Why do so many Muslims condemn trans people? Let me explain a little bit.
The Quran talles about the two sexes, male and female. Sex, as contrary to many believe, have nothing to do with gender. Gender is a social construct that gives us a means to identify ourselves (whether we identify as man, woman, non-binary, gender nonconforming, agender, bigender, trigender, pangender, demigemder, amd all the other identities).
Sex on the other hand refers to genitalia and gonads: meaning a penis, testes, vulva, ovaries. Now I have to ask the question of, why does it matter if your gender identity "aligns" with your sex? Why does it matter what gender someone identifies as?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Quran repeatedly talks about two sexes, but NOT about gender. From this you can take a stance that it doesn't matter about identity, so long as you don't change your genitalia. Yet if you do this, you have to reconcile with the fact that Iran, a country with Islam as the national religion, conducts the second most amount of sex reassignment surgeries out of all known countries (mainly because they see it as a cure for being gay).
This all brings me back to my original question of why do so many Muslims condemn gender minorities? Is there some part of the Holy Quran that talks about gender identities that I missed?
I support gender minorities, and I can't quite understand why others don't. Hope the rant wasn't too long for some of you.
My own opinion: final judgement is up to Allah against any individual. Even if one sees being transgender is a sin, who is to say that they are a greater sinner than the next person? We are not the final judge and we have been warned not to act as one.
(In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful)
(Peace be upon you)
First and foremost, welcome to IB!
Hopefully, you're doing well InshaAllah (God-willing).
The truth is that I am sympathetic to you, sister. Yet the truth is also that I don't know what the right answer is; I'm not an Islamic scholar and simply a layperson. I don't ever want to hurt your feelings as you're an honored and precious human being to Allah, and yet I also note that perhaps you can use your own intelligence and heart to evaluate information presented and make judgments about any fatwa (legal rulings). One such fatwa is called Transgender performing Nikah.
I'd like to stress to you again that you are precious to Allah, and Allah is our Judge. As far as the Muslim community is concerned, Muslims are human beings and as such will disappoint you sometimes or many times; another point to note is that the Muslim community is one that is still a fledgling one in the West, most especially the U.S. and we're still finding our way here as a minority. In terms of the Muslim community, I think disappointments coincide unfortunately with the territory of us being fallible and having foibles as human beings. That is why I request that you entrust the information of you being transgender only to close persons whom you trust and not strangers unknown in the Muslim community as I do not want you to ever feel stigmatized, and I cannot guarantee that you unfortunately won't be as people generally otherwise whom they cannot easily understand. All I can guarantee to you and myself is that Allah gives, as a hadith (prophetic tradition) states, wealth to those whom He loves and those whom He does not love but Allah only gives religion to those whom He loves. Let that truth light your way in life like a candle and also remain hugged to your heart even when we as human beings may disappoint you.
Thank you for your consideration and patience, dear sister.
Posted on July 30, 2012 by Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad
Question: Salam,
Seven years ago I went through Gender Reassignment treatment I went from being a man to transgender female. Although I am Muslim I did it because as a child since age seven, I always felt I was in the wrong body and that I wanted to be female. My life growing up to early adulthood was very painful as society rejected me as the third gender. So, I went to scholars and psychiatrists who gave me different advices. I finally changed my gender and now live as female accepted and respected in society. My question is, how does Islam see this and have I done bad by what I have done?
Answer: `Alaykum Salam,
You were not in the wrong body then and you are not in the wrong body now. According to Shari`a now you are a woman so do your best to be a good person and build up your eternal spiritual life without too much emphasis on the mortal body.
I have a long talk with a woman about Islam. She made the shahada, and after a while told me that once she changed her sex, so then came the head. She was once a man and is now is a “woman”. Should she live as a woman or a man from now on? I remember that within the Shari’a cosmetic surgery should not be done and when it does the shahada is clean of all their sins, if by this reasoning would she be a woman? Can she marry a man? I need this answer as she prays with women here. Barakaallahu Fik
Answer:
If physical characteristics and self-identity (how a person identifies
themselves) are mostly feminine then the person is a woman.
Meaning of Shirk according to The Qur'an
" Worshipping anyone or anything besides Allah " or " distributing anything exclusive to Allah, to anyone or anything else "
Meaning of Tawheed according to The Qur'an Worshipping none but Allah. Affirming whatever is exclusive to Him, Him alone.
If u still are female, then know that changing gender is a major sin afaik.
It comes under the heading of changing the creation of Allah - outwardly but not truly.
And Allah knows best.
He created my mind and body the way He chose to, and my mind says that I am a woman. Under no part of the Quran did it ever talk about going against societal norms as a sin.
