Could you please explain this
apparent contradiction in the Qur’an? I have copied and
pasted it from a Christian Web site. I hope you answer
soon, in sha’ Allah, as I have had no luck with
other Islamic sites and it is really bothering me!
Jazaka Allahu khayran.
The length of gestation? The verses which give
information and a command concerning the duration of
nursing are as follows:
*{And We have
enjoined upon man concerning his parents— his mother
bearing him in weakness upon weakness, and his
weaning in two years—Give thanks to Me and to your
parents...}* (Luqman 31:14)
*{Mothers
shall suckle their children for two whole years; for
those who wish to complete the suckling...}* (Al-Baqarah
2:233)
*{And We have
commended unto man kindness toward parents. His
mother carried him in pain and gave him birth in
pain, and the carrying of him and the weaning of him
is thirty months…}* (Al-Ahqaf 46:15)
Obviously there is no problem with
this command to nurse for 24 months if possible. After
many years of pushing bottle feeding, doctors are
returning to the idea that the breast-feeding of babies
is much to be preferred, even in developed countries,
and in under-developed areas breast-feeding, so that the
baby will have a clean source of protein for as long as
possible, is a matter of life and death. The third
verse, however, gives 30 months as the total for
gestation and nursing. 30 months minus 24 months, leaves
only 6 months for the period of gestation, but normal
gestation lasts 9 months.
Yusuf Ali understood that there was a problem, so he has
a note speaking of this six months as “the minimum
period of human gestation after which the child is known
to be viable. This is in accordance with the latest
ascertained scientific facts.”
The reader might have been happy with that basic
assumption when Yusuf Ali wrote it (although it is no
longer accurate), but even for 1938, it wasn’t all that
straightforward. The verse goes on, “... at length, when
he reaches the age of full strength and attains forty
years, he says, ‘O my Lord, grant me that I may be
grateful for Thy favor ... truly, I have repented and
truly do I bow in Islam.”
Such a statement speaking about 40 years seems to be for
every normal man, not for some special circumstance. If
the command for nursing is 24 months, a normal period of
time; and man reaching 40 years of age is a normal
condition, then we would expect the first part of the
phrase concerning gestation to be speaking about a usual
period of gestation (nine months); and not an unusual
period of six months, which is really an illness.
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Thank you for your question and I hope we haven’t bothered you too
with our delay.
In fact, Yusuf Ali has already given you the answer. There is no
contradiction among the three verses talking about the duration of
breastfeeding or gestation. The three verses you mentioned in the Qur’an
limit the recommended period for breastfeeding to 24 months. In the
third verse, from Surat Al-Ahqaf, the duration of both gestation and
breastfeeding is altogether 30 months. This means that the duration of
gestation could, in some rare cases, be six months, and that a normal
labor with good survival potential could start from the sixth month of
pregnancy.
The question that arises here is why should God give us the minimum rare
case to demonstrate the issue instead of the normal case? The answer is
related to the unparalleled precision of the Qur’anic language. The
Qur’an is the source of a strong legal system, which rules over people’s
lives, and like—if not superior to—any legal text, the language should
be accurate. In the case you are talking about, if the duration of
pregnancy is stated to be only that of nine months, and that the only
viable babies are those born after nine months, this will lead to a big
legal confusion concerning the issue of paternity.
The following story may demonstrate how Allah’s keenness to mention the
minimum rather than the normal period of gestation helped to clear up a
very thorny legal matter. A woman gave birth to a six-month baby. Her
husband, seeing that the baby alive, thought that his wife had become
pregnant from an affair before marrying him—on the assumption that
normal labor only occurs after 9 months—therefore, he denied paternity
and went to the ruler `Uthman ibn `Affan
Although the woman cried and affirmed the boy’s legitimacy, the Caliph,
on hearing the case, ordered the woman to be sentenced to death for
adultery. The story reached `Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was known for his
unparalleled knowledge of every single word in the Qur’an. He asked `Uthman,
“What are you doing?” `Uthman answered, “She gave birth to a perfect
child after six months! How could this happen?” Ali Answered, “Don’t you
read Qur’an?” ‘Uthman answered, “Yes, I do.” Ali asked, “Haven’t you
heard God saying, *{… and the carrying of him and the weaning of him is
thirty months.}* Then saying, *{Mothers shall suckle their children for
two whole years.}* Then the difference between the two periods together
and the period of nursing becomes six months.”
`Uthman said, “By God, I hadn’t recognized this perfection before.” And
he set the woman free.
Thus, God had to state all possible cases for the duration of gestation
for legal considerations, especially when related to a sensitive issue
like that of paternity and women’s honor.
I don’t think that the beginning of the verse is rhetorically related to
its end, which talks about man repenting at the age of forty. The first
part, as I have just explained, is a legal ruling while the other is a
moral direction and a wake up call for people to repent at the age of
wisdom before it is too late. Apparently, there is no connection between
them concerning what is normal and what is not.
Thanks a lot for your question and I hope to hear from you again.
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