Gender is one of many factors that classical Islamic law takes into consideration, with great attention devoted to ensuring that gender categories are correctly assigned and observed, since these gender lines are often determinants of legal rights and obligations. Nevertheless, gender and its attendant legal implications are deeply modulated by reference to other markers of personal and social status. 1. The male-female gender binary Islamic legal discourse posits a strict and fundamental male-female gender binary. Classical legal texts devote significant attention to the rules pertaining to persons of