DOES ONLY ALLAH KNOW THE SEX OF THE CHILD IN THE MOTHER’S WOMB?


Question:
The Qur’an says that only Allah knows the sex of the child in the womb of the mother but now science has advanced and we can easily determine the sex of the child in the womb by ultrasonography. Isn’t this verse of the Qur’an conflicting with medical science?


Answer:
Allah is Omnipotent and Omniscient. Allah has granted knowledge of certain things to humankind. But Allah has knowledge of the seen as well as the unseen.

1.Allah has knowledge of all things
Many people believe that the Qur’an claims that Allah alone knows the sex of the child in the mother’s womb. The Glorious Qur’an says:

"Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (alone). It is He who sends down Rain, and He who knows what is in the wombs…."
[Al-Qur’an 31:34]

A similar message is given in the following verse:

"Allah doth know what every female (womb) doth bear,
By how much the wombs fall short (of their time or number) or do exceed. Every single thing is before His sight, in (due) proportion."
[Al-Qur’an 13:8]

2.Sex can be determined by Ultrasonography
Today science has advanced and we can easily determine the sex of the child in the womb of a pregnant mother, using ultrasonography.

3.The word ‘sex’ is not mentioned in the verse of the Qur’an
It is true that many translations and commentaries of this verse of the Glorious Qur’an say that only Allah knows the sex of the child in the mother’s womb. If you read the Arabic text of this verse, there is no Arabic word corresponding to the English word ‘sex’. In fact the Qur’an says the knowledge of what is in the womb is with Allah alone. Many commentators have misunderstood it to mean only Allah knows the sex of the child in the womb, which is a mistake.

4.No one besides Allah can determine the nature of the child
This verse does not refer to the sex of the child in the womb but it refers to, how the child in the mother’s womb will be. How will his nature be? Will he be a blessing or a curse to his parents? Will he be a boon or a bane to the society? Will he be good or evil? Will he go to heaven or hell? The complete knowledge of all things is with Allah alone. No scientist in the world, no matter how advanced his equipment, will ever be able to accurately determine the knowledge of these things about the child in the mother’s womb.

1. There is no actual evidence that Allah exists. This becomes a problem in scientific arguements. Of course, following that, there is no evidence of what Allah does or does not "know." There is absolutely nothing scientific about any of this.

However, even if great leighway is granted in giving that Allah does exist and does know this information, how is that helpful to any of us - say, for instance, the parents of the child or the doctors aiding prenatal care?

2. Correct. So what need have we for Allah's opinion on the matter?

3. I fail to see any relevance in this.

4. Again, even granting great leighway in presuming that Allah exists and knows these things, what purpose does that serve anybody else? If only Allah knows and determines these things, then the parents and society is stuck with whatever he decided and has no recourse to change it, correct? So what have we gained from this?

Unfortunately the ultra sound technology is being used to abort unwanted children ...usually female children..and it is occuring enough to throw off the natural balance between males and females in some places...

Now originally I find it interesting that female infants were reportedly exposed to the elements by pagan Arab families before the advent of Islam forbade it.

- Art

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"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
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Yeah, I've heard about this. I thought it was predominantly China though?

Sick. And just plain wrong if you ask me.
What do you mean by "pagan" here? The term is used so differently by so many people I never know what is meant by it. I know many people (From the Judeo-Christian/Mohammedan faiths primarily) consider Hindus and even Buddhists pagan so . . .

That's a huge problem for them, but in a way it's a form of population control and the effects of that will cause a bottleneck in those societies.

I don't think there's anything wrong with that as long as the Mother herself isn't coerced to do so.

Actually by the word "pagans" he is refering to those people who lived during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) and who practiced idol worshipping.
Yes you are right, the present buddists and hindus can also be termed as "pagans" since they practice idol worshipping.
Pagans are actually polytheists who believe in more than 1 God.

Panth you say that you donot have the actual evidence regarding the existance of God, than what do you think about the verses of the Qur'an that I have quoted above? Have those verses of the Qur'an come down to us from a superman or heman?

As I have already mentioned their are more arguments in favour of Gods existance rather than arguments against His existance.

What type of Scientific evidence do you want for Gods existance?

Really? Then I assume you have counted every single argument for and against the existence of god since the dawn of time and arrived at that conclusion.

As for scientific evidence, there is none. I admire your spirit, but I don't try confuse science with religion, they tend to mix as well as oil and water.

Depends on the religion you're talking about.

But anyways, this topic is about a verse in the Qur'an that people have translated the wrong way, that's all. No need to fight people.

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If you could see inside I'm really crying, you might join me for a weep

Then name me one organised religion which asserts it's belief system solely through scientific research.


I don't see any fighting. I think if you read again you'll find it was about interpretation not translation. People interpret words to mean all kinds of things, and of course it always conveniently ties in with their belief.
That's why we have one bible and one Qur'an, yet thousands of religions.

By the way, are we to assume then that Allah knows the personality of an unborn child, yet he doesn't know if it is male or female?

That is rather strange wouldn't you say? So it's really irrelevant which translation you read, for surely the 'glorious Allah' would know everything, including it's gender.