Question:

i have a question regarding a hadith about the childs gender

Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, “A group of Jews came to Allah’s Prophet and said, `Talk to us about some things we will ask you and which only a Prophet would know.’ He said, `Ask me about whatever you wish. However, give your pledge to Allah, similar to the pledge that Ya`qub took from his children, that if I tell you something and you recognize its truth, you will follow me in Islam.’ They said, `Agreed.’ The Prophet said, `Ask me about whatever you wish.’ They said, `Tell us about four matters: 1. What kinds of food did Isra’il prohibit for himself 2. What about the sexual discharge of the woman and the man, and what role does each play in producing male or female offspring 3. Tell us about the condition of the unlettered Prophet during sleep, 4. And who is his Wali (supporter) among the angels’ The Prophet took their covenant that they will follow him if he answers these questions, and they agreed. He said, `I ask you by He Who sent down the Tawrah to Musa, do you not know that Isra’il once became very ill When his illness was prolonged, he vowed to Allah that if He cures His illness, he would prohibit the best types of drink and food for himself. Was not the best food to him camel meat and the best drink camel milk’ They said, `Yes, by Allah.’ The Messenger said, `O Allah, be Witness against them.’ The Prophet then said, `I ask you by Allah, other than Whom there is no deity (worthy of worship), Who sent down the Tawrah to Musa, do you not know that man’s discharge is thick and white and woman’s is yellow and thin If any of these fluids becomes dominant, the offspring will take its sex and resemblance by Allah’s leave. Hence, if the man’s is more than the woman’s, the child will be male, by Allah’s leave. If the woman’s discharge is more than the man’s, then the child will be female, by Allah’s leave.’ They said, `Yes.’ He said, `O Allah, be Witness against them.’ He then said, `I ask you by He Who sent down the Tawrah to Musa, do you not know that the eyes of this unlettered Prophet sleep, but his heart does not sleep’ They said, `Yes, by Allah!’ He said, `O Allah, be Witness.’ They said, `Tell us now about your Wali among the angels, for this is when we either follow or shun you.’ He said, `My Wali (who brings down the revelation from Allah) is Jibril, and Allah never sent a Prophet, but Jibril is his Wali.’ They said, `We then shun you. Had you a Wali other than Jibril, we would have followed you.’ On that, Allah, the Exalted revealed,

This hadeeth appears to contradict science as according to science it is the male which carries the x and Y chromosone and only the male determines the sex of the child not the female.

There are also 2 narrations of the hadeeth the one mentioned above deals with gender determination whereas the other deals with the child’s resemblance to its parents

Can you please help me clear up my misunderstanding as there could be a problem with translation from Arabic into English or with the interpretation

Answer:

Alaykum as-Salam,

It can be interpreted to mean that the mother’s fluid somehow draws the X-carrying sperm into the egg cell and blocks the Y-carrying one. However, it is an observable fact that in the majority of cases a child mostly resembles the parent of the opposite sex. More than this, the hadith of our Mother `A’isha (Allah be well-pleased with her) on marital selection stated that “women give birth to [boys] the likes of their brothers and [girls] the likes of their sisters.” It is possible, therefore, to surmise two other explanations:

(i) The “male” and “female” fluids mentioned are not parent-differentiated but rather both refer to the father’s sperm in the sense that the male-chromosome-bearing part of the sperm is thick and white at the microscopic level while the female-chromosome-bearing part of the same sperm is thin and yellow.

(ii) The narrator(s) might have made a mistake in the wordings “their child is male” and “their child is female” which should only read, instead, “their child takes after the male line” and “their child takes after the female line” respectively. Allah knows best.

The latter alternative is the strongest in light of al-Bukhari’s variant version of Thawban’s hadith from Anas ibn Malik, identifying the rabbi as `Abd Allah ibn Salam (Allah be well-pleased with him):

News of the coming of the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) to Madina reached `Abd Allah ibn Salam. He went to see him and ask him questions: “I want to ask you of three things which none but Prophets know. What is the first of the conditions of the last Hour? What is the first meal the people of Paradise eat? Why does a child resemble his father or mother?” The Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) said: “Gibril told me all this just now…. The first of the conditions of the last Hour is a fire that will gather them from East to West. The first meal the people of Paradise eat is whales’ sweetbreads. As for the child, then if the man’s fluid precedes (sabaqa) that of the woman, he draws the child to him; if hers, she draws the child to her.” He said: “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah!”

I found better than all the above yet Ibn al-`Arabi al-Maliki’s explanation as quoted by Imam al-Qurtubi in his Tafsir for verse al-Shura:49. I do not recall it just now. And Allah knows best.

Was-Salam,

Hajj Gibril