Editing Castration (section)

==Religion==

===Hinduism===
In South Asia, many [[Hijra (South Asia)|hijras]] live in well-defined, organized, all-hijra communities, led by a guru. The power of the hijras as a sexually ambiguous category can only be understood in the religious context of Hinduism. In some Hindu beliefs, ritual, and art, the power of the combined man/woman, or androgyne, is a frequent and significant theme. [[Bahuchara Mata]], the main object of hijra veneration, is specifically associated with [[transgender]] topics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.everyculture.com/South-Asia/Hijra-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html |title=Religion and expressive culture – Hijra |publisher=Everyculture.com |access-date=17 August 2012}}</ref>

===Christianity===
In the [[Gospel of Matthew]], [[Jesus of Nazareth]] mentions castration in a discussion about avoiding adultery and divorce that some are involuntarily castrated or born that way, while some others "make themselves eunuchs" willingly out of a desire to be chaste ({{bibleverse||Matthew|19:1–12|KJV}}). Given Jesus' frequent use of metaphor and hyperbole, e.g. {{bibleverse||Luke|9:62|KJV}}, the Catholic Church has broadly discouraged any understanding of this passage as recommending literal "self-castration". That is consistent with Jesus' claims (as a rabbi) to uphold the Law given to Moses, e.g. {{bibleverse||Matthew|5:17|KJV}}, a Law which also discouraged literal castration {{bibleverse||Deut|23:1|KJV}}. However, in his own comments Jesus had no condemnation for any of the above. In {{bibleverse||Acts|8:34–8:39|KJV}}, a eunuch is baptized by [[Philip the Evangelist]], demonstrating acceptance of castrated individuals in his church.

The first canon of the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325 AD forbade clergy members to voluntarily castrate themselves "when in perfect health", but freely accepted those who had been either castrated by others against their will, castrated due to a medical sickness or necessity, or those born as eunuchs.

Paul, arguing against self-righteousness regarding [[circumcision]] in {{bibleverse||Galatians|5:12|KJV}}, says "As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!" ([[New International Version|NIV]])

Well-known Christian eunuchs (or alleged eunuchs) include:
* [[Origen]], who is reported by [[Church History (Eusebius)|Eusebius]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.xi.viii.html |title=NPNF2-01. Eusebius Pamphilius: Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of Constantine |publisher=Ccel.org |date=13 July 2005}}</ref> to have castrated himself based on his reading of the [[Gospel of Matthew]] {{bibleverse-nb||Matthew|19:12|}} and other passages in Matthew and Mark that appear to endorse voluntary amputation to avoid sin, although there is some doubt concerning this story. [[Philip Schaff|Schaff]] considers the account genuine but cites [[Ferdinand Christian Baur|Baur]] ''et al.'' in opposition.<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.xi.viii.html Eusebius' Church History Book 6, Chapter 8 Origen's Daring Deed] note 1809: "This act of Origen's has been greatly discussed, and some have even gone so far as to believe that he never committed the act ... There is no reason, however, to doubt the report, for which we have unimpeachable testimony, and which is in itself not at all surprising ..."</ref> Origen argues against such literal interpretations of the passages from Matthew and Mark in his First Principles.
* Bishop [[Melito of Sardis]] (d. ''ca'' 180), who was a [[eunuch]], according to the church history of [[Eusebius of Caesarea]], though, significantly the word "virgin" was substituted in [[Tyrannius Rufinus|Rufinus]]' Latin translation of Eusebius.
* [[Boston Corbett]], who was inspired by this same verse {{bibleverse-nb||Matthew|19:12|}} to castrate himself (Corbett was the 19th-century American soldier who is generally believed to have fired the shot that killed [[John Wilkes Booth]]).
* [[Skoptsy]], a branch of the Russian [[Spiritual Christianity]] movement founded in the 1760s.

===Judaism===
[[Judaism]] strictly forbids the castration of either humans or animals.<ref>[[Talmud]] [[Shabbat (Talmud)|Shabbos]] 110b</ref> Deuteronomy 23:1 expels castrated men from the assembly of Israel; they are forbidden to marry or if married must divorce from their wives (though permitting the castrated to marry or remain married to female converts to Judaism). The laws of castration also apply to cases of irreversible or un-reversed vasectomy and all other cases where the flow of sperm is known to have been placed into a permanent state of dysfunction with either no hope or no desire to take the steps to repair.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ask the Rabbi: Vasectomy |url=https://www.aish.com/atr/Vasectomy.html |website=Aish.com |date=20 August 2011 |access-date=4 March 2020}}</ref>

Isaiah 56:3–5 references in a positive welcoming manner eunuchs who follow after God's laws. "Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off."

According to [[Rashi]], Kham (Ham) castrated his father Noah and was cursed as a result.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Perani |first=Mauro |editor-first1=Mauro |editor-last1=Perani |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110901399/html?lang=en |title=The Words of a Wise Man's Mouth are Gracious |chapter="The Words of a Wise Man's Mouth are Gracious" (Qoh 10,12): Festschrift for Günter Stemberger on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |isbn=9783110901399 |volume=32 |location=[[Boston, New York]] |publication-date=2012-03-20 |pages=258 |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783110901399 |access-date=2024-04-27 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In Judaism, castrated animals are deemed unfit for [[sacrifice]] in the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] ({{bibleverse||Lev|22:24|}}). Castrated members of the priestly caste are forbidden to enter certain parts of the temple, to approach the altar, or to make sacrifices, although they could eat their share of the offerings and receive the priestly and Levite gifts (Lev. 21:16–24).

===Islam===
The [[Muslim conquest of Persia]] as well as later [[Arab–Byzantine wars|conquests in the Byzantine Empire]] and [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|India]] brought them into contact with eunuchs. By the eighth century, the palaces of the caliphs were staffed with many eunuch slaves which sold at a premium. A regular trade in eunuchs developed with slaves being taken to locations in Spain or Africa to be castrated, as the practice of castration was forbidden for Muslims. Eunuchs were used as harem supervisors, as mediators or servile roles, but they could also rise to be trusted advisors or military commanders.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roscoe |first1=Will |last2=Murray |first2=Stephen |year=1997 |title=Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature |publisher=NYU Press}}</ref>{{rp|75}}

In [[Islam]], castration is considered a sin and strictly forbidden, whether one performs it on oneself or on another.<ref>As 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."{{cite book |last1=Al-Bukhari |first1=Imam Muhammad |title=Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 7 |chapter=Book 62, Hadith 13 |url=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5075|language=en}}</ref> In the [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|history of slavery in the Muslim]] world, a fair proportion of male slaves were imported as eunuch. Levy states that according to the Quran and Islamic traditions, such emasculation was objectionable. Some jurists such as [[Qadi Baydawi|al-Baydawi]] considered castration to be mutilation, stipulating laws to prevent it. However, in practice, emasculation was frequent.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Berger |first1=Morroe |last2=Levy |first2=Reuben |date=August 1957 |title=The Social Structure of Islam. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2089185 |journal=American Sociological Review |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=479 |doi=10.2307/2089185 |jstor=2089185 |issn=0003-1224}}</ref> In eighteenth-century Mecca, the majority of eunuchs were in the service of the mosques.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brunschvig |first=Robert |date=1962 |title=Metiers vils en Islam |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1595118 |journal=Studia Islamica |issue=16 |pages=41–60 |doi=10.2307/1595118 |jstor=1595118 |issn=0585-5292}}</ref>