This miracle claim has been refuted decades ago yet every few years it pops up a new generation of clueless Muslim preachers, who repeat the same false claim again and again. 

Sahih Muslim, Book 5, Hadith 2199

'A'isha reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: Every one of the children of Adam has been created with three hundred and sixty joints; ...

Was Muhammed the first and only to know this information? Certainly not, as the Chinese knew it much before Muhammad. 

Luxuriant Gems Of Spring And Autumn Annals, Dong Zhongshu, P. 10:

Other creatures suffer troubles and defects and cannot match Heaven and Earth; man alone can match them. Man has 360 joints, ...

And:

The Spring And Autumn Of Lu Buwei

perceptive, his hearing will be sharp, his taste will be sensitive, his oral expressiveness will be perfect, and all his three hundred and sixty joints will work well.

Moreover:

Human beings have 360 joints, nine body openings, and five yin and six yang systems of function.

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.).

Nathan Sivin, State, Cosmos, and Body in the Last Three Centuries B.C. [For Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies]

And:

... 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.

Gangyo Is A Grand And Noble Rite

Thus, Muhammed wasn't the first or only person to know this. 

There's proof that Muhammad knew other cultures:

Sahih Muslim 1442b:

"I went to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) along with some persons and he was saying: I intended to prohibit cohabitation with the suckling women, but I considered the Greeks and Persians and saw that they suckle their children and this thing (cohabitation) does not do any harm to them (to the suckling women). "

***

Moreover, there is no evidence that the human body has 360 joints. It is just a random number that doctors like to regurgitate since it was arbitrarily decided over 2000 years ago by Chinese doctors that this number is cool.

Just to give an example of how no one actually knows how many joints we have (since the definition of joints itself has no consensus), here are a few sources...

In the book Anatomy and Physiology, written by Ph.D. in Biological Sciences Blair Fraser, and Professor Emeritus of Biology Bev Lott, it is mentioned that the human body has 400 joints:

https://i.imgur.com/MpjGqiZ.png

book link

The medical practisioners working at Adventist Health hospital also claim the human body has over 400 joints:

https://www.lodimemorialorthopedics.org/services/sports-medicine/

The university of michigan health department claims the number of joints is around 300:

https://www.uofmhealth.org/conditions-treatments/cmc/total-joint-replacement

In a paper published last year in the prestigious National Centre for Biotechnology Information, it is also claimed that the number of joints in the human body is around 300:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8551718/

The orthopedic institute of henderson claim the human body has between 250-350 joints

https://www.oihnv.com/blog/different-types-of-joints-common-problems

A children's website run by the Arthritis & Osteoporosis organisation of Western Australia also teaches a similar range of 250-350 joints:

http://www.bonesandjoints.com.au/students/students-joints/where-do-we-have-joints/

On 'Ask a Biologist', a QnA website hosted by The Palaeontological Association, a question about joints is answered by Professor David Wynick from University of Bristol, where he once again gives a similar range from 250-350 joints

http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/answers/viewtopic.php?id=3009

Dr Nikota Vizniak claims there are around 472 joints in the human body:

https://youtu.be/3EGwlh2XHRg

Also, According to Dr. Nikita A. Vizniak, the number 360 is outdated. Instead, he proposes ~472 joints as the answer and asserts that he and his team are the first in history to accurately name all the joints. On the product page of his book Muscle Manual, it states: “Multi-disciplinary Peer Reviewed (AT, DC, DO, LMT, MD, ND, PhD, PT, RMT)”. In a YouTube video, Dr. Nikita displays the full list of joints that are found in his book (page 16) and goes through them. Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EGwlh2XHRg&t=2s
Notably, even those who went with 360 as the answer in the past do not claim it is a fixed number, which would seem to contradict Muhammad who said "Every one of the children of Adam has been created with three hundred and sixty joints." and “A human being has three hundred and sixty joints”. "Although you might assume that the number of joints in the adult human body is fixed (at 360), this is not the case. The manual physician needs to be aware that up to one patient in 20 will have been born with extra or fewer joints than normal. This is particularly true in and around the vertebral column (…)" [Essential Physics for Manual Medicine, Martin Young, 2009, p. 73].

