and women who adopt masculine ways, and said: ‘Expel them from your homes, and expel so-and-so and so-and-so’—meaning effeminate men.”

Some have mentioned that there were three such men during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: Bahm, Hīt, and Māti‘. They were not accused of the gravest form of sexual indecency. Their effeminacy and feminine manner consisted only in softness of speech, dyeing their hands and feet as women did, and engaging in amusements like theirs.

In Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Abū Yasār al-Qurashī relates from Abū Hāshim, from Abū Hurayrah:

“An effeminate man whose feet and hands were dyed with henna was brought before the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He asked: ‘What is the matter with this man?’ They replied: ‘O Messenger of Allah, he imitates women.’ He ordered that the man be banished to al-Naqī‘. They asked: ‘O Messenger of Allah, should we not kill him?’ He replied: ‘I have been forbidden to kill those who pray.’”

Abū Usāmah Hammād ibn Usāmah said: “Al-Naqī‘ is an outlying area away from Medina; it is not al-Baqī‘.” It has been said that this was the place the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, reserved as pasture for the camels collected as charity, and which ‘Umar subsequently reserved. It lies twenty parasangs from Medina; another account says twenty miles.

Naqī‘ al-Khudummāt is another place near Medina. It has also been said that this was the place ‘Umar reserved as pasture. A naqī‘ is a place where water collects, as in the hadith:

“The first Friday prayer held in Medina was at Naqī‘ al-Khudummāt.”

Thus, if the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered people such as these to be expelled from homes, it is clear that a man who makes himself available to other men, allowing them to take pleasure in him and in the beauty they see in him, and to commit the gravest form of sexual indecency with him, is worse than these, and is