The Miracle of Producing Milk

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

The Miracle of Producing Milk (3/3)

Al-Shaykh Abdul-Majeed ‘Azeez Al-Zindani


Let us now follow the track of each precursor of milk and what happens to it during its journey across the mammary cell:
1. Amino acids:
Amino acids are absorbed through the basal membrane of the cell. Amino acids are covalently bound together to form proteins at the polysomes (poly–ribosomes) on the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER). Newly synthesized proteins are transferred from the RER to Golgi apparatus, where they are processed for transport out of the cell through the secretory vesicles that bud from Golgi. At the apical membrane of the cell the secretory vesicle fuses with the inner surface of the apical membrane, which produces an opening through which the vesicle releases its protein contents into the lumen of the alveolus. Thus the protein components of milk are available now.


Alveolar Cell from lactating mammary gland. N, nucleus; TJ, tight junction; GJ, gap junction; D, desmosome; SV, secretory vesicle; FDA, fat-depleted adipocyte; PC, Plasma Cell; BM, basement membrane; ME, cross section through process of myoepithelial cell; RER, rough endoplasmic reticulum. See text for explanation of secretory pathways I (exocytosis), II (lipid), III (apical transport), IV (transcytosis) and V (para cellular pathway).


2. Lactose:
Next we see how another component of the milk. It is the lactose that, with the permission of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) makes milk paalatable to those who drink it. The Glucose that is carried by the blood enters the cell via the basolateral membrane. Some of it is converted to galactose. Both glucose and galactose enter the Golgi apparatus and enter into a reaction resulting in the formation of lactose. The formation of lactose in the Golgi results in drawing water into the cell and into the Golgi; and ultimately becoming part of milk.[1] Thus lactose and water are added to the proteins, waiting for other important milk components, such as lipids.


3. Lipids
The precursors of milk fat synthesis are also taken up by the epithelial cells at the basolateral membrane. Acetate and Bhydroxybutyrate are important precursors of fatty acid synthesis in mammary cells in some species (ruminants, especially). These precursors along with preformed fatty acids, glycerol, and monoacyl glycerides are absorbed at the basolaterl membrane, to be used for the synthesis of milk fat triglycerides on the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) in small droplets. Numerous small lipid droplets will fuse together as the growing lipid droplet moves towards the apical membrane. At the apical membrane Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) directs the large lipid droplet to force out the apical membrane of the cell and follow the previous milk components that have stored in the lumen of the alveoli. Note that inside the cell, the lipid is not membrane bound and is called a lipid droplet, while after secretion in the lumen, the milk lipid droplets are surrounded by a membrane and called lipid globules.


4. Immunoglobulins:
Milk still requires other components, such as immunoglobulins. They pass across the epithelial cell barrier essentially unchanged from their form in the blood. They bind to specific receptors on the basolateral surface of the cells, are taken “into” the cell in endocytic (transport) vesicles and transported to the apical side of the cell via those vesicles, where the membrane of the transport vesicles fuses with the inner surface of the apical membrane of the cell and releases the immunoglobulins into the lumen of the alveolus. As the transport vesicles traverse the cell they do not seem to interact with the Golgi, secretory vesicles or lipid droplets.


5. Other components:
Water, leukocytes, some ions and minerals take their way to the lumen through tight junctions between epithelial cells.
Thus the journey ordained by Allah for the components of milk comes to an end. No human being whatever his knowledge or technologies can imitate a single mammary cell that produces milk. But Allah, the All-Knowing, All-Powerful, has made the mammary cell, which cannot be seen except through a microscope, a complete industrial compound to produce milk nonstop in living organisms that Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) cause to reproduce prgeny that need milk. Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) sets aside a large part of that milk for human beings and reminds them of His Grace on them in His Saying:
“Verily in cattle there is a lesson for you: We give you to drink of what is inside their bellies, from among chyme and from among blood, pure milk palatable to those who drink it” (Surah An-Nahl, 16: 66)


The Interpretation of the Verse
The linguistic meaning:
Al-Farth (chyme) is what is in the rumen.[2]
It is said that it is al-Sarjin (dung) as long as it is still is the rumen.[3]


