I’m looking for information on the position of hermaphrodites or ambiguous gender people in Islam. Can they marry?
(As an example, can a man marry a phenotypic female who is genetically XY but was raised as a female, looks like a female and feels like a female). This is a less extreme example. What about truly “mixed” people?
Thank you.
Re: Hermaphrodites
Also, where do we derive the 'right' answers to these questions. Do hadiths cover this?
Re: Hermaphrodites
As mean as this may sound, maybe these people are not meant to marry, we all have our trials in this life.
This what I found online
Marriage of Hermaphrodites:
The view of the scholars regarding the issue are as follows:
According to Hanafis, if a hermaphrodite is forced into marriage by his/her father to a man or woman before he/she reaches puberty, the marriage is suspended. It is necessary to wait until he/she reaches puberty. In case of such a marriage, when one of the spouses dies, the other cannot be a heir to him/her.1
When the hermaphrodite reaches puberty, if he/she turns out to be a man or woman, the marriage will be valid if the spouse is from the opposite sex. That is, if the hermaphrodite was assumed to be a girl and married a man and she turned out to be a girl when she reached puberty, the marriage would be valid. If she turned out to be a boy, the marriage would be invalid.
If two hermaphrodites get married, one of them assumed to be a man and the other a woman, it is necessary to wait until their gender becomes certain. If their gender becomes certain and if both of them turn out to be men or women, the marriage becomes invalid. If one of them turns out to be a man and the other a woman, the marriage will be married.2 If their gender does not become certain, that is, if they remain as hermaphrodites, their marriage will be invalid.
If the hermaphrodites do not know each other and if their fathers make them marry, their marriage is valid because one of the fathers said his child was a man and the other said his child was a woman. Unless the opposite is known, their words are legally valid.3
According to a view of Malikis and Shafiis, it is forbidden for a hermaphrodite to marry in both ways; that is, a hermaphrodite cannot marry a man by being regarded as a woman, nor a woman by being regarded as a man.4
Hanbalis disagree on the issue of marriage. According to Hiraqi, the hermaphrodite is asked about himself/herself. If he/she says he/she is a man and is interested in women, he/she can marry a woman. If he/she says he/she is a woman and is interested in men, he/she can marry a man. According to Abu Bakr, it is not permissible for a hermaphrodite to marry until his/her state becomes certain.5
Today, if a hermaphrodite wants to marry, he/she should be able to get married after his/her gender is determined based on the criteria of medicine, clues and his/her own statement, and his/her upbringing state up to that time and after it is decided that he/she can marry.
*With our best wishes…
Questions on Islam**07-December-2010 - 09:21:21’
*http://www.questionsonislam.com/index.php?s=show_qna&id=3152
A quick search of the forum found this
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/religion-and-scripture/193279-islam-gay-people-and-hermaphrodites.html