without specifying them. The implication is much clearer in the Arabic’ original where the term sulālah, given in English as ‘essence’, also connotes a chain of development. Hence, it means that man goes through different stages, one leading to the other, from the very first beginning of clay to the eventual creation, man. This is a truth we get to know from the Qur’ān. We do not need any confirmation of it from scientific theories concerned with the origins of man or other living things.
 
The Qur’ān establishes this truth of God’s work and design. Thus, we can contemplate the great divide between the clay and man who came from that clay through a succession of stages. The details of this succession are not mentioned because it is unimportant to the wider aims of the Qur’ān. Scientific theories try to find a definite ladder for our origins and evolution. In their attempts, these theories may come up with some true conclusions and they may make mistakes. We cannot, however, confuse the truth established in the Qur’ān, which mentions the succession of stages, with the attempts made by scientists to establish these different stages of succession. These attempts are always open to error, proving today what they may disprove tomorrow in the light of advanced techniques and technologies.
 
This truth is sometimes expressed very briefly in the Qur’ān, when it says that man’s creation began with clay, giving no reference to the stages which the process of creation then went through. The ultimate reference then is the most detailed Qur’ānic text, which refers to a ‘succession of stages’. We should remember that the Qur’ān uses a more general or shorter text, only because it is more suited to the context in which it occurs.
 
The Qur’ān does not explain how man evolved from the essence of clay, because such explanation is not part of its objectives. The stages of this succession may be exactly as scientific theories suggest, or they may be different. It may happen that man will be able to formulate an accurate idea of such succession. However, the parting point between the Qur’ānic view of man and the way scientific theories look at him is that the Qur’ān honours man, stating that a measure of God’s spirit was breathed into him to make of him a man with the qualities and characteristics that distinguish man from animals. In this, the Islamic view is fundamentally different from that of all materialist theories. God certainly tells the truth.