Transgenderism in Islamic Legacy: History & Traditional Fiqh

        

The Prophet’s time

In the Medinan society of the Prophet ﷺ there was at least one well-known effeminate male mukhannath named Hīt (هيت) and was also known as Māti`. The story of Hīt is recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim (the translation of mukhannath as eunuch is clearly wrong), while ibn Ḥajr al-`Asqalānī provides the details in al-Fatḥ, based upon historical narrations concerning the individual, and from those sources I am summarizing. `Aa’ishah mentioned that he was considered from among those men without any sexual feelings towards women, and for that reason, he was allowed to freely come and go inside the homes of the Prophet’s wives, and interact with them face to face, and with the rest of the Muslim women. This was based on Allah’s saying what means

{وَقُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ … وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ … التَّابِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُولِي الْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ أَوِ الطِّفْلِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَى عَوْرَاتِ النِّسَاءِ … (31)} سورة النور

“And tell the believing women … not to show off their adornment … except to … servants without sexual inclination of men, or small children without sense of feminine sexuality.” [24:31]

On the eve of the campaign against Ta’if, Hīt started trying to excite some of the Muslim men, based upon something he knew about a woman he once met in Mecca who was originally from Ṭā`if. He said,

“يَا عَبْدَ اللَّهِ، أَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ فَتَحَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ الطَّائِفَ غَدًا، فَعَلَيْكَ بِابْنَةِ غَيْلَانَ، فَإِنَّهَا تُقْبِلُ بِأَرْبَعٍ، وَتُدْبِرُ بِثَمَانٍ.” وقال الرسول “لَا يَدْخُلَنَّ هَؤُلَاءِ عَلَيْكُنَّ.” وفي رواية ذكرها ابن حجر قال النبي “لَا أُرَى هَذَا الْخَبِيثَ يَفْطِنُ لِمَا أَسْمَعُ.”

“if Allah allows you to liberate Ṭā`if tomorrow, then try to get Ghailān’s daughter in your spoils, because when she faces you, she does so with four, and when she turns away, she does so with eight!” Commentators said this was referring to her sexually appetizing fat rolls. When this reached the Prophet ﷺ he was flabbergasted, as Hīt blatantly suggested that he was well-acquainted with heterosexual desires.

“فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ لَقَدْ غَلْغَلْتَ النَّظَرَ إِلَيْهَا يَا عَدُوَّ اللَّهِ، ثُمَّ أَجَلَاهُ عَنِ الْمَدِينَةِ إِلَى الْحِمَى.” وفي رواية “قاتلك الله،” ثم في ذكر قصته “فَكَانَ بِالْبَيْدَاءِ يَدْخُلُ كل يَوْم جُمُعَة يستطعم.” و“قَالَ الْمُهَلَّبُ إِنَّمَا حَجَبَهُ عَنِ الدُّخُولِ إِلَى النِّسَاءِ لَمَّا سَمِعَهُ يَصِفُ الْمَرْأَةَ بِهَذِهِ الصِّفَةِ الَّتِي تُهَيِّجُ قُلُوبَ الرِّجَالِ، فَمَنَعَهُ لِئَلَّا يَصِفَ الْأَزْوَاجَ لِلنَّاسِ فَيَسْقُطُ مَعْنَى الحِجابَ اه.” وذكر ابن حجر “وَأَخْرَجَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ مِنْ حَدِيثِ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ أَتَى بِمُخَنَّثٍ قَدْ خَضَّبَ يَدَيْهِ وَرِجْلَيْهِ فَقِيلَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ هَذَا يَتَشَبَّهُ بِالنِّسَاءِ فَنَفَاهُ إِلَى النَّقِيعِ فَقِيلَ أَلَا تَقْتُلُهُ فَقَالَ إِنِّي نُهِيتُ عَنْ قَتْلِ الْمُصَلِّينَ.”

The Prophet ﷺ could not afford a man like that to betray his wives’ companionship, and so Hīt was banned from visiting the Prophet’s wives ever again or dwelling among the families—since Medinah had been designed so that single men lived in certain areas and families lived in other parts. Some narrations say the Prophet called him an “enemy of Allah” and that he said, “may Allah fight you”.^[1]Don’t forget that near the end of his life, the Prophet ﷺ made du’aa to Allah that if he cursed or spoke ill of any other Muslim, that may Allah turn it into a reward and qurbah for them. Also exiled from the homes was another possibly transgender Muslim that put henna on his hands like a woman might. They lived on the outskirts of Medinah and were allowed entry once or twice a week to get food.

