Are there really 360 joints in the human body?

Are there really 360 joints in the human body?

 Responses to Osama Abdallah Nominating Muhammad for the Nobel Prize in Medicine? Or: How many joints do YOU want the human body to have? 

 Osama Abdallah is one of many Muslims who seek to convince people that Islam is the religion of the true and only God by making claims regarding scientific miracles in the Qur'an and even in the sayings of Muhammad. The claim is that there are statements that give information which is only recently confirmed by science and could not have been known at the time they were made. This is taken as proof that this information could only have come through divine revelation. Most of these claims are found on many Muslim sites, but Mr. Abdallah is quite creative and has some that seem to be only his own. One of the most bizarre examples of amazing scientific claims will be discussed in this present article. It is bizarre not only because of the topic chosen but it may well be THE WORST Muslim argument we have ever seen. Since 3 June 2001 and to this day (12 December 2003) Osama Abdallah propagates the following claim on his website: [ Update: After being pressured from many sides, Abdallah finally removed this article from his site on 27 May 2004. See the article, Osama Abdallah: Spreading Hoaxes for the Advancement of Islam?, for more on the story. The below article will remain on our site for two reasons: 1. historical documentation, 2. the claim is still part of the sayings of Muhammad, so that the refutation is still relevant. More than two years later, the issue takes a new turn. On 12 September 2006, O. Abdallah published a totally new interpretation of the hadith. It has now a spiritual instead of a scientific meaning. Read all about these new insights in The 360 Joints Issue Revisited. ] Islam's claim about the 360 joints in the human body was proven to be true! "Aisha reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Every one of the children of Adam has been created with three hundred and sixty joints; so he who declares the Glory of Allah, praises Allah, declares Allah to be One, Glorifies Allah, and seeks forgiveness from Allah, and removes stone, or thorn, or bone from people's path, and enjoins what is good and forbids from evil, to the number of those three hundred and sixty-four, will walk that day having removed himself from Hell. (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book of Zakat (Kitab Al-Zakat), Book 005, Number 2199)" Narrated Buraydah ibn al-Hasib: "I heard the Apostle of Allah peace_be_upon_him) say: A human being has three hundred and sixty joints for each of which he must give alms. The people asked him: Who is capable of doing this? He replied: It may be mucus in the mosque which you bury, and something which you remove from the road; but if you do not find such, two rak'ahs in the forenoon will be sufficient for you. (Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud, General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab), Book 41, Number 5222)" Beside from the beautiful teachings about Worshiping the One True Living GOD Almighty and removing obstacles from the paths of people, Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him made a very important scientific claim, and that is: Our human bodies have 360 joints in them. Prior to 1995 it was thought that there are 340 joints in the human body. In 1995 a scientific institute proved that the internal ear consists of 10 joints each. Thus 20 joints were added and the discovery was made that the human body consists of 360 joints. Please refer to any medical encyclopedia on this. In this article we will evaluate the specific science-related claims made by Abdallah. The foundation of all science is to bring solid evidence for every claim made. Thus, we will ask: What exactly are the claims, and what is the evidence presented for each one of Abdallah's claims? Before we begin with our discussion of the particular topic of the number of joints in the human body, we want to point out a methodological problem. Abdallah and all Muslims who refer to "scientific miracles" as proof of the validity of their faith should answer for themselves this question if they desire to be intellectually honest: What do you do with those statements of the Qur'an and Muhammad that are proven wrong by science? If a true statement is evidence for Islam, is a wrong statement evidence against Islam? If not, why not? The current claim regarding the "360 joints" perfectly illustrates the great danger for the Muslims: If it was possible to find another 20 joints just a few years ago, what do you do if in another 10 years time a couple of further