Male and Female Fruits

Quoting this verse, a scientific objection may appear against the "male and female fruits" part, since fruits don't have a gender nor will have intercourse or anything of the sort, which is quite a disgusting idea; a pair of shoes doesn't mean that one is male and the other is female, and if one is constantly thinking about it, it means that he has mental issues and he should visit a psychiatrist.

I'll assume that this idea came from Pickthall's personal commentary in his translation (that part in the brackets saying "male and female"), but the main fact is that it's not explicitly mentioned in the verse that one is male and another is female in the original Arabic text; Pickthall simply gave out an erroneous interpretation of his own. In that verse, originally, Allah simply informs us that the theme in nature is that He creates in pairs and opposites, such as male and female in humans, animals, plants, etc. He also created inanimate entities in pairs and opposites, such as protons and electrons.

In the context of the above verse the Arabic word Zawjayn (زوجين) , meaning "two pairs" or "two spouses," isn't used to imply that there are male and female fruits but rather that fruits occur in pairs and opposites. A pair is a similar opposite, and for every type of fruit there exists a similar opposite. As examples, we mention:

• Dry and fleshy fruits.
• Aggregate and multiple fruits.
• Seedless fruits and fruits with seeds.
• Ripe and unripe fruits.

A fruit by definition is a reproductive structure of an angiosperm (flowering plant) that develops from the ovary and accessory tissue, which surrounds and protects the seed. Fruits are important in seed dispersal.

Fruit is the end product of reproduction of the superior plants. The stage preceding fruit is the flower, which has male and female organs; stamens and ovules. Once pollen has been carried to the flower, they bear fruit, which in turn matures and frees its seed. All fruits therefore imply the existence of male and female organs.

We could divide fruit into two groups. Those groups can be considered to be opposites of each other; fertilized fruits and pathenocarpic (non-fertilized) fruits. The differentiating factor is based on whether the fruit develops from fertilization or not. Fertilized fruit develop from fertilization and have seeds while pathenocarpic fruit do not develop from fertilization and have no seeds. An example of a fertilized fruit is a mango, while bananas and figs are examples of pathenocarpic fruits. While the majority of fruits are fertilized fruits, the understanding of fruits being created in pairs is best explained in this manner. So, there are no "scientific errors" here.