The Hadith also mentions "every human among the children of Adam..." so this means that both boys and men have 360 joints, but this is not the case, only adults have 360 joints, not children.

Already Read the Article?

...but your task is still not finished.

Dear seeker of truth,
Reading about the flaws in a belief system is only the first step. To truly break free from indoctrination and reach a final, unshakable conclusion, you must apply these four critical tests to what you've just read.

Test 1: Divine Revelation or Human Drama?

The Core Challenge:
God does not appear before us, nor do His angels manifest themselves, and He performs no miracles today like the claims made in the tales of ancient times. Despite this absence, we are still demanded to recognise God through His "commands"  only. 
Let us examine these commands, and see if they give the impression of Divine Revelation, or of "Human Drama."

Please reflect:

  • Do the teachings in this article display flawless wisdom, justice, consistency, and coherence that could only come from an Omniscient Creator?
  • Or do they resemble the kinds of laws, contradictions, exceptions, and inconsistencies that one would expect from ordinary human decision-making?

Test 2: Would These Same Arguments Also Defend a False Prophet?

Imagine a man in a different era who claims to be a prophet. He marries multiple women, claims divine permission for his personal desires, issues harsh punishments, and makes scientific errors—acting exactly like Muhammad. How would you distinguish this hypothetical false prophet from Muhammad?

The truth is, Islamic apologists would easily spot him as a fraud or a cult leader, using the exact same logical critiques you just read. Yet, when Muhammad does these exact same things, apologists invent endless rationalizations to defend him.

The Rule of Logic: If your defense of a prophet works equally well to defend a proven fraud or a cult leader, your defense is not based on evidence. It is based on "special pleading", giving one man a free pass that you would never give anyone else.

Test 3: Just One Confirmed Error Is Enough

Islam makes an extraordinary claim that Allah exists, is absolutely perfect, and cannot make even a single mistake. Therefore, if even one confirmed error, injustice, or flaw is found in Islam, its entire claim to divine perfection collapses. The remaining 99.99% of the religion cannot save that claim. You cannot simply argue, "But everything else is correct."

Test 4: The "Unbiased AI" Evaluation

Artificial Intelligence models are programmed to be highly deferential toward major world religions. If you ask an AI to critique the Quran, it will  treat Islamic theology as unquestionable facts rather than claims to be tested. This creates a false "tie" in debates.

To get a truly objective, logical evaluation of the article you just read, you must force the AI to drop its religious deference. Read the prompt below, then click the button to copy it. Paste it into your AI chat before asking it to analyze the article.

When reviewing the article, keep the following principles in mind:
The Qur'an and Hadith cannot be used as evidence of their own divine origin. They are claims whose origin is being examined. Your task is to evaluate whether the Qur'an, Sunnah, and Islamic legal system are better explained as Divine Revelation or as human authorship. Therefore:
• Treat the Qur'an and Hadith as claims, not proof.
• Evaluate the article using logic, internal consistency, factual accuracy, and principles of justice.
• Treat scholarly interpretations as arguments in favor of Islam, not as binding authority.
Based on these principles, answer this question: Do the objections raised in the article expose flaws that reason and justice cannot reconcile, or do the strongest Muslim apologetic arguments successfully answer those objections?

Note: The AI’s response is not a final judgement. The final decision must be made by you, using your own reason and understanding. 

About the Author & This Website

About the Authors: 

The ideas, arguments, research, article structure, and final conclusions are my own. AI tools are used only as editorial assistants to improve grammar, wording, readability, and clarity.

About the Website:

This website is not a “neutral” or purely academic platform. Think of a courtroom, where a judge or jury listens to two opposing sides. We represent one side. It is not our role to be neutral. Our responsibility is to present our case honestly, with arguments and evidence.

You, the reader, are the judge and jury. Your role is to remain fair, to examine all sides, reflect carefully, and then reach your own conclusion with sincerity.

Read more →