Short answer
No. The Qur'an says God (﷾) made pairs of everything, but its word for a pair, zawj, also means a kind or an opposite. Early scholars read it as night and day, heaven and earth, faith and unbelief. Al-Tabari, who died in 923, judged that the best reading. So the verse does not say every living thing has a male and a female. Some living things reproduce alone, and the verse does not deny it. The "eight head of cattle in pairs" of 39:6 come from the same kind of misreading. The Arabic word an'am names four herd animals: sheep, goats, camels and oxen. The eight are a male and a female of each. Both objections read an English translation, not the Arabic.
Full explanation
What the verse says
The verse reads: "And of every thing We have created pairs: That ye may receive instruction." It does not say male and female. It does not mention living things at all. Its purpose is in its last words: to make people think. Another verse says God (﷾) made in pairs what the earth grows, and things people do not know.
“And of every thing We have created pairs: That ye may receive instruction.”
“Glory to Allah, Who created in pairs all things that the earth produces, as well as their own (human) kind and (other) things of which they have no knowledge.”
A pair can be a kind or an opposite
The Arabic zawj means one of a pair. It also means a kind, and a thing with its opposite. Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon gives all three senses. It notes that zawj means a kind in verses like 50:7. Yusuf Ali himself renders it "of all kinds" in 26:7. Al-Tabari reports that Mujahid, an early teacher of the Qur'an, read the pairs as opposites. He named unbelief and faith, guidance and error, night and day, heaven and earth. Al-Hasan of Basra named the sun and the moon. Ibn Zayd read it as male and female. Al-Tabari preferred Mujahid's wider reading: everything God (﷾) made has a counterpart unlike it. Ibn Kathir, the fourteenth-century commentator, gives a like list, with death and life.
Zawj primarily signifies a sort of thing of any kind; in Qur'an 22:5 and 50:7 it means sort or species. Zawjan is a pair, and zawj either one of the two. It is also a sort of thing having its contrary, such as the moist and the dry, the night and the day. Al-Raghib's Mufradat: anything paired with another, like it or opposite to it, is its zawj.
“Do they not look at the earth,- how many noble things of all kinds We have produced therein?”
Reports two views of the pairs. Mujahid: unbelief and faith, misery and happiness, guidance and error, night and day, heaven and earth, men and jinn; al-Hasan: the sun and the moon. Ibn Zayd: male and female. Al-Tabari judges Mujahid's view the more correct: God made for everything He created a second unlike it in meaning, each the pair of the other.
All created things are in pairs: heaven and earth, night and day, sun and moon, land and sea, light and darkness, faith and disbelief, death and life, misery and happiness, Paradise and the Fire, and also the animals and plants. The purpose is that people know the Creator is One.
| Scholar | The pairs |
|---|---|
| Mujahid | Unbelief and faith, guidance and error, night and day, heaven and earth |
| Al-Hasan of Basra | The sun and the moon |
| Ibn Zayd | Male and female |
| Al-Tabari's judgment | Mujahid's: everything has a counterpart unlike it |
| Ibn Kathir | Heaven and earth, night and day, death and life, and more |
"Every" does not always mean every single thing
The Arabic kull, "every", often means every thing of the kind in view. The Qur'an says the Queen of Sheba was "provided with every requisite". Ibn Kathir explains: everything a powerful ruler needs. It says a wind would destroy "Everything", yet their houses still stood. Ibn Kathir explains: everything in their land that a wind could destroy. Every language speaks this way. "Everyone came" never means the whole human race.
“"I found (there) a woman ruling over them and provided with every requisite; and she has a magnificent throne.”
Explains that the Queen of Sheba was given "all things" as: all the conveniences of this world that a powerful monarch could need.
“"Everything will it destroy by the command of its Lord!" Then by the morning they - nothing was to be seen but (the ruins of) their houses! thus do We recompense those given to sin!”
Explains the wind "destroying every thing" as destroying every part of their land that could normally be destroyed; afterwards nothing was seen but their dwellings.
What about living things that reproduce alone?
Some plants and simple creatures reproduce without a mate. The verse does not deny this. It never says every living thing is male and female. Where the Qur'an does speak of male and female, it speaks of people and of animals that mate. Those verses are true as they stand.
