The khunthā is a person whose sex is not known: is he male or female? This includes one who has both a penis and a vagina and urinates from both of them. It also includes one who has neither a penis nor a vagina, but only an anus.

Whether in this form or another, a khunthā cannot validly lead men in prayer, because there is a possibility that the person is female. If that possibility exists, then the prayer performed behind such a person is doubtful and therefore invalid.

Al-Muwaffaq, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned that he was told of three individuals:

The first had a single opening between the front and rear private parts, from which both urine and excrement emerged.

The second had neither a vagina nor a penis, but rather a protruding organ from which urine seeped out like perspiration. This too is a khunthā.

The third had neither an anus, nor a vagina, nor a penis; rather, after food had remained in his stomach for some time, he would vomit it. Once the stomach had absorbed its benefit, he would vomit it, so that this matter exited through his mouth. Allah has power over all things.

As for us, some doctors here in Unayzah told us that a person was born with neither a vagina nor a penis. Allah has power over all things.

It is understood from the author’s statement, “Neither a woman nor a khunthā may lead men,” that a woman may validly lead women in prayer, and that a khunthā may validly lead a woman, since the khunthā is either like her or of a higher status than her.

But can a woman validly lead a khunthā in prayer?