joints are found and Muhammad's statement turns out to be wrong after all? If wrong statements about science don't lead you to disbelieve Islam, why should a couple of correct statements convince anyone that Islam is true ... particularly since there are so many scientifically wrong statements? The question whether this whole approach has any validity, is discussed in some details in the article Can "Modern Science" be found in the Qur’an? Let's now turn to Abdallah's particular claims. He states that the reader may refer to ANY medical encyclopedia on this. We searched in a medical school library, with the aid of the librarian on duty using a computer in attempting to find references, and could not find a source that mentioned the number of joints in the human body. No evidence that prior to 1995 the medical literature taught that there are 340 joints in the human body. No evidence that in 1995 a "scientific institute" proved that the internal ear consists of 10 joints. No evidence that current medical literature teaches that the human body consists of 360 joints. Question to Mr. Abdallah: Have you yourself consulted ANY medical encyclopedia before publishing this article to confirm your statement as true? If so, please quote the relevant passage and provide the full bibliographical reference. If you have not done so, shame on you. We believe you have not, and have acted very irresponsibly and unscientifically by not providing any reference to the scholarly literature to back your claim. Did you simply make up that claim trusting that your readers will be too lazy to check up on your claims and will just believe you? Or, if you were not the inventor of this claim, were you so gullible that you took this claim from whatever source and are spreading it without caring about validating it first? In fact, Abdallah's last paragraph is worded so badly that this alone is reason for suspicion that all of it is mere fiction: Prior to 1995 it was thought that there are 340 joints in the human body. In 1995 a scientific institute proved that the internal ear consists of 10 joints each. Thus 20 joints were added and the discovery was made that the human body consists of 360 joints. Please refer to any medical encyclopedia on this. Taken literally, this means that the total number of joints in the internal ear is 10. And, that all ten of them were unknown before 1995. Otherwise, not all of them could be added to raise the number from 340 to 360. Only those can be added that were newly discovered, since the others would already have been included in the previously known 340. It may be possible that one or two more tiny bones (and their joints) are discovered even today, but Abdallah's claim implies that until 1995 not even one of these joints (and bones, as there are no joints without bones) was known. This is rather ridiculous. 1995 is not a date from the Dark Ages. Thus, the whole claim seems to be mere fantasy and is now also listed in our section on Muslim Hoaxes. Perhaps we should invent a new term for articles like these calling this genre "islamo-fiction". Nevertheless, let's pursue the issue further. Medical encyclopedias and textbooks on human anatomy usually list joints in a number of different categories (there are several kinds of joints) and according to the region of the body in which they are located, but we have so far not found even one book that provides a sum total of all joints. We will give in this paper a detailed overview of the kinds and numbers of joints, but since this section is very technical it is placed into an appendix. Only this much for now: Our count did not come out as 360. However, it is not our duty to prove how many joints there are; it is the duty of Abdallah who claims that there 360 of them to give valid evidence for his claim. The burden of proof is on him. Wait a minute! Why are we talking as if Abdallah had not given any evidence? After all, he writes: Scientific sites that prove the Islamic claim: Please do a word search and read the returned paragraphs/sentences in the following official sites on the word "360" without the double quotes: http://www.iberr.co.za/biologyfr1.htm (Islamic Studies: Biology) http://www.iiu.edu.my/medic/islmed/Lecmed/musskel98.jul.html (By Prof.Dr.Omar Hassan Kasule Sr.) http://www.kennewickgeneral.com/telmed.html (Tel-Med Official Medical Site) Fair enough! Let's examine what Osama Abdallah considers to be scientific proof. Visiting the first of the above sites, and searching for "360", yields exactly one location on that page, stating: 8. SKELETAL SYSTEM 8.1 Muslim contributions to Human anatomy and physiology 8.2 Islamic perspectives on organ transplants 8.3 Structure, position and functions