Question: What is a eunuch?
Answer: The Arabic word for a eunuch is ‘مُخَنَّث’ [Mukhannaš], which means: A man who walks and acts in a gentle feminine manner.
(Al-Baḥr-ur-Rāiq, vol. 9, pp. 334)
The commentator of Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, ‘Allāmaĥ Nawavī عَـلَيْهِ رَحْـمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ الۡـقَـوِی said, ‘A eunuch is a man whose habits, body-language, speech and movements are feminine, sometimes this is natural but sometimes it is voluntarily adopted.’ (Sharḥ Muslim lin-Nawavī, vol. 2, pp. 218)
Question: Should a eunuch avoid the mannerism [i.e. the habits and behaviour] of a eunuch?
Answer: Yes. If a man’s walk, speech etc. is naturally feminine, then he should practice acting like a man. If he naturally has feminine traits, then this is not his fault. And if his body-language, speech etc. remain feminine despite his best efforts to avoid them, he will not be taken to task by Sharī’aĥ.
(Fayḍ-ul-Qadīr, vol. 5, pp. 346; Nuzĥa-tul-Qārī, vol. 5, pp. 537)
Question: Is it a sin to fake being a eunuch?
Answer: Of course it is! If a man deliberately acts like a female, i.e. he acts like a eunuch, then he is a sinner and worthy of Hell. Sayyidunā ‘Abdullāĥ Bin ‘Abbās رَضِیَ الـلّٰـهُ تَعَالٰی عَـنْهُمَا reported that the Holy Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم cursed men who act like women and women who act like men and he صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم instructed, ‘Turn them out of your homes.’ (Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, vol. 4, pp. 347, Ḥadīš 6834)