Sunan Ibn Majah
The Chapters on Legal Punishments
كتاب الحدود
Chapter 38
الْمُخَنَّثِينَ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Rabi al-Jurjani informed us: Abd al-Razzaq reported to us: Yahya ibn al-Ala informed me that he heard Bishr ibn Numayr, who heard Makhul say that he heard Yazid ibn Abdullah, who heard Safwan ibn Umayyah say: We were with the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) when Amr ibn Qurrah came and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, Allah has decreed wretchedness for me, and it seems my only livelihood is from my hand drum; permit me to sing, without anything indecent.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘I will not permit you—no honor or favor for you. You lie, enemy of Allah! Allah provided you with wholesome, lawful provision, but you chose what He forbade you instead of the lawful provision He made available to you. Had I warned you before, I would have done this and that to you. Leave me and repent to Allah. If you do this after my warning, I will beat you painfully, shave your head as a disgrace, banish you from your people, and make your possessions available as booty to the young men of Madinah.’ Amr rose, overcome by grief and disgrace known only to Allah. When he had turned away, the Prophet said, ‘These are the transgressors: whoever among them dies without repenting, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will raise him on the Day of Resurrection as he was in this world: effeminate and naked, unable to cover himself from people even with a rag; whenever he stands, he is thrown down.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The account includes severe threats and a final eschatological image, all retained from the Arabic. The English witness’s interpretation of the drum as his only livelihood is preserved in context; no grade label is part of the Arabic passage.
مُخَنَّثًا
The term carries a historical gendered and pejorative sense; a concise English equivalent cannot preserve every nuance.
Should this term be rendered differently in the project’s preferred terminology?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah reported to us: Waki reported to us, from Hisham ibn Urwah, from his father, from Zaynab bint Umm Salamah, from Umm Salamah: The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) entered upon her and heard an effeminate man saying to Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah, ‘If Allah grants us victory over Taif tomorrow, I will show you a woman who comes forward with four and turns away with eight.’ The Prophet said, ‘Put them out of your homes.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The description of the woman is an obscene, sexually suggestive remark; the Arabic gives the numbers four and eight without the witness’s parenthetical explanation.