of: 8.3.1 Axial skeleton - “skull” vertebral column and ribs *Hawa - creation from left rib of Adam u 8.3.2 Appendicular skeleton - pectoral and pelvic girdles 8.4 Joints - categories, examples, structure. SADAQAH - 360 joints -good deeds 8.5 Locomotion - lever action and role of muscles. Islamic perspective on exercise 8.6 Islamic perspective on bone marrow transplants It is true; that page contains the expression "360 joints" and from the context we can infer that this refers to the human body. But where is the proof? Does Mr. Abdallah seriously believe that a repetition of the same claim by a second person or webpage constitutes scientific proof? After all, he had promised that these are "scientific sites that prove" his claim. This page provides neither a list of these alleged 360 joints, nor a reference to the scientific literature, so that it cannot serve as a proof in any way. In order to understand the above quoted list better, let us ask what kind of page this is. Scrolling upwards a bit, we find the heading for this section which is: "BIOLOGY SYLLABUS ... GRADE 10". Is this a website publishing the results of scientific research in medicine? Not at all, we are looking at a highschool syllabus for 10th grade Biology. Let's ask further. What kind of highschool is this? The title of the page is "Islamic Studies: Biology", and when we open the homepage of that site[*], the title is even clearer, "Islamisation of the curriculum, Muslim school". The above quoted section on the skeletal system makes it already very clear that the topic is not science but Islamic studies. Three times in this short section of the syllabus we find entries beginning with "Islamic perspective(s) on ..." Also, the statement that "Hawa (Eve) was created from the left rib of Adam" is certainly one of faith and not of science. This syllabus is teaching "What Islam says about biology". It is definitely NOT a scientific page giving proof for Islamic claims. It is exactly the opposite of what Mr. Abdallah promised. If any student in this class would raise the question, "How do we know that the human body has 360 joints?", the answer would invariably be: "Because our prophet said so!" and the basis for this answer would be the same hadiths that Mr. Abdallah quoted in his article. What about O. Abdallah's second "scientific site"? This time let's look at the homepage first: http://www.iiu.edu.my is the website of the "International Islamic University Malaysia" established with the goal of "Integration and Islamicization of human knowledge". This is now a university and no longer a highschool, i.e. the theme is playing out one level higher, but it seems to be still the same overall purpose of teaching an Islamic perspective in all areas of human education. There is no objection against this in principle. The bottom line will be whether the site will provide scientific proof of Mr. Abdallah's claim. If it gives actual proof, then the religious foundation of the institution will not be an argument against it. What does the particular page say that was referenced by Abdallah? The title is "MUSCULO-SKELETAL SYSTEM (‘IDHAAM & ‘ADHALAAT) and PHYSICAL EXERCISE", and at the beginning of that page we find: OUTLINE EXTERNAL ORGANS MENTIONED IN THE QUR'AN Head and Neck Upper limb Trunk and abdomen Lower limb The bones Muscles Joints Uses of organs Significance of wudhu One could wonder why Muslim students in their Islamic education have to learn that bones, muscles and joints are considered organs, let alone external organs, but that is not our topic here. This page makes no claim to report about recent scientific research. According to the subheading it is apparently simply a list of body parts that are mentioned in the Qur'an. The question is merely: "What is the teaching of the Islamic sources?" What then does this page tell us in the section on joints? Let's quote the paragraph before and after as well to get the context: Muscles are mentioned in the Qur'an as meat (lahm, 23:14, 49:12): Human civilisation is based on the energy produced by contractions of human and animal muscles. Joints: A human has 360 joints (KS p.105) Uses of organs for worship, work, aggression, sinning. Prostration in salat on 17 bones (MB # 464 p 252, KS p. 274). Organs can also be misused to commit sins. Zina of organs other than the genitalia eg the eye, ear, and the leg was mentioned by the prophet (KS p. 264, MB #2061 p 968). Organs will act as witnesses against the owner on the last day so that he or she can not deny their sins. No surprise here, we find merely a repetition of the same claim. The abbreviated reference (KS p. 105) is not defined anywhere on this page, but probably refers to some Islamic