Nowadays, it is easy to think that God made a mistake in letting childless men and women walk on the planet. We can also imagine that those who want children and fail (whatever their conditions) do not give themselves the means to conceive them and that people who do not want them are suffering from a disease still unknown.

Nowadays, it seems that God’s error can be resolved by supplications made at the right time, in the right way with sincere faith and desire, of course. New technologies are completing the solution to the problem of the existence of childless people by offering medically assisted reproduction with results guaranteed in 100% of cases, of course. Therapists provide psychological unblocking services for the most reluctant and resistant to all forms of reproductive assistance.

In summary, these days we think that if we want children we can and when we do not want them, we cure ourselves!

And yet, when we read the Qur’an, it is clear that the Creator wanted the existence of men and women without children.

Indeed, the Holy Book, in addition to the Divine’s assertion to give children to whom He wills (Sura 42:49-50), mentions childless men and women.

The planned existence of childless women and men

In Sura 4, verses 11, 12 and 176 refer to succession and list all the possible scenarios. Thus, the Qur’an describes the management of the estates of married people without children and single people without children.

Prominent figures without children

Among the great childless figures mentioned in the Qur’an is Issa (Jesus). He remains a childless Prophet.

Assia, the wife of Pharaoh, named in the Qur’an as one of the examples of model women (Sura 66:11) was first a childless woman before taking in and raising Moses.

The prophet Zachariah and his wife are a childless couple for many years. They are old at the time of the revelation of the birth of a boy.

« Oh Zachariah! We tell you the good news of a boy […] »[1]. (Surah 19:7)

The miraculous dimension of this birth is found according to the interpretation of the theologian-philosopher Fakhr al Din-al Razi (m 1210)[2] in the choice of words. The good news to Zachariah is about a boy (rulam) not a child (walad) or a son (ibn). According to Razi, this demonstrates that the conception and birth of this child, John, is not normal but extraordinary.

Note that the announcement to Maryam of the birth of Isa (Jesus) in the same surah 19, verses 19-20 is also delivered with the term « boy » rather than « child » or « son ».

Diversity by design

The declaration of John’s miraculous birth is often the ultimate example in Muslim communities to encourage childless couples not to despair.

However, the story of John’s announcement to the elderly childless couple is, in my opinion, intended to be the expression of the omnipotence of the Divine to ordinary mortals and not an illustration of what is certain to  happen when we  formulate a wish accompanied by absolute trust in the Creator.

The Qur’an contains reminders of the Divine’s supreme will. Verses 19-50 of Sura 42 are part of it.

  »  He creates what He wants, He gives daughters (female in Arabic) to whom He wills, He gives sons (male in Arabic) to whom He wants, or He gathers in pairs sons and daughters (male and female in Arabic), He makes sterile who He wants. » [3]

This verse clearly illustrates the diversity intended by the Creator. A diversity that includes the existence of childless people.

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Original Text  Les hommes et les femmes sans enfant dans le Coran

Translation by Discussions Essentielles and Deep L

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About the author

I am a French Muslim author with a passion for Islam. I studied Islam in a traditional and academic setting.  My interest in the subjects of childlessness began over 10 years ago.

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© Photo credit- Pexels – Emre Ateçoğlu  

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[1] Le Coran, translated by Denise Masson, Gallimard, 1967

[2] The study Quran A New Translation and Commentary, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Harper one ,2015

[3] Le Coran, translated by Denise Masson, Gallimard, 1967