According to my approach, Dr. Muhammad `Ali Al Barr concludes that this Hadith agrees with the medical science about the fate of the first node that disappears totally and nothing of it remains safe except its small vestigial sign in the sacrococcygeal area. In my view his conclusion is irrelevant and not supported by the wording of this Hadith, if he had thought over the word of this Hadith deeply he could have understood that the Hadith mainly denotes three points:
1 – Resistance of coccyx to extinction and that it is never eaten by the earth while the earth eats the whole human body including his flesh and bone. (1)
2 – Human body was created from the coccyx.
3 – Human body would be reconstructed from the coccyx on the Day of Resurrection.
So the miraculous point in this Hadith could be discovered through studying the nature of coccyx and by exploring its resistant power to corrosion that would be examined in the scientific laboratories.
On the other hand, the word: “It has been created from it” in the version of Muslim agrees with what Dr. Muhammad `Ali Al Barr has mentioned that its extensive activities lead to the formation of notochord (or the spinal column) and it forms the interior middle layer or what is called (the Mesoderm) which thickens on the side of the original cell forming the embryo.
Due to the importance of this primitive node, Warnock British commission for human fertilization and embryology regarded this period a separating time that allows doctors and researchers to conduct experiments on early embryos, resulted from the surplus of artificial insemination in vitro, as the Commission has allowed to conduct these types of experiments before the appearance of the primitive node and banned it strictly after the appearance of the primitive node, on the grounds that the appearance of this node is followed by the first beginnings of the nervous system."(2) End of quote.
So as long as this node has such importance and its small sign remains in the sacrococcygeal region according to the medical science experts, the above mentioned Hadith is true which says “From it he was created and by it he will be reconstructed.'' And Allah knows best.
Then I found a research by Dr. `Usman Jilan, Faculty of Medicine, San`aa University presented for the Seventh Conference of the scientific miracles in the Glorious Qur'an and Dignified Sunnah, held in Dubai, Arab Emirates, on 1-3, Safar (Second Month of Islamic Calendar), 1425 A.H. who inferred in his research to the Hadith of Abu Hurayrah, which has been mentioned in previous lines. He also elucidated the three points of this Hadith and said: “Our research contains–By the Grace of Allah Almighty, All-Praiseworthy, All-Glorious- evidences for the above-mentioned facts in the light of modern medical experiments and scientific achievements and discoveries that attest the truth of the Prophet (may the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him). As Allah promised in the Glorious Qur`an and said: “We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to them that this (the Qur’ân) is the truth.” [Fussilat: 53] By the Grace of Allah (Glory be to Him) we will explain each point of the above-mentioned three points in detail presenting scientific evidences that prove the honesty and truth of the Prophet (may the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him) as Allah (Glory be to Him) said about him: “Nor does he speak of (his own) desire. It is only a Revelation revealed.” [An-Najm: 3-4]
Then Dr. `Usman Jilan began his talk about the Qur`anic paragraph “From it he was created” and said: We were informed by the Prophet (may the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him) that the first thing of human body which is created first is the coccyx. In other words, the primitive part of the human foetus which is formed first is the coccyx and his all other body parts and tissues are formed by it. The books of embryology show that the first part of human body that is created first in the early stages of the foetus is the coccyx and then all other tissues of the embryo are created, after that the coccyx returns back and shrinks and settles down in the sacrococcygeal region forever.
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(1) The blessed bodies of the prophets (peace be upon them) are exempted from this ruling as is proven by the Hadith. Furthermore, Ibn `Abd Al Barr added the bodies of the martyrs into this ruling, but I did not find any authentic Hadith for it. See At-Tamhid,(18/173, 174).
(2) The Deformed Foetus and Genetic Diseases, P. (401
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