Mukhannath (مُخَنَّث; pluralmukhannathun (مُخَنَّثون); "effeminate ones", "ones who resemble women") was a term used inClassical Arabic andIslamic literature to describeeffeminatemen orpeople with ambiguous sexual characteristics,[6] who appeared feminine and functioned sexually or socially inroles typically carried out bywomen.[8]Mukhannathun, especially those in the city ofMedina, are mentioned throughout theḥadīth literature and in the works of manyearly Arabic andMuslim writers.[9] The historical role and gender identity ofmukhannathun have been interpreted by predominantly Western academics ofgender studies,Islamic studies, andsocial sciences as an ancient antecendent to the concept oftransgender women inpre-modern Islamic societies.[10]
During theRashidun era and first half of theUmayyad era, they were strongly associated with music and entertainment.[1] During theAbbasid era, the word itself was used as a descriptor for men employed as dancers, musicians, and/or comedians.[11] In later eras, the termmukhannath was associated with thereceptive partner ingay sexual practices, an association that has persisted into the modern day.[12]Khanith is a vernacular Arabic term used in some parts of theArabian Peninsula to denote the gender role ascribed to males and occasionallyintersex people who function sexually, and in some ways socially, as women.[4] The term is closely related to the wordmukhannath.[4]
The origins of the termmukhannath inClassical Arabic are disputed.[5] The 8th-century Arab lexicographeral-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad al-Farāhīdī connected the etymology of the termmukhannath tokhuntha, meaning"hermaphrodite"/"intersex".[5] According to the 9th-century Arab lexicographerAbū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām, the termmukhannath instead derives from the Arabic verbkhanatha, meaning "to fold back the mouth of a waterskin for drinking", indicating some measure of being languid or delicate. This definition attained prominence among Islamic scholars untilmedieval times, when the term came to be associated with homosexuality.[5]
Mukhannathun already existed inpre-Islamic Arabia, during the time of theIslamic prophetMuhammad, andearly Islamic eras.[13] A number ofḥadīth reports indicate thatmukhannathun were used as male servants for wealthy women in the early days of Islam, due to the belief that they were not sexually interested in the female body. These sources do not state that themukhannathun were homosexual, only that they "lack desire".[1] According to the Iraniansocial scientist Mehrdad Alipour, "in thepremodern period, Muslim societies were aware of five manifestations of gender ambiguity: This can be seen through figures such as thekhasi (eunuch), thehijra, themukhannath, themamsuh, and thekhuntha (hermaphrodite/intersex)."[5]
Gender specialists Aisya Aymanee M. Zaharin and Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli have noted the agreement of scholarly sources on the appearance in theḥadīth literature of the termmukhannath to mean men who are "obviously male" but carry themselves with femininity in their movements, appearance and vocal characteristics, and on the term's existence as a category distinct fromkhuntha,intersex individuals who could be either male or female. They also note the contrast between the Arabic termmukhannith, fortransgender women that wish to change their biological sex, andmukhannath, which does not carry the same implication.[3][a]
Variousḥadīth reports state that Muhammad cursed themukhannathun and their female equivalents,mutarajjilat, and ordered his followers to remove them from their homes.[14][15] One such incident in theḥadīth was prompted by amukhannath servant of Muhammad's wifeUmm Salama commenting upon the body of a woman, which may have convinced Muhammad that themukhannathun were only pretending to have no interest in women, and therefore could not be trusted around them.[16]
Early Islamic historiographical works rarely comment upon the habits of themukhannathun. It seems there may have been some variance in how "effeminate" they were, though there are indications that some adopted aspects of feminine dress or at least ornamentation. One hadith states that a Muslimmukhannath who had dyed his hands and feet withhenna (traditionally a feminine activity) was banished from Medina, but not killed for his behavior.[17] Otherḥadīth also mention the punishment of banishment, both in connection with Umm Salama'sservant and a man who worked as amusician. Muhammad described the musician as amukhannath and threatened to banish him if he did not end his unacceptable career.[1]
