Khunthā as a Third Ontological Category: Rethinking Intersexuality in Classical Māliki and Shiʿi Legal Discourses

This paper presents a novel analysis of khunthās (intersex individuals) as a third ontological category in certain classical Māliki and Shiʿi legal discourses. While intersex individuals are sometimes seen as a third legal or social category in Muslim contexts, no studies have demonstrated that they were recognised as such ontologically. Adopting historical, textual, and legal-hermeneutical approaches, I examine several classical Māliki and Shiʿi legal texts spanning the 11th to the 16th centuries. I argue that some of these jurists challenged the binary interpretation of sex, advocating for an alternative exegesis that accommodates khunthā as an ontological third category. To highlight the implications of this approach, I contrast the non-binary perspective with binary interpretations in legal cases of marriage, clothing, inheritance, and prayer. This analysis reveals the differing legal rights assigned to khunthās, offering a historical foundation for contemporary Muslim intersex individuals to advocate for their civil rights within their societies.