The ruling on castration

Praise
be to Allah.

Firstly: 

Castration is
removal of the testicles. The Arabic word translated here as castration may
also refer to removal of the testicles and penis. 

Some scholars
differentiated between the two and said: If his testicles only are cut off,
then he is a eunuch; if his penis is cut off, then he is emasculated. 

It is haraam for a
person to do that deliberately to himself or to someone else. 

In al-Mawsoo‘ah
al-Fiqhiyyah (19/120, 121) it says: 

Castration of the
human is haraam, whether he is a child or an adult, because of the
prohibition on that, which we will see below: 

Ibn Hajar said: it
is prohibited, therefore it is haraam, and there is no difference of opinion
concerning that in the case of the sons of Adam (i.e., humans). 

Among the reports
that confirm this prohibition is the following: 

‘Abdullah ibn
Mas‘ood said: We were on a campaign with the Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him), and we had no women with us. We said: Why
don’t we get ourselves castrated? But he forbade us to do that.

Narrated by
al-Bukhaari (4787) and Muslim (1404). 

According to the
hadeeth of Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqaas: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) forbade ‘Uthmaan ibn Maz’oon to be celibate. If he had
given him permission, we would have gotten ourselves castrated.

Narrated by
al-Bukhaari (4786) and Muslim (1402). 

Ibn Hajar said,
commenting on these hadeeths: 

The wisdom behind
the prohibition on castration is that it is contrary to what the Lawgiver
wants of increasing reproduction to ensure continuation of jihad against the
disbelievers. Otherwise, if permission had been given for that, then many
people would have done that, and reproduction would have ceased, and the
numbers of Muslims would have become less as a result, and the numbers of
disbelievers would have increased, and that is contrary to the purpose for
which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was sent. 

It also has a
number of negative consequences: self-injury, deformity and causing harm
that may lead to death. It also eliminates the quality of masculinity that
Allah created in the man, and it is changing the creation of Allah, and is a
kind of ingratitude for blessings. Moreover it is an imitation of women and
choosing that which is imperfect over that which is perfect.

End quote. Fath
al-Baari (9/119). 

Secondly: 

The eunuch who has
lost all desire for women comes under the same heading as
“old
male servants who lack vigour”,
who are the ones for whom it is permissible to see a woman’s adornment as
her mahrams are allowed to see it. 

Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And
tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden
things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts, etc.)
and not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent (like
palms of hands or one eye or both eyes for necessity to see the way, or
outer dress like veil, gloves, head-cover, apron, etc.), and to draw their
veils all over Juyubihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms,
etc.) and not to reveal their adornment except to their husbands, their
fathers, their husbands fathers, their sons, their husbands sons, their
brothers or their brothers sons, or their sisters sons, or their (Muslim)
women (i.e. their sisters in Islam), or the (female) slaves whom their right
hands possess, or old male servants who lack vigour, or small children who
have no sense of the shame of sex. And let them not stamp their feet so as
to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And all of you beg Allah to
forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.”

[an-Noor 24:31]. 

Ibn al-‘Arabi
al-Maaliki (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

Ashhab said:
Maalik was asked: Can a woman take off her head cover in front of a eunuch?
Is he one of those who “lack vigour”? He said: Yes, if he is her slave or
the slave of someone else. But in the case of one who is free, then no.

Ahkaam al-Qur’an
(6/73). 

The Hanafis
differed concerning that – according to one of their views – but the most
correct view is that of the majority. 

In al-Mawsoo‘ah
al-Fiqhiyyah (3/8) it says: 

The more correct
view according to the Hanafis is that with regard to looking at a non-mahram
woman, the eunuch, the emasculated man, the old man, the slave, the
effeminate man, the feeble-minded man, and the simpleton are like the one
who possesses vigour, because a eunuch may have intercourse and his child
may be attributed to him, and the emasculated man may feel pleasure and
ejaculate, and the effeminate man is an evildoer who possesses vigour. As
for the feeble-minded man and the simpleton, they feel desire, and they may
speak of what they see. 

The Maalikis,
Shaafa‘is and Hanbalis – and one view among the Hanafis – say that the
ruling on men who “lack vigour” is the same as the ruling on mahrams with
regard to looking at women: they may see of them the places where adornment
is worn, such as the hair and forearms; they also come under the same ruling
as mahrams with regard to entering upon them, because Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “…
or old male servants who lack vigour…”
[an-Noor 24:31].

End quote. 

The scholars of
the Standing Committee were asked: What is meant by
“…
or old male servants who lack vigour…”
[an-Noor 24:31]? 

They replied: 

What is meant by
those who lack vigour is those who serve the people of a household by
bringing food and the like and have no need of women because they are
impotent or feebleminded, so they pay no attention to that which may provoke
desire of adornment  and beauty, or old men whom age has weakened to the
point that they pay no attention to women, and others who have lost all
desire for women for various reasons, so they are safe to be with, and there
is no fear of temptation from them. So women may show before them whatever
adornment it is permissible for them to show in front of their mahrams as
mentioned in the verse, and those who come under the same rulings, such as
women and young children who have not reached the age of discernment whereby
they can understand what a woman’s ‘awrah is and be provoked by it. 

Shaykh ‘Abd
al-‘Azeez ibn baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Razzaaq ‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abdullah ibn
Ghadyaan, Shaykh ‘Abdullah ibn Qa‘ood. 

Fataawa al-Lajnah
ad-Daa’imah
(4/264, 265)

 In the case of
one who is thought not to be one of those men who lack vigour, and appears
to be otherwise, he is to be regarded like other men who possess vigour, and
he is not to be allowed to see the adornment of non-mahram women. 

It was narrated
that ‘Aa’ishah said: An effeminate man used to enter upon the wives of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and they regarded him as
one of those who are without desire. The Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) came in one day when he was with one of his wives, and he
was describing a woman. He said: She shows four folds when facing you and
eight when she turns her back. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) said: “I see that he knows about these things. He should not enter
upon you.” She said: And they observed hijab before him.

Narrated by Muslim
(2181). 

An-Nawawi (may
Allah have mercy on him) said:

With regard to the
effeminate man initially entering upon the Mothers of the Believers, the
reason for that is explained in this hadeeth, which is that they thought
that he was one of those who lack vigour and that it was permissible for him
to enter upon them. But when these words were heard from him, it became
known that he was one of those who possess vigour, so the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) forbade him to enter upon them. 

From this we learn
that it is forbidden for any effeminate man to enter upon women and it is
forbidden for them to appear before him, and it is clear that he comes under
the same ruling as men who possess vigour and feel desire for women in this
sense. The same applies to the eunuch and the emasculated man (one whose
penis has been cut off).

Sharh Muslim
(14/163). 

Thirdly: 

With regard to
wearing ihram, praying, and other rulings, they come under the same ruling
as men. So they should not enter the women’s prayer halls or pray next to
the women, and they should wear what men wear in ihram. There is no
difference of opinion among the scholars concerning that. 

Ibn al-Mundhir
(may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

(The scholars) are
unanimously agreed that the rulings on eunuchs and emasculated men, with
regard to covering the ‘awrah during prayer, leading the prayer, garments to
be worn when in ihram, shares of inheritance, and shares of war booty, are
the same as the rulings on men. 

Al-Ijmaa‘
(p. 78). 

And Allah knows
best.