Expelling Effeminate Men from Our Homes

Al-Bukhaari (may Allah have mercy on him) reported, in his chapter on expelling men who imitate women from our homes, the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas, who said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men, and said, “Expel them from your homes.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) expelled so and so [a man]. And ‘Umar expelled so and so [a woman].” (Reported by al-Bukhaari in Kitaab al-Libaas, chapter 62, al-Fath, 10/333).

Then al-Bukhaari quoted the hadeeth of Umm Salamah, which he reported under the title “What is forbidden of men who imitate women entering upon women”: “From Umm Salamah, who said that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was in her house, where there was also an effeminate man who told her brother ‘Abd-Allah ibn Abi Umayyah: ‘If Allah wills that you conquer al-Taa’if tomorrow, I will show you the daughter of Ghaylaan; she has four folds of fat in front and eight behind.’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, ‘This person should not enter upon you.’” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, chapter 113, al-Fath, 9/333).

The definition of “effeminate man” (mukhannath): this is a man who may resemble women physically, or by imitating their movements and speech, and so on. If it is physical, i.e., this is the way that he is made, then there is no blame on him, but he must try as much as he can to change this resemblance. If he is imitating women deliberately, then he is described as mukhannath (effeminate) whether he commits the evil deed (is a homosexual) or not.

The effeminate man referred to here – who was like a servant – used to enter the houses of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) because he was considered to be “an old male servant who lacked vigour” [cf. al-Noor, 24:31].

When the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) realized that this person could describe women very precisely and that he was describing a woman as having four folds of fat in front and eight behind (four on each side), he ordered that he should be thrown out and not allowed to enter his wives’ apartments, because of the mischief that he could cause, such as possibly describing the women he saw to strangers, or having a bad influence on the members of the household, such as leading women to imitate men, or men to imitate women by walking in a coquettish manner or speaking softly, or worse mischief than that.

So how about the situation nowadays, when we see many of these servants imitating the opposite sex, especially the kaafirs who are living in Muslim homes and who we know for sure are having a bad influence on Muslim boys and girls. There is even a group known as “the third sex”, who wear make-up and dress in women’s clothes. What a disaster for the nation, which is supposed to be the ummah of jihaad!

If you want to know more about how the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) opposed this “third sex” and how his Companions fought with their sense of honour against such things, think about this hadeeth:

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that an effeminate man who had dyed his hands with henna (as women do) was brought to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and it was said, “O Messenger of Allah! This man is imitating women.” So he banished him to al-Baqee’ (as a punishment, sending him to an isolated place, and to protect others). It was said, “Why do you not kill him?” He said, “I have been forbidden to kill those who pray.” (Reported by Abu Dawood, 4928, and others. See Saheeh al-Jaami’, 2502).