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Man's origin according to the Quran

Question

Assalamu Alaykum,
1-Can you clarify more how everything was created from water, and then the holy Quran mentions one time that man was created from clay, and one time from sand?
2-What is the reason muslim prayers are directed towards the Ka'ba?
Thank you

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

There are different verses about the creation of man; some verses state that he was created from a liquid (water) and these verses mean that he was created from sperm. Some other verses state that he was created from earth, referring to his origin, and other verses state that he was created from clay, referring to the earth when it was mixed with water. Therefore, there is no contradiction in these differences.

As regards the Saying of Allaah (which means): {and made from water every living thing?}[Quran 21:30], then some scholars  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them that it means that Allaah gave life with the water that descends from the sky to every living thing, which means every animal, and the plants and trees are included in this, which means that water is the reason for the life of everything. However, some other scholars  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them stated that it refers to the animals which live in water, and it was also said that liquid (water) refers to the sperm.

With regard to the Muslims directing themselves in prayer to the Ka’bah, then this was an order from Allaah, and they perform the prayer in that direction as an act of obedience to Allaah. The Ka’bah is the House of Allaah and it is He Who ordered it to be built, and so He wanted to honour it and ordered the people to pray towards it. For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 92206 and 85886.

Allaah Knows best.

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