Mukhannathun

Mukhannathun (مخنثون "effeminate ones", "men who resemble women", singular mukhannath) is Classical Arabic, an ancient antecedent to the modern conception of transgender women, who, as time went on, were forced to be castrated. There has been significant mention of "mukhannathun" in ahadith and by scholars of Islam. Outside of religious texts, they are strongly associated with music and entertainment.

Khanith is a vernacular Arabic term used in Oman and the Arabian Peninsula to denote the gender role ascribed to males who function sexually, and in some ways socially, as women. The word is closely related to the word mukhannath.

There are many references to the mukhannathun, both directly and indirectly, in the hadith and sunnah.

A hadith is Sunan Abu Dawud 41, 4910:

A mukhannath who had dyed his hands and feet with henna was brought to the Prophet. He asked: What is the matter with this man? He was told: Apostle of Allah! he affects women's get-up. So he ordered regarding him and he was banished to an-Naqi'. The people said: Apostle of Allah! should we not kill him? He said: I have been prohibited from killing people who pray. AbuUsamah said: Naqi' is a region near Medina and not al-Baqi.

Another reference occurs in Sunan Abu Dawud 32, 4095, in which Aisha says:

A mukhannath used to enter upon the wives of Prophet. They (the people) counted him among those who were free of physical needs. One day the Prophet entered upon us when he was with one of his wives, and was describing the qualities of a woman, saying: When she comes forward, she comes forward with four (folds of her stomach), and when she goes backward, she goes backward with eight (folds of her stomach). The Prophet said: Do I not see that this one knows what here lies. Then they (the wives) observed veil from him.

According to the scholar and hadith collector al-Nawawi:

A mukhannath is the one ("male") who carries in his movements, in his appearance and in his language the characteristics of a woman. There are two types; the first is the one in whom these characteristics are innate, he did not put them on by himself, and therein is no guilt, no blame and no shame, as long as he does not perform any (illicit) act or exploit it for money (prostitution etc.). The second type acts like a woman out of immoral purposes and he is the sinner and blameworthy.

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