Then the author, the ḥadith master al-Nawawī (d. 676 AH), in his book Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, under the heading “Chapter on Humility and Gently Lowering One’s Wing to the Believers,” quotes—among the verses relevant to this topic—the saying of Allah the Exalted:

“O mankind, We created you from a male and a female and made you peoples and tribes so that you might know one another. The most noble of you in Allah’s sight is the most God-fearing. Truly, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware” (al-Ḥujurāt 49:13).

In this verse Allah addresses all people, making it clear that He created them from a male and a female—that is, from that very pair or from that kind.

In other words, the “male and female” may be understood to refer to Adam and Eve; or it may be understood generically, meaning that all the children of Adam were brought forth from a father and a mother—and this is by far the more common case.
Yet Allah created Adam with neither mother nor father: He fashioned him from dust, from clay, from a moldable substance like pottery, then breathed into him of His spirit—He created for him a soul and breathed it into him, and Adam became a fully formed human being.
Allah created Eve from a father without a mother.
Allah created Jesus from a mother without a father.
And Allah created the rest of humankind from both mother and father.

Thus, just as the human being may be classified into four kinds with respect to the material from which he was created, he is likewise of four kinds with respect to his progeny. Allah says: “To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He creates whatever He wills. He grants females to whom He wills, and He grants males to whom He wills, or He pairs them—males and females—and He makes whom He wills barren. Surely, He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful” (al-Shūrā 42:49–50).