And the second instance is in Surah al-Saffat:

“And indeed, Jonah was one of the messengers, when he fled to the laden ship, then drew lots and was among the losers.”

Among the well-known examples in the sunnah is that whenever the Messenger of Allah intended to travel, he would draw lots among his wives; whichever one’s lot was drawn, he would take her with him. (1)

His statement, “the intersex person whose sex is indeterminate,” refers to one whose sex is not known: whether male or female. There are several types:

The first is one who has both male and female sexual organs—that is, a vulva and a penis—and urinates from both. In such a case, we do not know whether the person is male or female.

The second is one who has a single opening from which both urine and stool exit, and who has neither male nor female sexual organs.

The third is one who has a separate anus, while urine emerges from neither a penis nor a vulva, but rather seeps out like thick sweat.

The fourth is one who has no lower opening at all: neither anus, nor genital opening, nor vulva. Rather, whatever the person eats and drinks is vomited back up. It remains in the stomach for as long as Allah wills, until the body absorbs the nourishment it needs from that food and drink; then it is vomited. All of this was mentioned by the jurists.

All such persons are called intersex persons whose sex is indeterminate. The author, may Allah have mercy on him, has also shown us that some intersex persons are not indeterminate. This is so, for example, where someone has a penis and a female vulva, but urinates from the female vulva and menstruates. Such a person is not indeterminate, so we classify the person as female. Likewise, if someone has