"I am delivered of a female child. And no wise is the male like the female. I have named her Mary." (3/36) Why is the statement "And no wise is the male like the female" included in the verse instead of "And no wise is the female like the male"?

The Details of the Question

"O my Lord! Behold! I am delivered of a female child. And no wise is the male like the female. I have named her Mary." (Aal-i Imran, 3/36) Why is the statement "And no wise is the male like the female" included in the verse instead of "And no wise is the female like the male"?

- When we generally mention the difficulties of being a girl, we say, "A girl is not like a boy." Although this phrase is expected in the context of the verse, the phrase "A boy is not like a girl" is used.
- How can it be explained?

The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

"When she was delivered, she said: ‘O my Lord! Behold! I am delivered of a female child!’- and Allah knew best what she brought forth – ‘And no wise is the male Like the female. I have named her Mary, and I commend her and her offspring to Thy protection from the Evil One, the Rejected.’ (Aal-i Imran, 3/36)

The reason why the word male is used before the word female in the verse "And no wise is the male like the female " is the fact that Meryam’s (Mary’s) mother, Hanna, expected a male child.

That is, the syntax of the verse like that indicates the following: "The boy you expected is not as valuable as the girl you gave birth to. On the contrary, this girl is better than the boy you wanted."

(see Prof. Dr. Muhammad Mahmud Hijazi, at-Tafsir al-Wadih, İlim Publications: 1/273.)

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