Science in the Glorious Quran: The Chewed Lump Stage

“فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً” (المؤمنون:14).

“And then We changed the alaqah into mudghah (chewed-like lump).” (Qur’an, 23:14)

After the fertilized ovum clings to the uterus, like a leech, then the somites develop.  Somites are bilaterally paired blocks which give rise to multiple tissues, including the axial skeleton, skeletal and smooth muscles, ligaments, and cartilage.

4-5 weeks after fertilization, the fetus with somites appears as a chewed-like lump or what is called “mudghah” in the verse.

Four-five weeks human embryo with somites which give him the looking of a chewed lump.