If I denied the fact that I was trans, I would be going against my mind that Allah created. That would be changing Allah's creation of me, and that would be a sin.
He created my mind and body the way He chose to, and my mind says that I am a woman. Under no part of the Quran did it ever talk about going against societal norms as a sin.
If I denied the fact that I was trans, I would be going against my mind that Allah created. That would be changing Allah's creation of me, and that would be a sin.
That I don't know. Not sure.
A scholar can answer.
my input: however u were created - that is how u were created. So no, I disagree with you. Changing gender no matter what one "thinks or feels" is a major sin.
Meaning of Shirk according to The Qur'an
" Worshipping anyone or anything besides Allah " or " distributing anything exclusive to Allah, to anyone or anything else "
Meaning of Tawheed according to The Qur'an Worshipping none but Allah. Affirming whatever is exclusive to Him, Him alone.
my input: however u were created - that is how u were created. So no, I disagree with you. Changing gender no matter what one "thinks or feels" is a major sin.
I identify the way I do, but I ask, what have I changed? My body is the same; I have not changed my genitalia. So now society views me one way instead of another, but what have I changed other than the way other humans precieve me? How have I changed Allah's creation? People can change from clothing filled with holes to elegant clothing, and the only thing that would change is the way society views them. So how, would the changing of which clothes I wear and what I identify myself as change Allah's creation? I can see how it changes societal norms, but not Allah's creation.
et if you do this, you have to reconcile with the fact that Iran, a country with Islam as the national religion, conducts the second most amount of sex reassignment surgeries out of all known countries, mainly because they see it as a cure for being gay.
As of 2008, Iran carries out more sex change operations than any other nation in the world except for Thailand. The government provides up to half the cost for those needing financial assistance, and a sex change is recognised on the birth certificate. In 1963, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini wrote a book in which he stated that there was no religious restriction on corrective surgery for intersex individuals, though this did not apply to those without physical ambiguity in sex organs. One early campaigner for transsexual rights was Maryam Hatoon Molkara. Khomeini, however, did give her a letter to authorize her sex reassignment operation, which she later did in 1997. Khomeini's original fatwa has since been reconfirmed by the current leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, and is also supported by many other Iranian clerics.Once a transsexual individual has undergone sex reassignment, that person legally becomes the new sex. All legal documents, such as birth certificates and passports, are also changed accordingly. Those who wish to remain "non-operative" (as well as those who cross-dress and/or identify as genderqueer) are considered their biological gender, and as such [...] subject to the same laws barring homosexual acts.
This is a hard problem for the ulema to seek consensus about. This is clearly a lesser-evil problem, but only if not everybody tries to get operated, because this procedure also obliterates their ability to have offspring. In that sense, male-to-female operations are less of a problem than female-to-male. It could spare such persons from getting punished harshly for committing homosexual acts. Physically stamping out the possibility of homosexual acts is not a bad idea, since Divine Law strictly forbids that kind of behaviour. There is also the idea that such persons would not unnecessarily mention the fact that they have been operated on, be discrete about it in order not to offend unnecessarily, and that all official documents mentioning this person's gender must be altered, with older documents simply destroyed. To the extent that this approach could help putting an otherwise annoying problem to rest, and if investigations by Sunni ulema also declares it permissible, it could possibly be a solution.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhannathun
Mukhannathun (مخنثون "effeminate ones", "men who resemble women", singular mukhannath) is classical Arabic for men who have been castrated, perhaps poorly distinguished from eunuchs. At one point in time during the Umayyad Caliphate, a caliph, usually identified as Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, reportedly ordered that all Mukhannathun should be castrated.
Another problem, the operation must apparently be carried out by non-Muslims on non-Muslim territory:
Praise be to Allaah.
Islam forbids men to imitate women and women to imitate men, and in fact it emphatically forbids that, to such an extent that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed those who go against the human nature with which Allaah created them.
It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men, and he said: “Throw them out of your houses.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5885).
Undoubtedly one of the most obvious signs of an effeminate man is that he wears women’s clothing and imitates their ways.
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the man who wears women’s clothing and the woman who wears men’s clothing. Narrated by Abu Dawood (4098) and classed as saheeh by al-Nawawi in al-Majmoo’ (4/469) and by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed masculinized women. Narrated by Abu Dawood (4099); classed as hasan by al-Nawawi in al-Majmoo’ (4/469) and as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
Al-Mannaawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
As al-Nawawi said, this indicates that it is haraam for men to imitate women and vice versa, because if it is haraam with regard to clothing then imitating them in one’s movements and tone of voice is even more abhorrent. So it is haraam for men to imitate women and vice versa with regard to clothing that is unique to one sex, and the one who does that is subject to the threat of being cursed. End quote.
