What is the Shariah‟s ruling regarding transgenders?

Answer

Islam recognizes three classes of human beings: male, female and khuntha mushkil.

Khuntha mushkil is a person whose sex cannot be determined. Khuntha is a person who is born with the deformity of having both male and female organs. Such a person whose sex cannot be determined, is described as khuntha mushkil.

If the sex can be determined by virtue of the dominance of either the male or female organs, the person will be classified accordingly, i.e. if the male organ is dominant, the person will be classified a male and if the female organ predominates, the person will be a female.

All attempts will be made to classify the khuntha either as a male or female. Only when such classification is impossible will the person be classified as khuntha mushkil. Regardless of what medical operation a person undergoes, he/she will remain the gender as he/she was born or as the Shariah classifies him/ her. Sex change is not accepted by the Shariah. A man can never acquire the gender of a female nor vice versa regardless of the satanism to which his/her physical body has been subjected to.

If a male undergoes such an operation to become a ‗female', he remains a male in terms of the Shariah. If he marries a woman believing himself to be a female, and regards lesbianism to be permissible, then he becomes a kaafir. All rules pertaining to a kaafir will then apply to him.

If he acknowledges that lesbianism is haraam and he does subscribe to the beliefs of Islam as all Muslims do, then he remains a Muslim despite his fisq. All laws of the Shariah will then apply to him.

The same will be the case if a woman undergoes an operation to become a ‗male'. She remains a female.

mined on account of both sex organs being equally functional. If any one organ has greater dominance, the person will be classified accordingly and will then not be Khuntha Mushkil, e.g. If the male organ only functions or is more functional than the female organ, the person will be classified as a male or vice versa.