textbook, and this in turn will give a quotation of the hadith that we have already been introduced to. "Scientific sites that prove the Islamic claim", was Osama Abdallah's promise for these links. What did we get so far? We have only Islamic sites repeating the claim, and no proof at all. It seems that Islamic institutions, even "universities" teach this claim as true based merely on Muhammad's authority with little or no concern whether or not this is objectively true. Finally, we now turn to Abdallah's last reference for scientific proof, called by him the "Tel-Med Official Medical Site", and find indeed one instance of the number 360 in the line "360 Muscles, Joints & Bones". Even discounting all context, this can hardly be interpreted as informing us that the human body has 360 joints. Or did Muhammad also claim that the human body has no muscles and no bones so that the total of this number has to refer to the joints only? However, if we look closer, then we discover that this page is not even telling us that the human body has a total of 360 muscles, joints and bones. It means something different altogether. Here are some excerpts from that page: 353 Foot Care 117 Athlete's Foot 116 Common Foot Problems 115 Ingrown Toenails 359 Mental Health 613 Anorexia Nervosa 379 Attention Deficit Disorder 434 Child Abuse 432 Upset Emotionally? Help is Available 360 Muscles, Joints & Bones 741 Are You Ready for the Skiing Season? 204 Arthritis and Diet 131 Arthritis and Quackery 600 Fractured and Broken Bones 270 Hip Replacement 201 Neck Pains 203 Osteoarthritis or Degenerative Joint Disease 461 Newborn & Infants 535 Addicted Babies 310 Baby Teeth 208 Bottle Feeding Your Baby 849 Circumcision 748 Thumbsucking-How Serious is it? Got a clue already what "360" is about? Not yet? Let's quote a few more pieces of the same "Tel-Med Medical Site", which is actually the website of Kennewick General Hospital in Kennewick, Washington, U.S.. At least we are finally looking at a website of medical experts. However, do they publish on research into the number of joints? Definitely not! The explanation for the above number is found on the page titled "KGH Programs and Services": Tel-Med is a directory of health and medical information available to the community at no charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Dial (509) 586-5850, then enter the number of the adult or child library. Next, listen to the category listings and enter the 3 digit number you wish to hear. Each contains several related messages. Adult Category Listing AIDS/HIV 494 Alcohol & Drug Abuse 342 Arthritis 343 ... Illnesses 358 Mental Health 359 Muscles, Joints & Bones 360 Newborn & Infants 461 Plastic Surgery 462 ... Can you believe it? The ‘360’ is part of a telephone number! To be precise, an extension number in an automated information system at a hospital offering medical help to the community via telephone. Whatever else you want to say about it, Abdallah's article is hardly a piece of high-quality research ... Actually, which of the following implications would be worse? (a) Osama Abdallah genuinely believes that this phone number is scientific proof that the ‘360 joints’ hadith is true. (b) He knows exactly what he is doing, but he only writes for such a readership that will believe basically anything if only he adds a few references that mention something about "360 joints", whatever this ‘something’ actually is. (c) He should dial (509) 586-5850, then 359, then 379. Seriously, if Mr. Abdallah can't distinguish between a phone book and a scientific text, what business does he have with writing articles about Science? (He has published dozens of them!) And who wants to trust his sociological, historical, scientific and theological arguments if he is not able to tell the difference between the statement of a claim and providing evidence for a claim? Actually, there is some truly mind-boggling miraculous knowledge in the above hadith which Mr. Abdallah has seemingly overlooked: Muhammad predicted part of the Tel-Med phone number for joint problems (360 joints) at a time when nobody even knew what a telephone is! Interestingly, when Abdallah first published his article, and for about one year, it contained an even longer "bibliography": Scientific sites that prove the Islamic claim: Please do a word search and read the returned paragraphs/sentences in the following official sites on the word "360" without the double quotes: http://www.iberr.co.za/biologyfr1.htm (Islamic Studies: Biology) http://www.iiu.edu.my/medic/islmed/Lecmed/musskel98.jul.html (By Prof.Dr.Omar Hassan Kasule Sr.) http://www.therapy360.com/Therapeutic.htm (An official Medical site that provides therapy to the 360 