Transgender Identity, The Sex-Reassignment Surgery FatwÄs and IslÄmic Theology of A Third Gender
In: Religion and GenderSearch for other papers by M. Alipour in
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Although in the late 1980s, transgender sex-reassignment surgery was legalized (made halÄl) in sharÄ«Ê¿a and/or in state law by the FatwÄs of ÄyatullÄh Khomeini in Iran and Shaykh al-Ṭaná¹ÄwÄ« in Egypt, the issue of whether Islamic theology accepts transgender people as third gender remains underdeveloped. The traditional Islamic line on gender divisions has been criticised for being established on the basis of the binary logic of male and female gender which leaves no capacity to accept a third gender in traditional IslÄmic theology. Therefore, the fatwÄs of both Khomeini and al-Ṭaná¹ÄwÄ« were issued on the basis of the binary logic of male and female gender. However, this article argues that although al-Ṭaná¹ÄwÄ«âs fatwÄ was vague and clearly built on a gender binary logic, Khomeiniâs fatwÄ was issued on other grounds that may allow for a discussion on transgender Muslims as third gender. Moreover, the article argues that there is a discursive space within Muslim juridical texts which one may justifiably use to underpin an interpretation of a third gender in IslÄmic legal and theological debates.
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Transgender Identity, The Sex-Reassignment Surgery FatwÄs and IslÄmic Theology of A Third Gender
In: Religion and GenderSearch for other papers by M. Alipour in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Although in the late 1980s, transgender sex-reassignment surgery was legalized (made halÄl) in sharÄ«Ê¿a and/or in state law by the FatwÄs of ÄyatullÄh Khomeini in Iran and Shaykh al-Ṭaná¹ÄwÄ« in Egypt, the issue of whether Islamic theology accepts transgender people as third gender remains underdeveloped. The traditional Islamic line on gender divisions has been criticised for being established on the basis of the binary logic of male and female gender which leaves no capacity to accept a third gender in traditional IslÄmic theology. Therefore, the fatwÄs of both Khomeini and al-Ṭaná¹ÄwÄ« were issued on the basis of the binary logic of male and female gender. However, this article argues that although al-Ṭaná¹ÄwÄ«âs fatwÄ was vague and clearly built on a gender binary logic, Khomeiniâs fatwÄ was issued on other grounds that may allow for a discussion on transgender Muslims as third gender. Moreover, the article argues that there is a discursive space within Muslim juridical texts which one may justifiably use to underpin an interpretation of a third gender in IslÄmic legal and theological debates.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Full Text Views | 2564 | 299 | 42 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 18445 | 568 | 37 |
