By Dr Aishah Fadila Adamu
THE SCRIPTURES REINFORCE THE BELIEF THAT INFERTILITY IS A WOMAN’S ISSUE.
Have you noticed how often infertility is attributed to women in the scriptures? While these stories have brought hope and comfort to many, they have also perpetuated a harmful belief: that infertility is primarily a woman’s issue.
The Bible spoke about 6 couples who struggled with infertility. These couples include;
Abraham and Sarah: Emphasis was laid on Sarah’s barrenness, but for Abraham, old age.
Genesis 11:30 – Now, Sarai was barren, she had no child.
Genesis 16:1-2 – Now Sarah, Abram’s wife, had bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave names Hagar; so, she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her”. Abram agreed.
Genesis 21:1-3 – The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.”
Isaac and Rebekah
Genesis 25:21 – Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
Jacob and Rachel
Genesis 30:1-24 – Rachel, Jacob’s wife, is barren, and her sister Leah has borne several children.
Manoah and his wife
Judges 13:2-5 – The angel of the Lord appears to Manoah’s wife, who is barren, and promises her a son who will deliver Israel from the Philistines.
Hannah and Elkanah
Samuel 1:2 – He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none
Elizabeth and Zechariah
Luke 1:7 – And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
In the Quran
Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth
Surah Maryam Verse 7 – He said, “My Lord, how will I have a son, when my wife is barren, and I have reached old age?”
Surah Al-Qasas, verse 27-28: “And he said: ‘My Lord! Leave me not without offspring, though You are the best of inheritors.’ So, We listened to him, and We granted him Yahya (John), and cured his wife for him. Indeed, they used to hasten on good deeds, and they used to call upon Us with hope and fear, and they were humble before Us.”
Modern medicine has revealed that infertility affects both men and women equally (30% female causes, 30% male causes, 30% combined male and female and 10% unknown factors). Which means that, for the 6 couples mentioned in the scriptures, chances are that, 2 of them were due to issues with the wives only, 2 from the husbands only, and 2 were a combination of factors present in both the husbands and their wives.
It is therefore crucial for our religious leaders and people to interpret these stories and verses in a way that shows the equal role each gender plays in infertility and challenges harmful stereotypes, rather than perpetuating them.
Join me on this journey reeducate people on infertility. See you next week with more details on infertility.
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