In theRashidun andUmayyad caliphates, variousmukhannathun ofMedina established themselves as celebrated singers and musicians. One particularly prominentmukhannath,Abū ʿAbd al-Munʿim ʿĪsā ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Dhāʾib, who had the Arabic nameṬuways ("Little Peacock"), was born in Medina onthe day Muhammad died (8 June 632).[18]
There are fewIslamic literary sources that describe why Ṭuways was labeled amukhannath or what behavior of his was considered effeminate by his contemporaries. No sources describe his sexuality as immoral or imply that he was attracted to men, and he is reported to have married a woman and fathered several children in his later life.[1] While he is described asirreligious or even frivolous towards religion in many sources, others contradict this and portray him as a believingMuslim instead. His main association with the labelmukhannath seems to come from his profession, as music was mainly performed by women inpre-Islamic Arabia.[19][20] Ṭuways is described as the first mukhannath to perform "perfect singing" characterized by definitive rhythmic patterns in Medina. He was also known for his sharp wit and his skill with thetambourine, which had previously been associated only with female musicians.[21]
Some modern scholars ofIslamic studies believe that Ṭuways and othermukhannathun musicians formed an intermediary stage in the social class most associated with musical performance: women inpre-Islamic Arabia,mukhannathun in the Rashidun and early Umayyad caliphates, and mainly non-mukhannath men in later time periods.[1] While many still disapproved of themukhannathun in general in this era, the musicians among them were nonetheless valued and prized for their skill.[22] Some of the more well-knownmukhannathun also served as go-betweens and matchmakers for men and women.[22]
While Ṭuways is typically described as the leadingmukhannath musician of Medina during his lifetime, historical sources describe others who served a similar role providing musical and poetic entertainment. A man who was known by theArabic name al-Dalāl ("the Coquettish") is mentioned as one of Ṭuways' pupils. He is portrayed as a witty but sometimes crude man who "loved women" but did not have sex with them. Unlike Ṭuways, some tales involving al-Dalāl do suggest that he was attracted to men.[1]
While sporadic persecution ofmukhannathun dates back to the time of Muhammad, their large-scale governmental persecution began in the Umayyad caliphate. According toEverett K. Rowson, professor ofMiddle Eastern andIslamic Studies atNew York University, this may have been prompted by "a perceived connection between cross-dressing and a lack of proper religious commitment".[1]
SomeIslamic literary sources associate the beginning of severe persecution withMarwān I ibn al-Ḥakam, fourth caliph of the Umayyad caliphate, and his brother Yaḥyā, who served as a governor under the caliphʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, while other sources put it in the time of ʿAbd al-Malik's son,al-Walīd I ibn ʿAbd al-Malik. The governor of Mecca serving under al-Walīd I is said to have “issued a proclamation against themukhannathun”, in addition to other singers and drinkers ofwine. Twomukhannathun musicians named Ibn Surayj and al-Gharīḍ are specifically referred to as being impacted by this proclamation, with al-Gharīḍ fleeing toYemen and never returning back.[1] Like al-Dalāl, al-Gharīḍ is portrayed as not just "effeminate" but homosexual in some sources. Beyond these two singers, relatively little is known of themukhannathun of Mecca, compared to the more well-known group in Medina.[1]
The most severe instance of persecution is typically dated to the time of al-Walīd I's brother and successorSulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, seventh caliph of the Umayyad caliphate. According to several variants of this story, the caliph ordered the fullcastration of themukhannathun of Medina. Some versions of the tale say that all of them were forced to undergo the procedure, while others state that only a few of them were; in the latter case, al-Dalāl is almost always included as one of the castratedmukhannathun.[1]
Some variants of the story add a series of witticisms supposedly uttered by themukhannathun prior to theircastration:
Ṭuways: "This is simply a circumcision which we must undergo again."
- al-Dalal: "Or rather the Greater Circumcision!"
- Nasim al-Sahar ("Breeze of the Dawn"): "With castration I have become a mukhannath in truth!"
- Nawmat al-Duha: "Or rather we have become women in truth!"
- Bard al-Fu'ad: "We have been spared the trouble of carrying around a spout for urine."
