The Night: (3) And [by] what He created the male...

There are several issues concerning this verse:

Issue 1: Interpretation

There are several interpretations:

1. Interpretation 1: Meaning, the Capable One of immense power who was able to create the male and the female from a single drop of water. It is also said that they refer to Adam and Eve.
2. Interpretation 2: Meaning, and He created the male and the female.
3. Interpretation 3: The mā (ما) here means man (من) (who/that which), thus: "And by Him who created the male and the female."

Issue 2: Recitations

1. The Prophet (peace be upon him) recited it as: "And the male and the female" (والذكر * والانثى).
2. Ibn Mas'ud recited it as: "And by that which created the male and the female" (والذي خلق الذكر والأنثى).
3. Al-Kisā’ī recited it with a genitive case: "And by what God created the male and the female" (وما خلق الذكر والانثى). The justification for this is that the meaning of وما خلق (What He created) is "What God Almighty created," meaning "The creation of God." Then, "the male and the female" is made an apposition (badal) to it, meaning: "And the creation of God, the male and the female." It is permissible to explicitly mention God's name because it is known that there is no creator other than Him.

Issue 3: Scope of the Oath

The oath by the male and the female encompasses an oath by all sentient beings, as they are the noblest of creatures. This is because every animal is either male or female. As for the hermaphrodite (khunthā), it must inherently be either male or female in its essence. The proof for this is that if someone swore by divorce that he did not meet a male or a female that day, and he had met a hermaphrodite, his oath would be invalidated (i.e., he would be considered to have broken his oath) because the hermaphrodite falls under one of the two categories.

! 7 < { Indeed, your efforts are diverse. } > 7 !

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