The Quran’s embryology is just 7th century folk biology. The backbone/semen verse proves it.

The Quran makes a specific, testable anatomical claim in Surah At-Tariq (86:5–7):

“He was created from a fluid, ejected, emerging from between the backbone (sulb) and the ribs (tara’ib).”

Classical scholars Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari read this literally. The reproductive fluid comes from between the spine and the chest. That is the claim.

Semen is produced in the testes, which are about as far from the backbone and ribs as you can get while still being on the same body. The being who claims to have designed the reproductive system apparently got confused about where he put things.

The “other fluid” escape does not work. Some apologists say the verse refers to some general fluid near the spine rather than semen. This fails immediately. The passage is specifically about where humans come from. Only one fluid creates a human. If the verse is not about sperm, it answers nothing and is a meaningless statement about human origins. Apologists cannot have it both ways.

Also there is no mention of the female egg anywhere. Half the genetic material required to make a human being. Not even a hint. This is not a small omission in a passage specifically about human origins. It reflects the 7th century belief that men provide the generative substance and women are just the vessel. That is a human cultural assumption, not divine knowledge.

Apologists will claim that “Sulb and tara’ib mean the pelvis” Classical scholars did not read it that way. This is drawing the bullseye after the arrow has already landed.

“Science is always changing”….Testicular anatomy has not changed. Nobody is publishing new research suggesting the spine might be involved.

The verse reflects the ancient belief that semen originates from spinal marrow, a pre-Islamic view common across ancient cultures. Combined with no mention of the female egg, this is exactly what you would expect from a 7th century warlord author and exactly what you would not expect from the creator of the reproductive system.