وقال ابن العباس “لَعَنَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ الْمُخَنَّثِينَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ وَالْمُتَرَجِّلَاتِ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ،  وَقَالَ أَخْرِجُوهُمْ مِنْ بُيُوتِكُمْ” قَالَ: فَأَخْرَجَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ فُلَانًا، وَأَخْرَجَ عُمَرُ فُلَانًا.”

Ibn al-Abbaas said, as al-Bukhari recorded in Kitab al-Libas of his Sahih, “The Prophet ﷺ cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men, and said expel them from your homes, so he expelled this person and Umar expelled another.”

 

The era of the Salaf

During the Umayyad dynasty, there is a well-known story of when a group of transgendered somehow incurred the anger of a khalīfah or amīr who then ordered them all castrated. They joked about it after hearing the ruling.

Due to their interesting place in society, they frequently took the role of entertainers in the Abbasid capital, as singers or comedians. This position led Ahmad ibn Hanbal to say, as ibn al-Jawzi recorded (Talbees Iblees, pg 204) from him, “the earnings of a mukhannath are foul,” and ibn al-Jawzi added, that is because it is from singing, and they do not recite poetry about zuhd, but rather about love and mourning. During this era, it also became understood that the transgendered took a passive role in anal sex. This led to conflation of transgenderism and homosexuality and the suspicion that transgenderism was a kind of divine punishment for engaging in homosexual behavior. Ibn Taymiyyah also noted (al-Fataawaa 15/321) that the mukhannath really had little or no heterosexual inclination, even if they married and had children, and therefore no protective jealousy over their wives, allowing their wives to be promiscuous, or forcing their wives to feel the need to be satisfied outside of marriage.

Yet there were others, or likely others, who instead of pursuing careers in entertainment, held themselves accountable, were very disciplined, and were great ascetics and had no concern for marriage. Even Rabiyah al-Adawiyah al-Basriyah was described by her contemporaries as a “man in the body of a woman” while she turned down every proposal offered to her. And there were likewise many male scholars who had no concern for marriage, in fact, many of the greatest of male scholars never married, like Imam al-Bukhari—who could not grow facial hair, and Imam al-Nawawi, and Shaykh-ul-Islam ibn Taymiyyah, and others recorded in the book al-Ulama al-Uzzaab (the celebate scholars). It is possible that some of these individuals, if tested in this manner, may have had even greater reward with Allah for struggling (mujaahadah) to be more masculine and strive against feminine tendencies.

In Fiqh Legacy

Jurists from the four scholars delved into rulings of the mukhannath or the “effeminate male”. They distinguished rulings for them based on who was dispositionally effeminate (بأصل الخِلْقة), and those who intentionally acted feminine, and those whose femininity was accompanied with sodomy, whom they deemed a faasiq. The great Maliki mujtahid ibn Abdil-Barr said in al-Tahmeed, “A person who engages in sodomy is not a mukhannath because of that alone… but the true mukhannath is the one who is extremely effeminate by nature, so they resemble women in gentleness, speech, appearance, melody, intellect and action, whether or not they committed fisq.”

وقال الحافظ ابن حجر “وَتَشَبُّهُ النِّسَاءِ بِالرِّجَالِ وَالرِّجَالِ بِالنِّسَاءِ مِنْ قَاصِدٍ مُخْتَارٍ حَرَامٌ اتِّفَاقًا،”  

        وذكر الحافظ “وَأَمَّا ذَمُّ التَّشَبُّهِ بِالْكَلَامِ وَالْمَشْيِ فَمُخْتَصٌّ بِمَنْ تَعَمَّدَ ذَلِكَ وَأَمَّا مَنْ كَانَ ذَلِكَ مِنْ أَصْلِ خِلْقَتِهِ فَإِنَّمَا يُؤْمَرُ بِتَكَلُّفِ تَرْكِهِ وَالْإِدْمَانِ عَلَى ذَلِكَ بِالتَّدْرِيجِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَفْعَلْ وَتَمَادَى دَخَلَهُ الذَّمُّ وَلَا سِيَّمَا إِنْ بَدَا مِنْهُ مَا يَدُلُّ عَلَى الرِّضَا بِهِ. وَأَخْذُ هَذَا وَاضِحٌ مِنْ لَفْظِ الْمُتَشَبِّهِينَ. وَأَمَّا إِطْلَاقُ مَنْ أَطْلَقَ كَالنَّوَوِيِّ وَأَنَّ الْمُخَنَّثَ الْخِلْقِيَّ لَا يَتَّجِهُ عَلَيْهِ اللَّوْمُ فَمَحْمُولٌ عَلَى مَا إِذَا لَمْ يَقْدِرْ عَلَى تَرْكِ التَّثَنِّي وَالتَّكَسُّرِ فِي الْمَشْيِ وَالْكَلَامِ بَعْدَ تَعَاطِيهِ الْمُعَالَجَةَ لِتَرْكِ ذَلِكَ، وَإِلَّا مَتَى كَانَ تَرْكُ ذَلِكَ مُمْكِنًا وَلَوْ بِالتَّدْرِيجِ فَتَرَكَهُ بِغَيْرِ عُذْرٍ لَحِقَهُ اللَّوْمُ.”

