Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dearest brother in islam

asslamaualaikum

Please clarify ...is it shirk to find the sex of the baby in the mothers womb ?...i have searched all over the internet and have got mixed answers ..please help.

wassalam

your sister in islam

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Determine the sex of unborn child

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

If modern technology has allowed man to use some instruments which can make known the sex of the unborn baby, or determine through using these instruments whether or not some complications has occurred during the course of the pregnancy or delivery, etc. there is absolutely no harm in using such instruments.

But if one wants to learn the sex of the child so that one may determine which baby to keep and which baby to abort depending on its sex; then such a determination would be absolutely against the laws of Islam. Thus it all depends on one’s intentions why one wants to know the sex of the unborn child.

It is definitely not ‘shirk’ to use an instrument and through its information a medical expert determines the sex of one’s unborn child; but if one were to look into thin air, or at the face or walk or talk or food of the mother, or the weather, or anything else which is absolutely unrelated to the happenings in the womb of the mother and if that person were to predict that the unborn baby in the womb of a mother will be a male or female….to believe such a prediction would indeed be tantamount to ‘shirk’!

But to use scientific instrument which has been built to provide information regarding the development of the unborn baby in the womb of the mother, and one determines through the information provided by the instrument the sex of the unborn baby….there is absolutely no harm in seeking such information.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan