In light of current events, and a large amount of well-intended yet uninformed chatter on social media, I am providing some hopefully objective information I have gathered concerning transsexuality as a phenomenon while striving to understand its related rulings in Islam.

In December 2015 I turned in a modest research at IIUM entitled “Islamic Legal Principles for Guiding Transwomen” [ضوابط فقهية في توجيه المتأنثين] to Professor Dr. Syed Sikandar, who is no stranger to the topic, having published and presented research on the topic for years. This was part of my overall requirements to earn a Masters in Fiqh and Uṣūl from said university. Before that, I wrote a research paper for my Theory of Maqasid class, about rules of marriage for transwomen in May of 2015.

I wanted to publish all this research on my blog in the original Arabic so that other researchers could find it and benefit from it inshaAllah, as I was just requested by my former professor a few days ago alhamdulillah. Click here for the PDF version which contains full citations: ضوابط فقهية في توجيه المتأنثين, or the published version on academia.edu.

What follows is a meaningful, not literal, translation of my research regarding transfeminism in Islam and contains the most recent modifications or edits I have made to my original logic and conclusions: 

I was intrigued by the subject of transgender Muslims in late 2014 after reading of a court victory by transgender advocates in Malaysia, overturning a ban on men dressing like women. Since then, transgender news has sprung up repeatedly highlighting their persecution and victories, after the liberal media had declared war against any perceived non-acceptance of homosexuality. A US Marine was charged with murdering a transgender in the Philippines. A transgender MMA fighter has raised questions about how individuals like her might have an unfair advantage over other women in sporting competitions. Bradley Manning, who leaked classified military information followed his transgender dreams and now goes by Chelsea. And most recently, and more celebrated than anything previous, Olympic medalist Bruce Jenner revealed his feelings and underwent Sexual Reassignment Surgery [SRS] and now goes by Caitlin.

Before these media spectacles, transsexuals had little place in the limelight. Indeed, most tried to hide their identity. Few know that Caroline Cossey, the “Bond girl” from the film For Your Eyes Only (1981, MGM) was a completely transitioned male-to-female transsexual, unbeknownst to the world at the time. David Palmer, former keyboardist for rock band Jethro Tull, now goes by Dee Palmer. Larry Wachowski, co-director of The Matrix Trilogy, goes by Lana Wachowski and is an outspoken trans-advocate.

Most of the public however may not differentiate between crossdressers and “drag queen” entertainers like RuPaul, from genuine transsexuals like “Lady” Chablis Deveau, who played herself in the Clint Eastwood film, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Otherwise, real transgender characters have been rare in the entertainment industry, news or as any ingredient of our educational curriculum. And in the West, it was not until the Stonewall Inn kitchen riots, which initiated the Gay Pride Movement, that transgendered were, in our social sphere, distinguished among non-hetero and non-gender conforming groups. These are all separate groups that we will note the differences between insha’Allah.

There are transgender Muslims. Some were raised in Muslim families while others entered Islam after discovering its truth and beauty. For the last decade or two, LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Muslims have formed support groups in response to feeling unwelcome at traditional masājid and alienated by family, friends and co-religionists. Since science^[1]I sometimes use the word “science” like orientalists use the word “Islam”. Referring to the evolving body of studies, surveys, theory and discovery, regardless of the arena, with a single … Continue reading has vindicated some of their claims, they feel empowered and strongly desire to live Islamically without suppressing their gender identity or sexual orientation, which forms an integral part of their personality and human experience. Current liberal “progressive” systems, such as the media, college campuses, etc., also celebrate these individuals.

Since transgenderism is a rare phenomenon, and its affected are a small minority, misunderstandings abound. The possibilities for misconceptions are magnified when conservative Right-wing Christian groups—who still make up a large number of online armchair philosophers—are hell-bent on debunking “transgender science” and calling it out for what it truly is, according to them: mental sickness and moral perversion.

Without wanting to reinvent the wheel, I searched online for some fatwas regarding the transgendered and was surprised by what I read—or the lack of what there was to read. Among the few sources I could find for regular Muslims to take as a guideline, the mufti suggested that the most important obligation for transsexuals was returning to their birth-assigned gender and treating them by their birth gender in all respects. Nearly every resource I saw merely pointed to the general prohibition of men imitating women. Yet not a single Islamic source I could find even defined women or suggested where the transitioned should pray, or if they could marry—and if so, whom—or which share of inheritance they deserve, etc. I thought the subject deserved a lot more research before issuing any recommendations.

Regardless of the ruling of transitioning, which seemed to be the only point that most scholars focused on, I believed it was critically important to discuss other fiqh issues for transgender Muslims. Even if they believed and followed the ruling of that mufti, what if there is some call for “all men” to do something specific, like attend jumu’ah? I believed these were important issues to discuss. After all, Allah tells drunk people not come to prayer until they can understand what they’re reciting. Would “born-men” be similarly “excused” and told not to come to congregational prayer if their appearance would be a distraction to other men? Or should they heed the call but instead pray with the women or in a separate row or space? Or should they simply be “isolated from the Muslims” until they transition back to their original gender, as the Shaykh implies from the Sunnah?

While I do reach conclusions and make recommendations, but because I am painfully aware of my own credentials, and lack thereof, I do not guarantee my conclusions to be in agreement with the will of God, but I have strived and I hope to be awarded at least once. My goal is to assist more qualified researchers in forming an educated response, and enlightening them to relevant issues and what might influence them, and to give them a basis to project from and reach a better conclusion. If they view this research as satisfactory or at least helpful, then all praise is due to Allah Alone. I also hope other readers with lesser knowledge than myself will take a hint not to voice their opinions as matter-of-fact or tell the scholars what they “should” proclaim.

This exposition will summarize some issues concerning transgenderism, as it interests the English-speaking Muslim researchers, while lay Muslims, transsexual or not, may also benefit.

Contents:

1. Preliminary terminology and classifications
2. The process of transitioning
3. What causes transgenderism
4. Transgenderism in Islamic legacy: history and fiqh
5. Gender Reassignment Surgery and its Ruling
6. Can Islam accommodate >2 sexes; who is “female”?
7. Transsexual marriage, and other gender-differential issues
8. Conclusions