The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَوَصَّيْنَا
الْإِنسَانَ
بِوَالِدَيْهِ
إِحْسَانًا
...
46:15. We have enjoined on man Kindness to his parents:
... حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ كُرْهًا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًا...
in pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth.
...وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلَاثُونَ شَهْرًا...
The carrying of the (child) to his weaning is (a period of) thirty months.
C4790. In 31:14 the time of weaning was stated to be at the age of two years, i.e., 24 months. See also 2:233.
That leaves six months as the minimum period of human gestation after which the child is known to be viable.
This is in accordance with the latest ascertained scientific facts. The average period is 280 days, or ten times the inter-menstrual period, and of course the average period of weaning is much less than 24 months.
The maximum period of breast-feeding (2 years) is again in accordance with the time that the first dentition is ordinarily completed in a human child.
The lower milk incisors in the centre come out between the 6th and 9th months; then come out the milk teeth at intervals, until the canines appear. The second molars come out at about 24 months, and with them the child has a complete apparatus of milk teeth. Nature now expects him to chew and masticate and be independent of his mother's milk completely. On the other hand it hurts the mother to feed from the breast after the child has a complete set of milk teeth.
The permanent teeth begin at the sixth year, and the second molars come at 12 years. The third molars are the wisdom teeth, which may appear at 18 to 20 years, or not at all.
...حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً قَالَ...
At length, when he reaches the age of full strength and attains forty years, he says,
C4791. The age of full strength (ashudd) is held to be between 18 and 30 To 32. Between 30 and 40 the man is in his best manhood. After that he begins to look to his growing issue, and rightly commends the new generation to Allah. Perhaps his spiritual faculties also gain the upper hand after 40.
...رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَيَّ...
"O my Lord!
grant me that I may be grateful for Thy favor which Thou hast bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents,
...وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِي فِي ذُرِّيَّتِي...
and that I may work righteousness such as Thou mayest approve;
and be gracious to me in my issue.
...إِنِّي تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ ﴿١٥﴾
Truly have I turned to Thee and truly do I bow (to Thee) in Islam."
Yuksel’s version:
The Age of Intellectual and Emotional Maturity
46:15 We instructed the human being to honor his parents. His mother bore him with hardship, gave birth to him in hardship, and his weaning lasts thirty months. Until he has attained his maturity, and reaches forty years, he says: "My Lord, direct me to appreciate the blessings You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to do righteousness that pleases You. Let my progeny be righteous. I have repented to You; I am of those who have peacefully surrendered."*
[[Yuksel’s note [when life begins]
046:015 This verse informs us that the sum of pregnancy and breastfeeding is 30 months. When evaluated together with verse 31:14 suggesting the time of breastfeeding as 24 months, it takes simple arithmetic to learn that the pregnancy of the person (nafs) to be 6 months.
It is common knowledge that pregnancy is longer than that. We know from modern embryology that the exact time for a normal pregnancy is 266 days (see 77:23). There is extra information to be extracted from these natural and scriptural signs. If we subtract the 6 months, that is 180 days, from 266 days, we get 86 days.
We can easily infer that the Quran does not accept the creature inside the womb to be a person (nafs) from the time of conception until the 86th day of pregnancy.
Other verses support our inference. For instance, verse 22:5 and 23:14, which explain the evolution of the human being in four stages, does not use the word person (nafs) or human (insan) to describe the early stages of pregnancy. The four stages of pregnancy are (1) sperm; (2) embryo; (3) about four inch fetus (4) a new creature.
It is clear that a new creation comes into existence after the 86th day. In other words, the emergence of consciousness/personhood (nafs) starts taking place in the brain of the fetus approximately three months after conception.
Do we need to further add that reflecting on the aya (signs) of the scripture together with the aya (signs) of nature sheds light on the controversial issue of abortion? Also, see 16:58-59; 17:31