human joints) http://organix.net/organix/supp.htm (Organix Vitamins) http://www.kennewickgeneral.com/telmed.html (Tel-Med Official Medical Site) http://www.war-thai.org/gibbon.htm (Even Apes have 360 joints) http://pages.zdnet.com/seangler/basicseaangling/id31.html (New Product Review, from an official Medical Organization) At some time he must have done a review of his evidence for the claim, and realizing that some of these sites are actually not supporting his claim, he then removed those links and kept only three of the originally seven links. Given that he went through a "critical review" of the evidence about one year after the first publication, it is all the more embarrassing that he still kept the link to the telephone directory. Conclusion: Osama Abdallah's amazing "Islamic claim" was not proven but has failed in every respect. Even more, the fact that he presents two Islamic sites teaching Muslims the content of Muhammad's sayings and a hospital phone directory as three "scientific sites that prove the Islamic claim" is the ultimate disqualification of his own credibility. If the publication date of Abdallah's article had been the first of April, then it would have been a superb and very humorous April Fools story, an exhortation and reminder to his audience to read critically and not believe simply everything they read on his site or in other publications. In that case it would have deserved to be listed together with Holy Qur'an and Genetics and other satirical writings on the site Freethought Mecca. However, Abdallah's site is not known for parody or deliberate humor. This article was published on 3 June 2001, and there is not even a hint of a disclaimer found in this article. Mr. Abdallah was and is very serious about it, and he expects his audience to believe him. Just how serious he is about it can be seen from the fact how often he links to this article in other places (a list of these is provided in the Appendix 2). Finally, this whole thing may be as much an indictment of the Muslim readership as it disqualifies the author of the article. We need to ask a question similar to that which was posed in response to Shibli Zaman's article, Lifecyle of the Universe Foretold in the Qur'ân: Is the Muslim audience in general so gullible that they believe everything, if only it appears to support Islam? Doesn't anybody look deeper to confirm such claims with solid evidence and if he finds that the alleged evidence is no evidence at all, he will then alert his Muslim brother that he made a mistake? Or do Muslims think that promoting Islam on the basis of false claims is acceptable? This most ridiculous claim has been online for more than two and a half years already. It is hard to imagine that not even one Muslim among the readership cared to check the evidence. However, in the case that some have checked up on it, found the evidence lacking, and then have informed the author/webmaster that his claim about scientific evidence is wrong, but the article still remained unchanged, does this mean that Abdallah did not care whether or his articles are based on deception, and he deliberately propagates what he knows to be wrong? This last question becomes even more pressing since we are not the first people to respond to this article. Many ideas in our response were inspired by the contributions found in this discussion thread on the "Qur'an and Science" discussion forum at the website Faith Freedom International. This is a major website and many Muslims are frequenting it and are using its discussion forums. Even if there were no Muslim believer who cared to verify this claim for himself, certainly some of them must have seen that a number of ex-Muslims have exposed this article as a fraud on 8 October 2003, already two months ago. The Muslims did not even have to check the evidence for themselves; it was done for them, and still nobody cared about correcting it? Neither Abdallah nor any other Muslim? [Even more, on 30 November 2003 Denis Giron published another rebuttal on a Muslim-Christian Dialogue Forum with lots of Muslim participation!] You, the present reader, may never before have seen this particular article by Osama Abdallah, but you may still ask yourself: "Do I usually try to confirm claims promoted on Muslim (and Christian) websites or in other publications? Or do I usally simply believe what my fellow believers write in support of my religion?" You may want to resolve that from this day forward, you will diligently ask for evidence and carefully evaluate claims instead of blindly accepting what, at first sight, seems to support your own convictions or desires. Because if you don't, you are in grave danger of falling for many