Dear Beyond Tradition,
As-salaamu 'alaikum,
Ramadhan Kareem!
I guess brother Joseph is tied up as well as many other members during this period of Ramadhan fasting. They might respond when time permits where necessary. In the meantime, kindly see below my thoughts as regards your issue of concern.
From my perspective, whether ‘
semen’ (
maniy) is considered ‘profane’/ ‘unholy’ or not does not preclude the fact that it is from which the human being emanates/ is created (75:37) in the form of a mixed diploid cell/ fertilized egg -
nutfah (76:2). From such a humble beginning, from an insignificant fluid/ water (77:20) emitted/ ejected from between ‘
sulb’ and ‘
taraib’ (86:6-7)
[1], the fertilized egg (
nutfah) develops into various stages (23:14) before it is brought forth as an infant (
thwiflan) some of whom grow to maturity and some to old age (22:5). In my humble opinion, this ‘insiginificant water’/
semen simply renders one ‘ritually’ impure to engage into a ‘ritual’ prayer/ worship unless they take a ‘ritual’ bath (4:43, 5:6). This does not however necessarily mean that it is in itself inherently unclean/ impure/ bad. Rather, the state that it brings to one when it is ejected is what is described as one of ‘avoidance’/ ‘ritual impurity’ (
junuban) - 5:6.
On the other hand, as a fully grown human being from such meagre beginnings, in the best stature (95:4), and preferred over many of God’s creatures (17:70), the purpose is so that man may comprehend and take heed -
wala’allakum ta’qilun (40:67). In the general, despite such a favor upon man (17:70), human kind is lost (103:2) except for those who take heed (103:3). In 95:5, they are described as reduced to the lowest of the low. This could possibly be so due to an incumbent
amanat taken primevally (7:172) out of ignorance and selflessly unfair (33:72). Therefore, so that the human being does not stray (
fala yadhwillu) nor suffer (
wala yashqa) - 20:123, they have to take heed, upholding truth and justice (7:181) not shunning revelations encountered (7:182).
Furthermore, from such despicable origins - insignificant water / clay extract (32:8/ 23:12), man is destined to again die (23:15) then get resurrected back to God (2:28) as resonated in 36:77-79 and 53:45-47. This as a result should spiritually set some premise upon which a believer may appreciate where they are from, where they are destined to and hence how they ought to carry themselves.
Therefore, in summary of such descriptions and related verses, I do resonate Br. Joseph’s sentiments as shared in the following extract.
“...
The point of the verses was simply to provide a spiritual lesson to its immediate audience that if God could create a human being from such humble, meagre beginnings, God could also, without any doubt, resurrect humans from their death. The latter sentiment is given by the very next verse in no uncertain terms.
086.008
"Indeed, He is able to bring him back (to life)!"...”
[2]The focus is thus rather, with an underlying spiritual wisdom to take heed of, made to the fact that a human being has been from very insignificant origins and that he shall again return to God after being resurrected as opposed to focusing on the inherent nature/ status of ‘
semen’ nor its capacity to begin man’s best form over many creations.
Hopefully that helps.
Regards,
Athman.
REFERENCE:
[1]. VERSE 86:7 - HUMAN CREATIONhttp://www.quransmessage.com/articles/verse%2086-7.htm[2]. Ibid