They agreed on the general condemnation of any attempt to impersonate women if it wasn’t part of the person’s disposition. As for those who were dispositionally effeminate, Imam al-Nawawi (who never married by the way) did not forbid such individuals from behaving in a way normal for them, even if it was effeminate. Ibn Hajr disagreed with that approach, saying that the naturally effeminate are in fact responsible and accountable for their behavior, of speech, mannerisms, etc. He also noted that the origin of tashabbuh in Arabic is clothing and attire, but it has evolved to be used for speech and gait as well. Ibn Hajr said such individuals needed to train themselves gradually (بالتدريج) to adopt masculine tendencies and patterns.

ذكر شارح كنز الدقائق، على سبيل المثال، “إذَا كَانَ مُخَنَّثًا فِي الرَّدَى مِنْ الْأَفْعَالِ فَهُوَ كَغَيْرِهِ مِنْ الرِّجَالِ بَلْ مِنْ الْفُسَّاقِ يُنَحَّى عَنْ النِّسَاءِ. وَأَمَّا مَنْ كَانَ فِي أَعْضَائِهِ لِينٌ وَفِي لِسَانِهِ تَكَسُّرٌ بِأَصْلِ الْخِلْقَةِ وَلَا يَشْتَهِي النِّسَاءَ وَلَا يَكُونُ مُخَنَّثًا فِي الرَّدَى مِنْ الْأَفْعَالِ فَقَدْ رَخَّصَ بَعْضُ مَشَايِخِنَا فِي تَرْكِ مِثْلِهِ مَعَ النِّسَاءِ.” وأفاد ابن عبد البر “وَلَيْسَ الْمُخَنَّثُ الَّذِي تُعْرَفُ فِيهِ الْفَاحِشَةُ خَاصَّةً وَتُنْسَبُ إِلَيْهِ، [يفرق الحافظ بين المخنث وبين اللوطي المثلي] وَإِنَّمَا الْمُخَنَّثُ شِدَّةُ التَّأْنِيثِ فِي الْخِلْقَةِ حَتَّى يُشْبِهَ الْمَرْأَةَ فِي اللِّينِ وَالْكَلَامِ وَالنَّظَرِ وَالنَّغْمَةِ وَفِي الْعَقْلِ وَالْفِعْلِ وَسَوَاءٌ كَانَتْ فِيهِ عَاهَةُ الْفَاحِشَةِ أَمْ لَمْ تَكُنْ … فَإِذَا كَانَ كَمَا وَصَفْنَا لَكَ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ فِي النِّسَاءِ أَرَبٌ وَكَانَ ضَعِيفَ الْعَقْلِ لَا يَفْطَنُ لِأُمُورِ النَّاسِ أَبْلَهُ فَحِينَئِذٍ يَكُونُ مِنْ غَيْرِ أُولِي الإربة الذين أُبِيحُ لَهُمُ الدُّخُولُ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ.”

Most scholars allowed the naturally effeminate to mix with women freely until it became clear they were violating social trust, for example, serving as liaisons in arranging adulterous affairs between men and women, or if they merely acted effeminate to hang around women. If it became clear that they were heterosexually inclined or were causing harm, then they have no right to mix with Muslim women.  Likewise, if they understood the sexuality of women and were relatively intelligent.

The fiqh legacy makes it clear that even for a transgendered person, it is forbidden, by consensus, for such a person to take their feelings extra steps by dressing and taking further steps to feminize themselves completely. As for the curse la`nah, which linguistically means being far removed from Allah’s Mercy, then some scholars said the wisdom or appropriateness of the curse is removing a thing from the way Allah created it. I understand this as earning distance from Allah as a result of their distancing themselves from their overwhelming masculinity (if they’re male) or femininity (if female).

Next page: the Islamic ruling of sex-change surgery, and transitioning in general, in light of modern day capabilities that could make the transgender “impersonation” more of a reality rather than mere cross-dressing or “imitating the opposite sex”.