What is the correct understanding of Sahih Al Bukhari 1: Chapter 61, Hadith 3329 ?
I would like to ask you about this part .
“As for the resemblance of the child to its parents: If a man has sexual intercourse with his wife and gets discharge first, the child will resemble the father, and if the woman gets discharge first, the child will resemble her.”
[Sahih Al Bukhari 1: Chapter 61, Hadith 3329]
What is the correct interpretation/understanding of this hadith? And how did the early muslim scholars understood this hadith .
Does it say that one who ejaculated first , the baby will look like them .
I wanted to ask this question as it goes agaist modern science .
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala increase and satiate your thirst for knowledge.
To grasp the Hadith accurately, it’s essential to delve into the words our revered Prophet ﷺ used, ie “maa,” denoting water in a broad sense encompassing any reproductive liquid (semen, fluid inside ovum, chromosomes, genetic fluids, etc) not just the ejaculate, and “sabaqa,” conveying the concept of being first but also dominant. So the understanding is: “Regarding the resemblance of the child to its parents: if a man’s reproductive fluid (semen, sperm, chromosomes) dominates, the child will take after the father; if the reproductive fluid ( in ovum, chromosomes, genes etc) of the woman dominates, the child will resemble her.”
The miracle of our Prophet ﷺ lies in his endowed ability for comprehensive speech. His words will remain applicable to all humanity until the end of time. The Arab Bedouins grasped these words based on their simplistic life style, as do the simple people of this era while the scientifically adept individuals of this era can understand them according to their deep scientific comprehension.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best