deceptions. There is another small "number problem" in the first of the hadiths quoted by Abdallah: "Aisha reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Every one of the children of Adam has been created with three hundred and SIXTY joints; so he who declares the Glory of Allah, praises Allah, declares Allah to be One, Glorifies Allah, and seeks forgiveness from Allah, and removes stone, or thorn, or bone from people's path, and enjoins what is good and forbids from evil, to the number of those three hundred and SIXTY-FOUR, will walk that day having removed himself from Hell. (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book of Zakat (Kitab Al-Zakat), Book 005, Number 2199)" Obviously, 360 is not equal to 364, so there is a contradiction even within this one hadith. When looking up this hadith in the Arabic original, we find that it says 360 both times, i.e. this is not a contradiction but merely a translation error. The only reason to mention this observation here is that it constitutes further evidence of Abdallah's shoddy research. He merely copied the quotation from either the notoriously unreliable online hadith database or some other source (see below) and neither checked his foundational text for logical consistency nor did he bother to compare it against the Arabic original before issuing claims about its miraculous nature. [Below we will discover that the translation of this hadith also contains another quite serious error that has major implications for Abdallah's claim.] Before we conclude this section, let's take another look at Osama Abdallah's first paragraph following his quotations of the two narrations of Muhammad: Beside from the beautiful teachings about Worshiping the One True Living GOD Almighty and removing obstacles from the paths of people, Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him made a very important scientific claim, and that is: Our human bodies have 360 joints in them. This statement is a perfect example of Abdallah's "fluff and bluff" rhetoric. Even if Muhammad's claim that the human body has 360 joints had been true, what exactly is so "very important" about it? Does O. Abdallah know of even one Muslim doctor in the history of 1,400 years of Islamic Medicine who on the basis of this "very important" information was able to find a cure for any illness of his patients? The very fact that we have not been able to find even one medical encyclopedia or textbook of human anatomy at a university library that mentions the number of joints is certainly a good indication of how unimportant and irrelevant this number is for doctors and scientists. In medicine it is important to know how certain organs, bones or joints function and how they can be cured or repaired should they get damaged. But what exactly is the importance of their number? Would knowing the mere number of joints be any more important than the mere number of the hairs on your head? The number of joints is really only interesting for people who play "Trivial Pursuit" or want to become a candidate in some quiz show, but not for medical doctors. It is on the level of "How many peas are in that bottle?" questions. Such information is only to satisfy the curiosity of people who have nothing better to do, but it has little practical value. [ In fact, the impatient who don't want to wait until we give the solution later in this article, may go to www.UselessKnowledge.com (which redirects to a "Cool Quiz" trivia page), put the phrase "joints in the human body" (including the quotation marks) into their search engine to find out that Muhammad was more than 50% off the mark according to the most commonly given answer. ] Only somebody who has no clue about science could call such a statement "a very important scientific claim". O. Abdallah probably sees this right next to the importance of Einstein's theory of relativity, or a cure for cancer. Maybe he even thinks that Muhammad has earned a nobel prize for this breakthrough in medical research. No, the importance of this statement is not in medicine or science, but in psychology. Let me illustrate: One unimportant stick in the woods, merely lying there in the wilderness to rot or to be eaten by worms, can suddenly become very important, if you broke your leg and need this stick as a crutch enabling you to hobble home. As we will see in Appendix 2, it is exactly this crutch function that makes these trivia so very important to Abdallah. Let's ask again: If Muhammad made indeed "a very important scientific claim", what consequence will Abdallah draw from the fact that Muhammad's "very important scientific claim" is wrong? Personally, I do not believe that Muhammad intended this statement to be understood