The Quran Mentions That Human Beings Are Created From Dust And It Also Mentions That They Are Created From Sperm. Isn’t This Contradictory?

Almighty Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ has said:

وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلْمَآءِ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ حَىٍّ ۖ

… and we made every living thing from water? [Ambiya 21:30]

And He عَزَّوَجَلَّ said:

فَإِنَّا خَلَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن تُرَابٍ

… then ponder that We created you from soil, [hajj 22:05]

And He عَزَّوَجَلَّ said:

إِنَّا خَلَقْنَـٰهُم مِّن طِينٍ لَّازِبٍۭ ﴿١١﴾

… We Have indeed created them from sticky clay. [Saffat 37:11]

In the preceding verse, Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ the All-Knowing, has mentioned various stages of human creation. The creation of man according to the majestic Quran was first from water and dust, which combined and became clay. This refers to the creation of humanity’s first ancestor, Prophet Adam عَلٰی نَبِیِّنَا وَعَلَیْہِ الصَّلٰوۃُوَالسَّلَام. Then Almighty Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ decreed that his descendants would reproduce after that according to the same natural law that is applied to may other living beings.

Sometimes the Holy Quran refers to semen as “water”, meaning fluid. So when Allah Almighty عَزَّوَجَلَّ says in the Glorious Quran that every living thing is from water, it can indicate that everything in creation; humans, animals and plants have all been created from water and depends upon water for their continued existence. But a similar verse: “And Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ) has created every creature from water (Surah An-Nur, verse 45)” can also mean that human beings and animals are created from their father’s semen or sperm. This is confirmed by other verse, such as:

أَلَمْ نَخْلُقكُّم مِّن مَّآءٍ مَّهِينٍ ﴿٢٠﴾

Did We not create you from an abject fluid? [Mursalat 77:20]

As for scientific evidence, research has confirmed that the body of man, like that of other living beings, is made up predominantly of water (about 70% of the human body), and that the elements of the human body are exactly the same as those found in the earths’ soil in greater or smaller quantities.