فَجَعَلَ مِنهُ الزَّوجَينِ الذَّكَرَ وَالأُنثىٰ
And made of him the two sexes, the male and the female.
EXEGESIS
Al-zawjayn (the two sexes) is the dual form of zawj. Zawj means pair, type, or kind. As zawj itself means a pair, zawjayn refers to two types – male and female – rather than two pairs.
EXPOSITION
The foetus then develops into a human being, male or female. There are two alternatives as to what the pronoun hu in minhu (here translated as of him) is referring to. It may intend the man (insān) mentioned in verse 36, or it may refer to the manī (semen) mentioned in verse 37. If it is referring to manī, it could be taken as an indication of how the sperm cell is that which determines the sex of the foetus.
The fact that the sex is mentioned at this point in the sequence described in the verses hints that sex does not become distinct before this. We know today that sex-specific characteristics begin to develop in the foetus at approximately 6-7 weeks of gestation, where the presence of the Y chromosome results in the development of the testes. Depending on our interpretation, this could also suggest that ensoulment – which we discussed in the previous verse – should occur prior to the development of sex-specific characteristics.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Ibn al-ʿArabī mentions how some have tried to argue based on this verse for the invalidity of the khunthā (intersex) category in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), however he points out that this verse is talking about what is generally the case. It can also be argued that zawjayn is not meant to be an exhaustive list.
The existence of intersex individuals does not mean that human beings are not divided into male and female. It should be kept in mind that exceptions or cases that defy easy categorisation or exist on the fringes or beyond the clear limits does not necessarily mean that categorisation is not possible or pointless. We may for example say that cows have four legs and produce milk to feed their young. Just because some individual cows may be born with genetic abnormalities that defy these definitions does not mean we must do away with our definitions of a cow. Even so, the shariah strives to take into account the needs specific to exceptional individuals, and the Muslim jurists have spoken at length with regards to the rulings specific to intersex individuals.
[1] Mizan, 20/115.
[2] Baghawi, 5/187; Nemuneh, 25/320; Sharawi, p. 16591.
[3] Tabrisi, 10/607; Tabari, 29/125; Zamakhshari, 4/664; Razi, 30/738; Alusi, 15/165; Mizan, 20/115; Munyah, 29/153; Kashif, 7/474.
[4] See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK222286/.
[5] Ahkam, 4/1896. See also Qurtubi, 19/117.