Talk:Quran and Semen Production

From WikiIslam

Jump to: navigation, search

Comments

Comments are in bold

Dr. Maurice Bucaille

"Two verses in the Qur'an deal with sexual relations themselves...When translations and explanatory commentaries are consulted however, one is struck by the divergences between them. I have pondered for a long time on the translation of such verses (In plain English that means there is "an improbability or a contradiction, prudishly called a `difficulty'" ), and am indebted to Doctor A. K. Giraud, Former Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Beirut, for the following:

`(Man was fashioned from a liquid poured out. It issued (as a result) of the conjunction of the sexual area of the man and the sexual area of the woman.'

"The sexual area of the man is indicated in the text of the Qur'an by the word sulb (singular). The sexual areas of the woman are designated in the Qur'an by the word tara'ib (plural).

"This is the translation which appears to be most satisfactory."
Dr Maurice Bucaille

Source

While there is evidence that sulb can mean “hardening” and thus, the penis, there is no evidence that tara’ib can mean the vagina. Bucaille and Giraud appear to have assumed that tara’ib means the ’sexual areas of the woman’, without providing supporting evidence. Even if tara'ib means what Bucaille and Giraud want it to mean, the term, 'sexual areas of the woman' is too vague to be meaningful. To assume that it means the vagina is merely an assumption, and may constitute the logical fallacy of equivocation.

Therefore, Bucaille is debunked.

N.B. Not quite. The Quran does not need to say penis and vagina to mean "sexual encounter". So Bucaille, NOT debunked.

Ahmed A. Abd-Allah

Abd-Allah extends Bucaille’s proposition, providing dictionaries and tafsirs to support his case that sulb means ‘hardening’ and tara’ib means the sexual areas of the woman.

I am indebted to Abd-Allah for his definition of sulb.

Note that 'sulb' is *singular*. In the dictionary by Wehr you cite below, you will see that its meaning of backbone is *only* when we take the *plural* word of sulb (aslaab). In its singular form, it means hardening.
Ahmed A. Abd-Allah

I do find it surprising that almost all the commonly available translations of the Quran refer to sulb as the backbone, though some refer to loins. Even Ibn Kathir accepts backbone. Is Wehr a more authoritative and knowledgeable authority on the Arabic language than Ibn Kathir? This is difficult to believe. Truly the Quran is miraculous.

Regardless, Abd-Allah’s proposition collapses with his own definitions of tara’ib. He failed to show that his tafsirs and dictionaries explain tara’ib to mean vagina. Instead, tara’ib is defined as breasts, eyes, legs and chest. Any sexually-experienced man (unlike a juvenile like Abd-Allah) would know that while erogenous zones are important in foreplay, the sexual act really must be consummated through the vagina.

N.B. This is not important; hardening is not an exact term for a male penis either. You can tell from the terms used here that the Quran is most probably speaking metaphorically, and describing a sexual encounter between a man and a woman. Does it need to be so explicit?

Further Abd-Allah’s reference to Ibn Kathir’s tafsir is disingenuous as he only mentioned the half of the description that supports his case (i.e. tara’ib refers to the woman), while leaving out the other half that debunks his case (i.e. tara’ib is the woman’s ribs). This selective quoting may be construed by many readers to be deceptive and deceitful.

N.B. Admittedly, tara'ib being translated as a woman's ribs should be explained. However, this alone does not debunk this or Bucaille's explanations.

-- Comments end

Retrieved from "http://www.wikiislam.com/wiki/Talk:Quran_and_Semen_Production"
Personal tools