as a divine revelation about human anatomy. Those, however, who make such steep claims, will have to honestly face the consequences of their chosen methodology, or otherwise will expose themselves as hypocrites. Although our rebuttal could end here, we are not satisfied to merely state the complete failure of Osama Abdallah's claim. There are some other aspects in these traditions that are worthy to be investigated. Most importantly, we will ask the question where the idea that the human body has 360 joints may have originated. What is the Source of Muhammad's belief that the human body has 360 joints? If Muhammad's statement had been true, the next step of a proper ‘miracle test’ would have to be that we find out whether Muhammad was the first one to say that the human body has 360 joints. Getting this fact right could be amazing or even miraculous only if he had said something new or contrary to general opinion, not if he merely repeated what was a common belief at his time. Thus, although Abdallah didn't deem it important to investigate this question, we will ask: Have others made this claim before the time of Muhammad? A quick search on the internet yields the answer effortlessly. In fact, we wonder how Osama was able to find his three alleged "scientific sites" without at the same time finding those other pages mentioning "360 joints" that should have made him suspicious. Why did he just ignore those? Roughly 850 years before the time when Muhammad claimed prophethood, we are told that the following was taught in Chinese philosophy: In the Springs and Autumns of Lü Pu-wei (Lü shih ch'un-ch'iu, ca. 239 B.C.), ... The next two examples of relations between the cosmos and the body are perhaps two centuries earlier, and are more general. They come from Lü shih ch'un-ch'iu. They are not particularly early in the history of microcosmic correspondences, but rather exhibit their full development in philosophical writing. Human beings have 360 joints, nine body openings, and five yin and six yang systems of function. In the flesh tightness is desirable; in the blood vessels (hsueh mai) free flow is desirable; in the sinews and bones solidity is desirable; in the operations of the heart and mind harmony is desirable; in the essential ch'i regular motion is desirable. When [these desiderata] are realized, illness has nowhere to abide, and there is nothing from which pathology can develop. When illness lasts and pathology develops, it is because the essential ch'i has become static. ... (Nathan Sivin, State, Cosmos, and Body in the Last Three Centuries B.C. [For Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies]; bold emphasis ours) According to Nathan Sivin, this was already common teaching in the third century B.C., i.e. it is apparently documented even earlier. We find that this correspondence is also part of (at least some forms of) Buddhism (Buddha lived roughly 500 B.C.). Buddhism and the Heaven-Human Relationship Under Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty, Confucianism was adopted as the official creed of the state. The most influential Confucian thinker of the time was Dong Zhongshu (195?–105? BCE), who in his writings argued clearly and forcefully for the view that Heaven and human beings combine to form a single entity. In his Chunqiu fanlu or Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn Annals, in the section entitled "How human Beings Second the Numbers of Heaven," he states: "Human beings have 360 joints because this exactly matches the number of Heaven’s [days]. Their bodies, their bones and flesh, match the thickness of the earth. Their ears and eyes are bright and keen like the qualities of the sun and moon, and in their bodies there are hollows and veins like the configurations of the rivers and valleys." And in speaking of the forces of the yin and yang, he says: "Heaven too has its moods of joy and anger, and its heart filled with sorrow or delight which second those of human beings. In the ways in which these likenesses match up, we see that Heaven and human beings are one." These passages are clear examples of the concept of "Heaven and humankind as one" in the thought of Dong Zhongshu. ... (Dialogues on Eastern Wisdom (1), http://www.iop.or.jp/0111/special.pdf, page 47; bold emphasis ours) And: The Mystic Law Leads You to Absolute Happiness ... Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism teaches that our existence is identical to the universe as a whole, and the universe as a whole is identical to our existence. Each individual human life is a microcosm. ... There are some 360 joints in the human and they stand for the days of the year. The twelve major joints signify the twelve months.

