Chapter: Inheritance of the Ambiguous Intersex

The term khunthā is derived from inkhināth, which connotes softness, flexibility, and bending. Arabs say, “khanatha fāma al-siqā’” when they press the mouth of a waterskin outward to drink from it. In the technical language of the jurists of inheritance, a khunthā (ambiguous intersex) is a person who possesses both male and female genitalia—or who possesses no genitalia at all.

The lines of kinship in which such a person might appear are: offspring, siblings, paternal uncles, and clients by manumission, for each of these relations may be either male or female. By contrast, a khunthā mushkil—whose sex remains indeterminate—cannot be a father, mother, grandfather, or grandmother; if that were the case, the sex would already be evident and the individual would no longer be considered ambiguous. Likewise, a khunthā mushkil cannot validly marry as a husband or a wife, because a marriage contract is invalid so long as the person’s sex is unresolved.

Allah created the children of Adam as males and females. He says, “O mankind, fear your Lord who created you from a single soul, created from it its mate, and spread from the two of them many men and women” (Quran 4:1). He also says, “To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. He creates what He wills; He bestows daughters upon whom He wills and He bestows sons upon whom He wills” (Quran 42:49).

The Almighty has explained the rulings pertaining to each sex, but He has not legislated for someone who is both male and female at once. This shows that the two descriptions cannot be combined in a single individual—indeed, how could such a thing even be conceivable?