Was Pharaoh or his wife infertile?

The Details of the Question

- Are there any verses or hadiths indicating whether Pharaoh or his wife Asiya was infertile (incapable of having children)?
- Did they have any children?
- I think it is stated in the verses that when Hz. Musa (Moses) was found as a child, Asiya said ‘Let us adopt him.’ When we take the verse into consideration, I wonder if Pharaoh and Asiya had their own children and whether both of them or one of them were infertile. Thank you.

The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

We could not find any details regarding the issue in the verses of the Quran and hadiths.

However, according to some scholars, Pharaoh had children, but only daughters, not sons. Therefore, Asiya said for Moses, “we may adopt him as a son” (al-Qasas, 28/9). (see Mujahid, Tafsir, the interpretation of the verse in question)

According to some other scholars, Asiya did not have any children; therefore, she loved him as soon as she saw him and wanted to adopt him. (see Razi, Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi, Maraghi, the interpretation of the verse in question)

Some scholars state the following: “Asiya could not have children because she was infertile.” (see Muhammad b. Latif, Awdahut-Tafasir, the interpretation of the verse in question)

According to Alusi’s narration from Ibn Abbas, Pharaoh had only one daughter at that time... (see Alusi, the interpretation of the verse in question)

It is understood from the information above that there are no verses or hadiths mentioning whether Pharaoh and his wife or one of them were infertile or not.

Questions on Islam

Was this answer helpful?
Author:
Questions on Islam
Subject Categories:
Read 121 times
In order to make a comment, please login or register