Fayd al-Qadeer (5/343).
Once this is established, we will know that the Islamic ruling on this kind of sexual perversion is that it is haraam, and it is a major sin. So it is not permissible to do that whether alone or with one’s wife, because going against the sound human nature (fitrah) that Allaah has created in us can only result in corruption and evil. Allaah has created man with masculine qualities that cannot go with wearing women’s clothing or imitating women’s mannerisms.
Undoubtedly the one who seeks to be effeminate and derives pleasure from that and thinks that it fulfils his desire is sick with a disease that the doctors describe as a “fetish”. They have behavioural programs to treat such cases that are presented to them, so anyone who is faced with this problem should not hesitate to go to a psychologist to supervise his treatment for this sickness.
All we can do is remind him of Allaah and make his religious commitment a positive and effective factor in ridding him of this waswaas. He should remember the wrath of Allaah towards effeminate men, and he should remember that He can see everything they do, and that this life is a few short days that will quickly cease to be, and a man will be left with his deeds in the Hereafter.
We remind him to seek the help of Allaah, for He is the best of helpers and the best One to ask for help. If a person is sincere in his du’aa’ and seeking help and turning to Him, Allaah will answer his prayer and relieve him of his problem. But part of praying sincerely is sincerely applying the means and striving hard and being patient until full healing comes and he gives up these evil haraam practices. And for his efforts and patience he will be rewarded by Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted.
Others seem already answered to your question but I would like to notice this:
format_quote Originally Posted by AnnaK
Iran, a country with Islam as the national religion
I wish you wouldn´t use Iran as a good example as it is not "an Islamic state" as we (Sunna) Muslims understand it. They are shias and it´s not same at all as "with Islam as the national religion". If you look closer their version about religion, you will find out that they have many interpretations which haven´t much to do of Islam (and some are nothing less than against Islam). I would like to advice you to looking for your examples from some real Islamic countries.
A scholar's opinion would be good inshaAllah, I have heard that it varies on circumstance whether it is sinful or not. I have read that an actual physical condition has to be present for it to be a valid excuse, but if it is just because a man 'feels' effeminate when he is physically fine, then that would be sinful. Hope I'm not opening a can of worms here, lol.
He created my mind and body the way He chose to, and my mind says that I am a woman. Under no part of the Quran did it ever talk about going against societal norms as a sin.
If I denied the fact that I was trans, I would be going against my mind that Allah created. That would be changing Allah's creation of me, and that would be a sin.
So, if I understood it right, He created your body as a male but your mind says you are a female?
We should to be very careful about what our minds say. Sometimes it might not be real but a whisper from the Shaytan. For example, some people claim as well that their mind says they are born to be as gays and then can´t accept that it´s not compatible with what the religion says.
I do understand what transgender means as I know some sisters whose have same problem as they feel they have born to the wrong gender as well. In society it causes problems to both them and to others. Even if they feel they are males, they still have to avoid too close contacts to males etc.
Allahu a'lam, A scholar's opinion would be good inshaAllah, I have heard that it varies on circumstance whether it is sinful or not. I have read that an actual physical condition has to be present for it to be a valid excuse, but if it is just because a man 'feels' effeminate when he is physically fine, then that would be sinful. Hope I'm not opening a can of worms here, lol. And Allah swt knows best.
The testimony suggests that this kind of surgery is indeed impermissible for Muslim surgeons. If it were also impermissible for Coptic priests, wouldn't the Ottoman Sultan-Khalif simply have forbidden the trade altogether? If a man feels too effeminate to stay one, it could be an idea to resuscitate the medical facilities in Abou-Gerbè in upper Egypt, and to let him travel there.
It is clear to anyone who think that changing gender is a major sin. Who cares what one's mind says.
Allah created my mind, my mind is a creation of Allah.
my mind says "go and kill that chidl!" should I go and kill that child?! aye! I should kill that child, cuz my mind says sooooooo, if I don't kill that child, I am "Changing the creation of Allah" cuz my mind - a creation of Allah - says to kill a child!
This is fallacious reasoning, and just a justification. Imo.
Just because you "feel" or "think" does not make it right. In the end it is a major sin, no matter how you look at it. It is prob shaytaan trying to decieve you. Remember, Iblees promised Allah to have mankind change the creation of Allah.
Imagine a society with trangenders - male who effimenated themselves, females who made themselves behave like males - total chaos!
