Science in the Glorious Quran: Protection of Foetus

” يَخْلُقُكُمْ فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ خَلْقًا مِّن بَعْدِ خَلْقٍ فِي ظُلُمَاتٍ ثَلَاثٍ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ ۖ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ فَأَنَّىٰ تُصْرَفُونَ” (الزمر:6).

“God created you in the wombs of your mothers, one act of creation after another, in three veils of darkness” (Qur’an, 39:6).

The developing foetus is surrounded by three anatomical structures which are the abdominal wall, the uterine wall and the embryonic membranes in which the foetus is enclosed.

Interestingly enough, each layer is itself also made up of three layers. The abdominal wall is made up of three muscle layers: The external oblique sheet, the internal oblique sheet and the transverse muscle layers.

The uterine wall is made up of the perimetrium, the myometrium and the endometrium.
The embryonic sac is made of three membranes; the amnion, the chorion, and the decidua. These three layers are described in the Holy Qur’an as three veils.

The three veils of the anterior abdominal wall, the uterine wall, and the embryonic sac (left). The uterine wall three layers; the perimetrium, the myometrium, and the endometrium (middle). The layers of the embryonic sac; the amnion, the chorion, and the decidua (right).