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Is a person legally ruled to be male and inherit as such if he was born without a penis, but then developed male characteristics in adulthood?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A person is judged to be female if they possess a female genitalia, even if their voice is coarse or they grow a mustache or beard, because the sign of the genitalia is stronger than other signs. However, if they do not have female genitalia, but rather a hole from which they urinate, then the mentioned signs (coarse voice and hair) are sufficient to judge them as male. As for the intersex (khuntha), their condition is identified by sexual inclination, or by menstruation, or by semen that possesses the characteristic of one of the two genders.

The case must be presented to scholars to ascertain all signs, so that a judgment can be made whether the person is male or female, and then the rulings concerning inheritance and testimony can be applied. The majority of scholars do not permit the testimony of women in marriage.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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