The Sayings of Commentators:
Commentators differed as to the meaning of the noble Verse because they differed in understanding the indications of some of the words. Some of them thought that the utterance “min baina” (literally: from between) meant “from some” of the chyme and “from some” of the blood, while some others thought that it implied the place, i.e., from a position between blood and chyme. Following is a summary of what the commentators (may Allah bestow His Mercy on them) said:
1. In a weak hadith attributed to Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) we read: “An animal eats the fodder and when it is settled in its rumen it grinds it, in which case it is separated into chyme at the bottom, milk in the middle and blood at the top.” This hadith was narrated by a number of commentators, such as al-Baidawi, al-Qurtubi, Abu al-Su‟ud, al-Shawkani, Ibn al-Jawzi in Zad al-Masir, al-Alusi in Ruh al-Ma’ani and others. Some of these commentators commented on the statement attributed to Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) after they noticed that it contradicted observed reality. Abu al-Su’ud, al-Baidawi and al-Alusi said: “Milk and blood are not formed in the rumen.” In Ruh al-Ma’ani, al-Alusi says: “Al-Razi commented on that, i.e., Ibn ‘Abbas’ statement, saying: “One may say that milk and blood are not formed in the rumen, which is verified through observation, for animals are frequently slaughtered and nothing of that sort is seen in their stomachs. If what is mentioned in it were produced it would be seen occasionally. What is proved wrong through observation is invalid and should not be depended on.”


2. Some commentators say that chyme is the source of both blood and milk; namely, blood comes out of chyme and milk comes out of chyme, too. This is said by al-Baidawi when he interpreted the statement attributed to Ibn ‘Abbas by saying: “If the hadith should be authentic, it must mean that its middle will be the precursors of milk and its upper part will be the precursors of blood because neither of them is formed in the rumen.” Al-Shawkani said the same in Fath al-Qadir.


3. Many commentators mentioned what agreed with the findings of modern science that state that the components of milk are extracted from chyme and then from blood. Among those who carried this opinion were al-Qurtubi, Abu al-Su’ud and the author of Ma’ani al-Qur’an, and in Zad al-Masir by Ibn al-Jawzi, where we read: “Chyme is what is in the rumen, which means that milk has been food. From the food blood has been extracted and chyme has been left behind, and from the blood there has been extracted pure milk, palatable to those who drink it.”


So, we notice the difference among the commentators concerning this issue because of lack of scientific knowledge at their times. Yet, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) guided them to correctly understand the utterance “from between” as meaning “from part of the chyme and then from part of the blood” although they did not know the way that people did not discover except several centuries after the revelation of this noble Verse.


4. The word “Khalisan” (pure, not mixed with other things) in the Verse is another clue that the components of milk are extracted from blood after it has been extracted from chyme. Al-Tabari hints to this meaning by saying that it (milk) is prevented from mixing with blood and chyme and so they do not mix with it.


But the commentators (may Allah bestow His Mercy on them) did not refer to this explicit meaning but they only said that “Khalisan” (pure, not mixed with other things) implied that “milk did not carry the color of blood or the smell of chyme,” as al-Baidawi and al-Baghawi said, or “the redness of blood or the dirt of chyme,” as al-Qurtubi and al-Shawkani said, or “free from the impurities that characterize blood and chyme,” as Abu al-Su’ud and the Co-authors of Tafsir al-Jalalain said.


The Aspect of the Miracle:
Prior to the invention of the instruments of anatomy in the last two centuries nobody knew the mysteries of what was going on in the digestive system in humans and animals and the functions of this complicated system and its relationship with blood circulation and the stages of milk synthesis in the bellies of cattle.


After the manufacture of instruments and scientific experiments became mature and advanced throughout the centuries, man came to learn that the components of milk are extracted from chyme after the digestion of the food, and run in the blood stream to reach the mammary glands in the udders of females that extract the components of milk from blood retaining no traces of chyme or blood in the milk. In addition lactose is added to the milk in the alveolar lumens to make it palatable to those who drink it.


These secrets were unknown to human beings and they did not discover them except after a long journey of scientific experiments and researches that took centuries and in which there were used unprecedented instruments that were manufactured for the first time by the researchers. But the Holy Qur’an disclosed these secrets to its readers in the most beautiful and most concise utterance fourteen hundred years ago. Who then taught Muhammad (Peace be upon him), apart from all humans living at that time, the secrets of the digestive system and the circulatory system and the subtle processes going on in the mammary glands other than Allah, Who knows the secrets in earth and heavens and Who knows the mysteries of what He has created?


This is enough evidence that the Qur’an is revealed carrying the Knowledge of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) and that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is His Messenger.


Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: “But Allah bears witness that what He has sent to you He has sent from his (own) knowledge, and the angels bear witness: but Allah is enough for witness.” (Surah An-Nisa’, 4: 166)

[1] Note that the Golgi apparatus is involved in processing of milk proteins, synthesis of lactose and the osmotic draw of water. Note that lactose (and therefore much of the water of milk) is secreted via the secretory vesicles along with the milk proteins.

[2] Al-Qamus al-Muhit.

[3] Al-Firuzabadi and Ibn Manzur in Lisan al-Arab.