No, you have not been born into the wrong body, that is just Shaytaan messing with you. Allah never makes mistakes. To suggest that Allah made a mistake by choosing the wrong gender, is kufr.
Allahu alam.
Meaning of Shirk according to The Qur'an
" Worshipping anyone or anything besides Allah " or " distributing anything exclusive to Allah, to anyone or anything else "
Meaning of Tawheed according to The Qur'an Worshipping none but Allah. Affirming whatever is exclusive to Him, Him alone.
Why do so many Muslims condemn trans people? Let me explain a little bit.
The Quran talles about the two sexes, male and female. Sex, as contrary to many believe, have nothing to do with gender. Gender is a social construct that gives us a means to identify ourselves (whether we identify as man, woman, non-binary, gender nonconforming, agender, bigender, trigender, pangender, demigemder, amd all the other identities).
Sex on the other hand refers to genitalia and gonads: meaning a penis, testes, vulva, ovaries. Now I have to ask the question of, why does it matter if your gender identity "aligns" with your sex? Why does it matter what gender someone identifies as?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Quran repeatedly talks about two sexes, but NOT about gender. From this you can take a stance that it doesn't matter about identity, so long as you don't change your genitalia. Yet if you do this, you have to reconcile with the fact that Iran, a country with Islam as the national religion, conducts the second most amount of sex reassignment surgeries out of all known countries (mainly because they see it as a cure for being gay).
This all brings me back to my original question of why do so many Muslims condemn gender minorities? Is there some part of the Holy Quran that talks about gender identities that I missed?
I support gender minorities, and I can't quite understand why others don't. Hope the rant wasn't too long for some of you.
Separation of gender and sex is a modern, linguistic creation, one designed to trick you and confuse you. The bottom line is this, forget religion for a second and forget your own personal likes and dislikes:
Ones sex is determined by their genetic make up. A woman has 2 x chromosomes and a man has XY chromosomes. That leads to the formation of sexual organs and physical traits, abilities, strengths and weaknesses.
In trying to go down the secular route that ones gender can somehow be different to ones sex, you are going against the very biological basis of your body. Aer you then trying to say that your genetic make up is a mistake or a disorder? That, of course, is not true. There are disorders related to sexual organs but they often lead to other physical traits and in many cases, infertility and are due to actual genetic mutations (extra X chromosomes in males for instance). People such as this are often incompatible with life (fetuses are naturally aborted via miscarriages or they have great physical and psychological issues if they are born and go onto survive till adulthood). In most cases, life span is affected.
If you are saying they are not the former (normal genetic make up) nor are they the latter (suffering from genetic disorders), then what are they?
Those of us in the medical field all know that gender dysphoria is a psychological illness, sadly, those of us in the western world have been told not to treat it. In fact it has become illegal and can cause doctors to be struck off the medical register. So, most people, especially those who don't really have a great, all encompassing moral outlook, are willing to go along with it as long as they can keep their jobs.
Dr Paul R. McHugh, one of the foremost minds in psychiatry has undergone a deeply politicised hate campaign because his medical opinion remains that gender dysphoria is indeed an illness. The powers that be, who want to sell you this idea, against all science and logic, that a man who believes in himself as a woman or vice verse is ok, have tried for years to discredit such doctors/professors/academics. Dr McHighs is in fact the author of 7 books and over 150 peer reviewed articles on psychiatry yet we're supposed to believe a bunch politicians on this matter?
[QUOTE=Born_Believer;
Dr Paul R. McHugh, one of the foremost minds in psychiatry has undergone a deeply politicised hate campaign because his medical opinion remains that gender dysphoria is indeed an illness. The powers that be, who want to sell you this idea, against all science and logic, that a man who believes in himself as a woman or vice verse is ok, have tried for years to discredit such doctors/professors/academics. Dr McHighs is in fact the author of 7 books and over 150 peer reviewed articles on psychiatry yet we're supposed to believe a bunch politicians on this matter?[/QUOTE]
Do you know how many Doctors I've met that believe in the exact opposite? Medical school isn't a flash in a pan; it takes a lot of work and dedication to become doctor. I personally through conferences and outreach have met hundreds of people who will treat transgender people as people rather than wild things with psychotic diseases.
Riddle me this: what separates men and women from a cultural perspective? Jobs? A woman could hold any job a man can. Status? Women can have the same status as men. Clothes? Is that the issue everyone gets tangled up on? What truly is the difference between man and woman from a cultural perspective?
Being transgender has nothing to do with changing biology; it has to do with changing the way cultural and society views us.
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(In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful)
(Peace be upon you)
(And peace be upon you)
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