“And of every thing We have created pairs: That ye may receive instruction.”
“That He did create in pairs,- male and female, From a seed when lodged (in its place);”
“(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).”
God (﷾) made pairs of everything
So that people reflect
Every living thing is male and female
Nothing reproduces alone
The eight pairs of cattle
Critics say 39:6 counts only eight cattle, when there are many kinds of livestock. The Arabic word there is an'am, the herd animals of Arabia. Qur'an 6:143-144 lists them: sheep, goats, camels and oxen. A male and a female of each make eight. Al-Tabari explains 39:6 in just this way. The passage answers the Arab pagans. They had made up taboos on these very animals, forbidding some males or females. So the verse names the animals they ruled on.
“He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre)?”
“(Take) eight (head of cattle) in (four) pairs: of sheep a pair, and of goats a pair; say, hath He forbidden the two males, or the two females, or (the young) which the wombs of the two females enclose? Tell me with knowledge if ye are truthful: Of camels a pair, and oxen a pair; say, hath He forbidden the two males, or the two females, or (the young) which the wombs of the two females enclose? - Were ye present when Allah ordered you such a thing? But who doth more wrong than one who invents a lie against Allah, to lead astray men without knowledge? For Allah guideth not people who do wrong.”
Explains the eight azwaj of the an'am as two of camels, two of cattle, two of sheep and two of goats, as in 6:143; he reports the same from Mujahid, Qatada and al-Dahhak.
“And they say that such and such cattle and crops are taboo, and none should eat of them except those whom - so they say - We wish; further, there are cattle forbidden to yoke or burden, and cattle on which, (at slaughter), the name of Allah is not pronounced; - inventions against Allah's name: soon will He requite them for their inventions.”
- 2Sheep
- 2Goats
- 2Camels
- 2Oxen
Why "sent down"?
Yusuf Ali's "sent down" in 39:6 renders the Arabic anzala. The Qur'an uses the same word of iron: "We sent down Iron". It uses it of clothing too, where Yusuf Ali writes "We have bestowed raiment". It speaks of God (﷾) giving these things, not of things falling from the sky.
“He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre)?”
“We sent aforetime our messengers with Clear Signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance (of Right and Wrong), that men may stand forth in justice; and We sent down Iron, in which is (material for) mighty war, as well as many benefits for mankind, that Allah may test who it is that will help, Unseen, Him and His messengers: For Allah is Full of Strength, Exalted in Might (and able to enforce His Will).”
“O ye Children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment upon you to cover your shame, as well as to be an adornment to you. But the raiment of righteousness,- that is the best. Such are among the Signs of Allah, that they may receive admonition!”
Perspectives
The critics' reading
Critics read 51:49 as saying every living thing has a male and a female, which species that reproduce alone disprove. They read 39:6 as a full count of livestock.
Qur'an 51:49 says everything was created in pairs, but many living things reproduce without a mate.
Rebuttal
The verse does not say male and female, or speak of living things. Its word zawj also means a kind or an opposite. The early commentators read it as night and day, heaven and earth, faith and unbelief.
"Every thing" must mean every single thing, with no exception.
Rebuttal
The Qur'an says the Queen of Sheba was given "every requisite", and that a wind destroyed "Everything" while houses stood. Kull means everything of the kind in view, as in any language.
Qur'an 39:6 names only eight head of cattle, when there are many kinds of livestock.
Rebuttal
The Arabic an'am names four herd animals: sheep, goats, camels and oxen. A male and a female of each make eight, as 6:143-144 lists them.
The Islamic perspective
Qur'an 51:49 says God (﷾) made pairs of everything: kinds and opposites, as the early scholars read it. It does not say every living thing is male and female. The eight pairs are a male and a female of four herd animals.
Qur'an 51:49 says God (﷾) created pairs of everything, so that people reflect. It does not mention male and female.
Zawj means one of a pair, a kind, or a thing with its opposite.
Al-Tabari judged Mujahid's reading the best: every created thing has a counterpart unlike it, such as night and day, or faith and unbelief.
The eight azwaj of 39:6 are a male and a female of sheep, goats, camels and oxen, as 6:143-144 lists them.