Reflections

There is a lot more to heredity than DNA and still yet more to Soul than heredity :

There is clear evidence in the holy Qura’n, which acknowledge the concept of genetic, for example with regards to gender determination. The concept of “Gender Determination” as being described by geneticists is one of the outstanding information revealed to us in the Qura’n. This information is now a known fact, that sperms are the deciding factors in determining the type of gender (male or female) in the new embryo. This determination through the male sperm is due to the fact that sperms have an X and Y-chromosomes, while the female ovum has only X-chromosomes (X, X). Through the Qura’n, the Almighty informs us that it is the male sperm that determine the type of gender for the new offspring; Allah (SWT) said in (surah 75. Al-Qiyamah, Verses 36-39) : “Does man think that he will be left uncontrolled (without purpose)? Was he not a drop of sperm emitted (in humble form) ? Then did (God) make and fashion (him) in due proportion. And of him he made two sexes, male and female”.

The Prophet (Pbuh) in many traditions also acknowledged the role of heredity in Human characteristics, as in the following examples on the authority of Ibin Majah :

1- The Prophet (pbuh) said : “When you marry, choose a spouse of a good stock, as the characteristics of parents pass on to their children”.

2- The Prophet (pbuh) said : “You should not marry a khadra al-duman”. He was then asked : “What is khadra al-duman, oh Prophet of Allah ?” And he replied : “A pretty woman of bad upbringing”.

3- A man from the ansaar came to the Prophet (pbuh) and said : “Oh Prophet of Allah, this (lady) is my cousin, and my name is such and such (and he mentioned the names of ten generations of his forefathers), and her name is such and such (and he mentioned the names of ten generations of her forefathers). None of her forefathers or mine was black, and yet she gave birth to this black baby”. The Prophet (pbuh) looked down and was silent for a long time, and then looked up and said : “You have ninety nine roots and she has likewise, and if the roots get together, they intermingle, and each root asks Allah, the Almighty, for its characteristics to be passed down. Get up, the child is yours, and it came from none other than your roots or hers”. Upon which the man got up, held his wife's hand and was more ? now ? delighted with his wife and child. A person's roots may be a reference to his/her inherited characteristics.

Though Islam acknowledges the role of inheritance as a contributory factor to Human characteristics, but did not deny other factors such as womb environment, upbringing and surrounding environment as equal contributory factors.

The most significant and surprising fact to emerge from the publication of the analysis of Human Genome which cover more than hundred pages in both Nature and Science Journals in February, 2001, is that there are far fewer Human genes than any one had predicted. The original estimated number of Human genes ranged from a minimum of 80000 to a maximum of 140000. Graig Venter, leader of the Celera Genomic and his team put the number in the range of 26000 genes in addition to 12000 “hypothetical genes” which are in process of validation. John Sulston, leader of publicly funded effort and his team put the figure between 30000-40000 genes. This illustrates that the real number of genes is third of what was originally predicted!

So what does this tell us ?

The Human gene number is in the range of 30000 genes, few hundred more than that of mouse, the fruit fly has 13000 genes, the microscopic nematode worm has 18000 genes and a tiny plant “thale cress” has 26000 genes. This clearly show that there is something other than the shear number of genes that make us Human, much more complex in biological term than the tiny plant.

Dr. Venter said in (the Independent of 12/2/2001), “this finding is a body blow to the common fallacy that single gene determine all Human traits, including those that are part of our individual personality, from alcoholism to homosexuality. It says to me that we are not “hardwired”. The idea that there is a simple, deterministic explanation that is : we are the sum total of our gene, as a scientist wants to laugh and cry!”

Dr. Ventre also said “the finding means that a set of instructions for making something as complicated as Human body and mind must have another component of complexity that scientists have yet to discover!”.

As a Muslim scientist I also believe that “this other component” that compliment our biological component and have the upper hand, will not be discovered even in the far future. Allah (SWAT) said in the Qura’n in Surah 17. Al-Isra Verse 85 : (And they ask concerning the spirit ; Say the spirit, is one of the thing, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only little).

In addition to that I must also emphases that whatever genes we are fortunate or unfortunate enough to have from our parents, grandparents or grand grandparents, it is the environment in which we are brought up, the womb environment and how that upbringing and environment interact with our genes. That is the real master of our destines.

One important point to mention is that as Human body inherit his genes from his parents, he also inherit a set of instructions that tells the genes when to become active, in which tissue and to what extent. Without this “epigenetic instruction” manual, Multicellular organisms would be impossible. Every cells weather it is liver cell or skin cell inherit exactly the same set of genes, because all cells originate form one single zygote, and it is the manual, which has different instructions for different cell type, that allow the cells to develop its distinctive identity. More on this epigenetic instructions manual research or referred to as “Genomic imprint” can be found in the work of (Reik and Surani, 1997) and (Vines, 1998). The work of Hawley and Mori (1999) on imprinting and human behaviour also shed light on this crucial issue. 

Professor Lewis Wolpert, a developmental biologist of University College London and the recent winner of the prestigious Royal Society Michael Faraday Award for improving the public understanding of science, argue in his theory that belief may come from our genes and we have a fundamental need to tell ourselves stories to make sense of life (Wolpert, 2001). That what we called instinct in Islam, there is a fundamental instinct need within our selves to believe in God (ALLAH) SWTA. Allah (SWT) said clearly in the holy Qura’n in Surah 7. Al-A’raf, Verse 172 : (And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their lions, their seed (or from Adam’s lion his offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying) : “Am I not your Lord ?” They said : “Yes! We testify,” lest you should say on the day of Resurrection : “Verily, we have been unaware of this”). Another interesting piece of work which is in the development stage and which I could not confirm at the time of writing this book. This work by Dr. Ahmad Khan of the University of New Mexico in his laboratory “GenLab”, who claimed that he with his brother, who is a system analyst, developed a computer programme. This programme could detect if any Qura’nic verse to be found within the intron region (non-coding region) of chromosome 19 that had been mapped at the time of his work. He interpreted the meaning of the Verse “soon will we show them our signs in the horizons and in their own souls until it become manifest to them this is the truth” as follows : Signs in the Arabic translation refer to Ayaat and since this is in their own souls as the verse refer, he realised that as “geneticist” that the verses of the Qura’n could indeed be within each Human being-coded within our DNA (Chouwadhary, 1999). And Allah is the all knowing.