women, and women who imitate men. [Most] (1) of these hadiths are found in the Sahīh collections. Yet he did not stop at cursing such a person; he also banished him, because he posed a danger to both women and men (2).
If it is feared (3) that a boy may tempt men or women, his guardian must be prohibited from displaying him without need or enhancing his appearance (4)—especially by adorning him ostentatiously (5), stripping him in bathhouses, and bringing him to gatherings of entertainment and song. Such conduct warrants discretionary punishment.
Likewise, anyone whose sexual misconduct has become manifest must be prohibited from owning handsome, beardless youths (6), and the two must be separated, even if he neither admits to sexual misconduct with the youth nor deliberately engages in it (7). For when the objective is to prevent wrongdoing rather than punish its perpetrator, circumstantial indications suffice—so much so that agreement was reached (8)
(1) The original reads *wa-ʿalā* (“and upon”), a scribal error.
(2) The passage from “This is because the Prophet…” to this point appears only in the original. For a detailed discussion of the harm posed by an effeminate man to men and women, see *al-Fatāwā* (15:310–311). For the hadiths to which the author alludes, see al-Bukhārī (5885, 5886, and 6834).
(3) The original reads *yakhluq* (“creates”), which is a textual corruption.
(4) Manuscript Yāʾ reads: “or keep him confined.”
(5) Manuscript Tāʾ reads *bi-taryīhihi* (“by giving him rest”). The reading established here is the closest to those found in the manuscripts. *Al-Qāmūs* defines *al-tabrīh* as “displaying adornment.” Manuscript Yāʾ adds after it: “and adorning him.”
(6) Manuscript Zāʾ adds: “faces.”
(7) This is how I read it, though another reading is possible.
(8) The passage from “even if he does not admit…” to this point appears only in the original. The remaining manuscripts read: “For the jurists are agreed.”