 (http://www.gakkaionline.net/ST390/Gongyo.html) On pages about Martial Arts (which originated in East Asia and are not merely "sports" but are built on this religious/philosophical foundation) one can find that they still teach today: Chinese Martial Arts ... Chin Na Joint-locking is a useful addition to the Pa-Kua Chang arsenal making use of all 360 joints. Whilst it is practical against an inexperienced fighter ... (http://www.pa-kua-chang.com/training.htm) However, this number 360 is a mystical one. It has a numerologial significance. It was not derived by counting the joints in autopsies of dead bodies, and it was usually not understood as being scientific information. At the same time period (third century B.C.) when Chinese philosophy speaks of 360 joints of the human body matching the 360 days of the year, various local states were already using a 365.25-day calendar (I received this information via private communication from Nathan Sivin). The number 360 is found in many contexts. A wheel consisting of 360 joints plays a role in the Hindu Vedas (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.21.18). The angle of the full circle is 360°, and the Meccan Kaaba is said to have housed 360 idols [*, *; perhaps one for every day?]. The Muslim sources claim that Mecca was a major trading center. Traders, however, brought not only material goods but also stories and ideas from far-away countries. Given that the "360 joints in the human body" was widely believed in the Far East, there is a high probability that this belief migrated also to Arabia and was either common knowledge or at least known to Muhammad, who himself was a caravan trader for some time of his life. The report that the Kaaba had 360 idols is itself evidence that the number 360 had some significance in Arabia at the time of Muhammad. Given that a considerable number of details from Galen's embryology were taken over by Muhammad (see the article Embryology in the Qur'an), it would not be a surprise to learn that the at least 850 years older belief of 360 joints in the human body was adapted into Muhammad's "knowledge base" in a similar way. In fact, in the hadith collections one can find several more similar narrations besides the two quoted by Abdallah, and in none of them is any indication that the people around Muhammad were in any way surprised about the claim that the human body has 360 joints. That idea seemed not to be new to them. None of them said: "Excuse me, Messenger of Allah, but our doctors tell us that we have 230 joints. Why are you now saying that we have 360 of them?" No, nothing like this is reported. They were startled only by the conclusion that Muhammad drew from this assumed fact. The exhortation to do good deeds and act charitably toward others is found in all religions. It is the incredible exaggeration in Muhammad's demand to do 360 charitable acts every day which righly shocked his followers. It's very simple math: 360 good deeds per day means one good deed every four minutes. Given that everyone has to sleep, eat and tend to a few other necessities in life, like earning a living to feed the family, that leaves precious little time for all those 360 good deeds that Muhammad demanded here. No wonder his followers were shocked and asked him: Who is capable of doing this? Apart from the scientific problems contained in this claim, this appears to have been one of the most thoughtless and unrealistic statements Muhammad ever made. After having become aware of the total impossibility of his command, the prophet then trivialized the obligation by saying: "Don't worry, ‘two rak'ahs in the forenoon will be sufficient for you’ instead of all this." We may investigate this aspect in more detail in the future in a separate article. To summarize: So far Muhammad's statement already failed two essential criteria of any reasonable ‘miracle test’. His statement about "360 joints in the human body" is neither true nor was it new. Furthermore, the Muslims produced many dead bodies in their wars against the unbelievers. At one time they slaughtered a whole Jewish tribe of at least 600 men in one day (see the article about the Banu Qurayza). It would have been easy, and perfectly feasible even at that time, to take a few of these bodies, carefully take them apart, and count all the joints. Autopsies of dead people have been performed for centuries even before the time of Muhammad. No supernatural revelation is necessary for finding the number of joints in a human body. The Source of Abdallah's claim? We will shortly discuss some more problems found in these hadiths. However, in the last section we investigated the source of Muhammad's belief that there are 360 joints in the human body. So let's also ask for the source of Abdallah's claim that science supposedly confirmed Muhammad's opinion. It is somewhat unlikely that Abdallah cooked that up entirely by himself. Indeed, we found one other webpage stating: 360 Joints in the Human Body "Aisha reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Every one of the children of Adam has been created with three hundred and sixty joints; so he who declares the Glory of Allah, praises Allah, declares Allah to be One, Glorifies Allah, and seeks forgiveness from Allah, and removes stone, or thorn, or bone from people's path, and enjoins what is good and forbids from evil, to the number of those three hundred and sixty-four, will walk that day having removed himself from Hell. (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book of Zakat (Kitab Al-Zakat), Book 005, Number 2199)" Narrated Buraydah ibn al-Hasib: "I heard the Apostle of Allah (S) say: A human being has three hundred and sixty joints for each of which he must give alms..." (Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud, General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab), Book 41, Number 5222)" However this fact was not known until just recently. In 1995 it was thought that there were 340 joints in the human body. Yet in that year a scientific institute proved that the internal ear consists of 10 joints each. Thus 20 joints were added and the discovery was made that the human body consists of 360 joints.

Main link of the article: https://www.answeringislam.net/Responses/Osama/360joints.htm

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