seems to come from his profession, as music was mainly performed by women in pre-Islamic Arabian society. Ṭuwais is described as the first mukhannath to perform "perfect singing" characterized by definitive rhythmic patterns in Medina. He was also known for his sharp wit and his skill with the tambourine, which had previously been associated only with female musicians. Some modern scholars of Islamic studies believe that Ṭuwais and other mukhannathun musicians formed an intermediary stage in the social class most associated with musical performance: women in pre-Islamic times, mukhannathun in the Rashidun and early Umayyad caliphates, and mainly non-mukhannath men in later time periods. While many still disapproved of the mukhannathun in general in this era, the musicians among them were nonetheless valued and prized for their skill. Some of the more well-known mukhannathun also served as go-betweens and matchmakers for men and women. While Ṭuwais is typically described as the leading mukhannath musician of Medina during his lifetime, historical sources describe others who served a similar role providing musical and poetic entertainment. A man with the laqab al-Dalāl ("the coquettish") is mentioned as one of Ṭuwais' pupils. He is portrayed as a witty but sometimes crude man who "loved women" but did not have sex with them. Unlike Ṭuwais, some tales involving al-Dalāl do suggest that he was attracted to men. Persecution and decline While sporadic persecution of mukhannathun dates back to the time of Muhammad, their large-scale governmental persecution began in the Umayyad caliphate. According to Everett K. Rowson, professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University, this may have been prompted by "a perceived connection between cross-dressing and a lack of proper religious commitment". Some Islamic literary sources associate the beginning of severe persecution with Marwān I ibn al-Ḥakam, fourth caliph of the Umayyad caliphate, and his brother Yaḥyā, who served as a governor under the caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, while other sources put it in the time of ʿAbd al-Malik's son, al-Walīd I ibn ʿAbd al-Malik. The governor of Mecca serving under al-Walīd I is said to have “issued a proclamation against the mukhannathun”, in addition to other singers and drinkers of wine. Two mukhannathun musicians named Ibn Surayj and al-Gharīḍ are specifically referred to as being impacted by this proclamation, with al-Gharīḍ fleeing to Yemen and never returning back. Like al-Dalāl, al-Gharīḍ is portrayed as not just "effeminate" but homosexual in