Sahih al-Bukhari 4697 Explained: Context and Correct Understanding
Does Ultrasound Gender Detection Contradict Qur’an 31:34?
Critics often claim that modern ultrasound scans and prenatal testing disprove the Qur’an because Allah says:
“Indeed, Allah alone has knowledge of the Hour, sends down the rain, and knows what is in the wombs.”
They argue:
“Doctors can determine the sex of a baby through ultrasound, therefore the Qur’an is wrong.”
This objection fails because it misunderstands:
- What the verse actually means,
- What classical scholars said,
- And what modern medicine is actually capable of knowing.
The Qur’an Does Not Restrict “Knowledge of the Womb” to Gender Alone
Critics reduce the verse to:
“Nobody can ever know whether the baby is male or female.”
But the verse itself never says that.
The phrase:
“He knows what is in the wombs”
is broader than merely biological sex.
It includes:
- Whether the child will live or die,
- Their lifespan,
- Their provision,
- Their destiny,
- Their health,
- Their future deeds,
- Whether they will be blessed or miserable,
- And countless other unseen matters.
Classical scholars explicitly explained this.
Ibn Kathir’s Explanation
Ibn Kathir said regarding this verse:
But once He decrees that it should be male or female, doomed or blessed, the angels appointed over it know that, and whoever else Allah wills among His creation.”
This is extremely important.
Ibn Kathir explicitly states:
- Allah alone possesses complete and independent knowledge of the womb,
- But Allah may allow others to know certain limited aspects after creation develops.
This completely destroys the simplistic anti-Islamic argument.
Modern Medicine Does Not Possess Absolute Knowledge
Even modern medical technology does not possess certain or independent knowledge of the womb.
It merely:
- observes signs,
- analyzes probabilities,
- and makes predictions based on physical development.
The websites themselves admit this.
Fetal Sex Is Not Detectable Immediately
Medical sources explain that sexual differentiation develops gradually.
Between weeks 7 and 12 of pregnancy, the foundations of the baby’s sex organs begin developing.
Source:
https://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/fetal-development/fetal-sex-organs-reproductive-system/
This already proves an important point:
Humans do not “know the unseen.”
They observe physical signs only after Allah creates and develops them.
Ultrasounds Are Not Fully Reliable
Another major problem for the objection is that ultrasounds are not even perfectly accurate.
Medical sources openly admit this.
Mistakes can happen due to fetal positioning or unclear visibility.
Another medical source states:
“The results are not always 100% accurate.”
Source:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/when-can-you-find-out-the-sex-of-a-baby
Humans Only Know What Allah Allows Them to Discover
The verse does not deny that humans may eventually discover some information regarding pregnancy.
Rather:
- Allah possesses complete,
- independent,
- absolute,
- and unrestricted knowledge.
Humans possess:
- partial,
- dependent,
- observational,
- and often uncertain knowledge.
These are not remotely the same thing.
A doctor looking at a blurry ultrasound at 16 weeks is not comparable to Allah’s eternal knowledge of:
- every genetic detail,
- every life event,
- every illness,
- every action,
- and the ultimate fate of that child.
The comparison itself is absurd.
Even Early Gender Detection Depends on Physical Creation Already Existing
Some critics cite:
- NIPT blood tests,
- IVF screening,
- CVS testing,
- or amniocentesis.
But these methods still rely on already-existing biological material created by Allah.
They are not “knowledge of the unseen.”
They are analysis of:
- chromosomes,
- fetal DNA,
- hormones,
- and physical markers already present in creation.
That is observation — not divine omniscience.
Scientific Literature Supports Gradual Detection
Scientific literature confirms that fetal sex prediction develops gradually and becomes more reliable later.
“AGD is helpful as an ultrasonographic marker that can determine fetal gender in the first trimester, especially after 12 weeks.”
Source:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6652156/
Again:
- This is acquired observational knowledge,
- not unrestricted unseen knowledge.
The Criticism Actually Backfires
The objection accidentally proves the Qur’an correct.
Why?
Because humans only discover fetal characteristics:
- after Allah creates them,
- after development occurs,
- through imperfect tools,
- with probabilities and margins of error,
- and only within limited physical parameters.
That is exactly the kind of dependent knowledge classical scholars already distinguished from Allah’s absolute knowledge centuries ago.
Conclusion
The verse is not merely about knowing whether a fetus is male or female.
Allah alone possesses complete and absolute knowledge of everything related to the wombs.
Humans only acquire limited observational knowledge after physical development occurs and only through means Allah created for them.
Classical scholars such as Ibn Kathir explicitly affirmed that once Allah forms the fetus, He may allow angels and human beings to know certain aspects of it.
Modern embryology therefore confirms the distinction between divine omniscience and limited human observation — it does not refute the Qur’an.
Does Ultrasound Gender Detection Contradict Quran 31:34? — Hadith, Scholars & Embryology Answer