Home > Surah 23 - The Believers
The Quran Verse
Surah 23:14:
"...and We made the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation..."
The Quran makes a specific chronological claim: that bones are formed first, and then "clothed" or covered with flesh (muscles).
The Scientific Fact:
Modern embryology (specifically myogenesis and ossification) shows that the precursors to both muscles and bones develop simultaneously from the mesoderm (somites). In many cases, muscle tissue begins to differentiate before the cartilaginous models of the bones have even begun to ossify into true bone.
The idea that a skeleton is formed first as a "frame" and then wrapped in meat is a layman's observation based on how buildings are constructed. An omniscient God would not describe a simultaneous biological process as a sequential one where bones precede muscle.