The saying of Allah, the Exalted: (And He knows what is in the wombs), and in these days they have reached the ability to determine the type of fetus through some devices?

The questioner : He, the Exalted, said: . This verse indicates that no one knows what is in the wombs except Allah. However, when a woman visits the female doctor, she inserts an imaging device into the womb, and the type of the fetus becomes clear. So what is the interpretation of this verse then?

The Shaykh : The interpretation of the verse has no connection to the means that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, created and facilitated for humans. The female doctor’s knowledge of the fetus’s type today through a machine is no stranger than the astronomers’ announcement of a solar or lunar eclipse years in advance, not just months or days. What Allah, Mighty and Majestic, described is that by His intrinsic knowledge, in which no one shares with Him in knowing what is in the bellies—what is in the wombs of the fetuses—this is a matter in which even the prophets and messengers do not share with Him. So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said explicitly in the Qur'an: , ; meaning: He does not reveal, so no one knows the unseen by their own nature except Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. As it came in "Sahih al-Bukhari" that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by a slave girl from the Ansar one day who was singing, saying: "And among us is a Prophet who knows what is in tomorrow." He said (peace and blessings be upon him): . So no one knows the unseen by their own nature except Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. As for by means, that is possible. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, informs His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) through Jibril or through inspiration, which is the infallible inspiration free from error. Just as He informed some of His servants by means by which they are able to know what is hidden from some people, and that is not a way of knowing the unseen.
And some farmers, and it is supposed that farmers, especially in the past when agriculture was not a science that was studied, knew through their own experiences that when a tree is cut, its age is so many years. This is not the unseen; rather, they knew through experience that every ring in the tree trunk indicates that it represents a year of its age. So if there are three rings—and this is observed if you pay attention to it—every ring indicates a year. This has no connection to knowledge of the unseen; rather, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, decreed these rings and informed the people who observe them that this ring indicates that the tree’s age is one year or two years, and so on.
Likewise, these devices by which they discover the presence of rain, for example, after one or two days, or what came in the question about inserting a tube or a special strip with a special nature, made with precision, by which the female doctor discovers whether the fetus is male or female. It is said to her: Without using this means, can you know? All humans say: No, we do not know. So we must understand the reality of the unseen by which Allah specialized, for it is intrinsic knowledge in which no human shares with Him. As for discovering some of the hidden things from people in general or in particular by some means that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, facilitated, this has absolutely no connection to knowledge of the unseen. So let no one be confused by the matter after this explanation.