- Zillal-Shajar ("Shade Under the Trees"): "What would we do with an unused weapon, anyway?"[22]
After this event, themukhannathun of Medina begin to fade from historical sources, and the next generation of singers and musicians had fewmukhannathun in their ranks. Rowson states that though many details of the stories of their castration were undoubtedly invented, “this silence supports the assumption that they did suffer a major blow sometime around the caliphate of Sulayman.”[1]
By the days of the Abbasid caliphal-Maʾmūn, themukhannathun working as entertainment were now more associated withcourt jesters than famed musicians, and the term itself seems to have become synonymous with an individual employed as acomedian or pantomime. The Abbasid caliphs al-Maʾmūn andal-Mutawakkil employed a famedmukhannath named Abbada as an actor in comedic plays.[11] He served as a buffoon whose act depended upon mockery and "low sexual humor", the latter of which involved the flaunting of his "passive homosexuality".[1] These characteristics would definemukhannathun in later eras,[16] and they never regained the relatively esteemed status they held in the early days in Medina.
The 8th-century Muslim scholarIbn S̲h̲ihāb al-Zuhrī stated that one should pray behindmukhannathun only in cases of necessity. Some 13th and 14th-century scholars likeal-Nawawī andal-Kirmanī classifiedmukhannathun into two groups: those whose feminine traits seem unchangeable, despite the person's best efforts to stop them, and those whose traits are changeable but refuse to stop.[1]
Early Muslim scholars likeIbn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī stated that allmukhannathun must make an effort to cease their feminine behavior, but if this proved impossible, they were not worthy of punishment. Those who made no effort to become less "effeminate", or seemed to "take pleasure in (his effeminacy)", were worthy of blame. By this era,mukhannath had developed its association with homosexuality, andBadr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī saw homosexuality as "a more heinous extension oftakhannuth", or effeminate behavior.[1]
Ibn ʿAbd al-Bāŕr stated thatmukhannathun in his era were "known to be promiscuous", and resembled women in "softness, speech, appearance, accent and thinking". Thesemukhannathun were the ones initially allowed to be the servants of women, as they did not demonstrate any physical attraction to the female body.[23][non-primary source needed]
While sometimes classified astransgender individuals,mukhannathun as a group do not fit neatly into any one of the Western categories ofgender orsexuality used by theLGBT community.[1] Although they were probably not predominantlycisgender orheterosexual, it cannot be said that they were simply either homosexual males or transgender women. There was too much variety between onemukhannath and the next to determine a specific label for their gender or sexual identity, and the term's meaning changed over time.[1] Western scholars Aisya Aymanee M. Zaharin and Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli view the termmukhannath as referring to men who are "obviously male" and behave like women, but do not want to undergosex reassignment surgery, in contrast to transgender or intersex people.[3]
In the late 1980s, MuftiMuhammad Sayyid Tantawy ofEgypt issued afatwa supporting the right for those who fit the description ofmukhannathun to havesex reassignment surgery;[5][3] Tantawy seems to have associated themukhannathun with the concept of hermaphroditism orintersex individuals.Ayatollah Khomeini ofIran issued similarfatwas around the same time.[5][3] Khomeini's initialfatwa concerned intersex individuals as well, but he later specified thatsex reassignment surgery was also permissible in the case of transgender individuals.[5][3] Becausehomosexuality is illegal in Iran butgender transition is legal, some gay individuals have been forced to undergo sex reassignment surgery and transition into the opposite sex, regardless of their actual gender identity.[24] Due to Khomeini'sfatwas allowingsex reassignment surgery for intersex and transgender individuals,[5][3] Iran carries out more sex change operations than any other nation in the world except forThailand. It is sanctioned as a supposed "cure" for homosexuality, which ispunishable by death penalty under Iranian law. The Iranian government even provides up to half the cost for those needing financial assistance and a sex change is recognised on the birth certificate.[25]
In some regions ofSouth Asia such asIndia,Bangladesh, andPakistan, thehijras are officially recognized as athird gender that is neither male nor female,[26] a concept that some have compared tomukhannathun.[12]
In pre-Islamic Arabia, music was practiced mainly by women, especially by singing girls (qainat)
