Isn't this hadith scientifically wrong and failing to describe embryology?

Question

This is the Hadith

The part of the hadith I deem to be wrong is :-

Anas b. Malik reported that Umm Sulaim narrated it that she asked the Messenger of Allah about a woman who sees in a dream what a man sees (sexual dream). The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: In case a woman sees that, she must take a bath. Umm Sulaim said: I was bashful on account of that and said: Does it happen? Upon this the Messenger of Allah said: Yes (it does happen), otherwise how can (a child) resemble its mother?

Here the vaginal discharge has been compared with the semen, But there is a gulf of difference between them. To be specific, I've noted some points:-

1. The vaginal discharge of a women has no significant contributions in the production of a zygote. It doesn't contain any chromosomes or genes and no gamete. It's function is just to keep the vagina infection - free and to ease the process of intercourse.

2. The colour of the discharge is not normally yellow. It's normal colour ranges from transparent to milky- whitish.

3. The semen has the male gametes or sperms, but there are no such things as female gametes in the vaginal discharge.

So isn't this hadith wrong ? Because here it's implied that the semen of a women is her vaginal discharge, which is utterly wrong.

Forgive me if I made some mistakes, I'm a human after all.

Assalamualaikum .

Answer 1

This is the problematic part in bold:

Anas b. Malik reported that Umm Sulaim narrated it that she asked the Messenger of Allah about a woman who sees in a dream what a man sees (sexual dream). The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: In case a woman sees that, she must take a bath. Umm Sulaim said: I was bashful on account of that and said: Does it happen? Upon this the Messenger of Allah said: Yes (it does happen), otherwise how can (a child) resemble her? Man's discharge (i. e. sperm) is thick and white and the discharge of woman is thin and yellow; so the resemblance comes from the one whose genes prevail or dominate.
_{Sahih Muslim 311}

And yes, this translation doesn't strongly match biology. The original Arabic obviously doesn't actually mention genes, since there was no notion of it at the time: the narrators were incapable of talking about it, just as they were incapable of talking about iPhones.

The Qur'an is not a science book (IslamWeb), and likewise ahadith books are not science books. Moreover, Prophets are typically regarded as capable of making "human error" in matters not related to religion:

Thus, the majority of scholars confirmed that prophets (peace and blessings be upon them all) do reason independently about matters that are subject to human error, as long as these matters are not sins and as long they do not violate their conveying of the divine message.
_AboutIslam

In fact, ahadith are sometimes not consistent with each other. For this hadith, the next hadith does not have the problematic part:

Anas b. Malik reported: A woman asked the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) about a woman who sees in her dream what a man sees in his dream (sexual dream). He (the Holy Prophet) said: If she experiences what a man experiences, she should take a bath.
_{Sahih Muslim 312}

How this arises is described below:

... many times the narrators would relate the hadith in their own words and expressions, after having heard it from their teachers.
_{Rayyan Institute}

The lesson we're meant to be taking from the hadith is that women should perform ghusl after having a sexual dream (SeekersHub).

Answer 2

Walikum-salam-wa rahmatullahi wa-barkathu so here the answers .

Answer of 1st :- why you asked that I do not know the Hadith do not says anything about this matter the Hadith talk about dominant (meaning genetics) see law of dominance on google

Let me know in comment section if I missed something

Answer of 2nd :- It's normal to have a white/yellow vaginal dischargethat does NOT have an odor (smell). Vaginal odor, itching, burning, pain and/or a different discharge are symptoms of an infection. If you have any symptoms of a vaginal infection

So there is nothing wrong with yellow discharge and it is Normal and also common if it occur at (N-14) day (the day of ovulation in mentural cycle

Answer of 3rd :- The Hadith compares them with the approach of im-pureness both necessitate ghusl so there is Nothing wrong with it it is right

Suggestion to you :- the Hadith and Quran are not books of science where you will find every detailed information in Tabular or Note form

Thanks for reading

Allah is Al-Aleem and I am not .

Answer 3

The cervical mucus has a fundamental role in reproduction. This hadith is scientifically correct.

Cervical mucus plays a fundamental role in the fertilization process by nourishing and protecting sperm as it makes the long, arduous journey through the female reproductive tract to meet the egg.

So when Muhammad (S.A.W) said :-

Yes (it does happen), otherwise how can ( a child) resemble its mother

He was basically pointing out the importance of the cervical mucus. He wasn't comparing it with the semen rather differentiating it from the semen as their functions are totally different but both of them have fundamental roles.

That's what Muhammad ( S.A.W) was trying to say.

The other aspects of the question have been answered in the other answers.

Assalamualaikum and Allah knows best