The Qur’ānic Ghilmān: Shifting Gendered Boundaries of Sexuality

Abstract

English abstract: The article argues that there is a discursive space within juridical texts and Qur’ānic commentaries that justifies the postulation of a third gender or gender ambiguity. It examines the legal treatment of alternative gender identities by analyzing the personal appearance of the ghilmān. Descriptions of the ghilmān focus on glorifying their personal appearance but rarely discuss the ghilmān’s characteristics. They support the assumption that ghilmān had another hidden and unspoken role serving as sexual partners for male believers. The phenomenon of the ghilmān widens the division between the earthly world and heaven as the Qur’ānic spectrum of heavenly gender and sexuality expands known gendered boundaries.