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Ruling On A Person Who Had A Sex Change

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Darulifta Azaadville

Question:

A ‘man’ had a sex change and is now a woman.

The person’s muslim family support him fully for the choices he made.

He has large breasts, and, he also has had successful vaginoplasty surgery where his male private parts have been turned into what looks like a female’s minus the ovaries .

Is this person now a man or a woman?

The person uses female changing rooms, and would basically be considered a woman under all circumstances unless the person says I was born a man.

What makes things even more complicated is the parents are trying to get ‘her’ married to a guy and they have found someone willing to marry ‘her’.

The groom who will marry the changed person in question is pansexual.

The person wishes to be a good Muslim and be accepted by Allah ta’ala.

Whatever I wrote, it’s already done. Irreversible changes have happened and ‘she’ won’t change who ‘she’ is.

Another question is, will looking at ‘her’ new upper body parts or touching them be a sin or not?

Answer:

Shariah legislates laws that vary based on the sex of the individual, such as rulings pertaining to prayer, hijab, travel, inheritance, marriage, and most other chapters of jurisprudence. 

Defining Gender 

Medicine defines gender based off the presence of the Y chromosome in an individual; men have a Y chromosome, whereas women do not.  The Shariah accepts this definition, if the external genitalia do not indicate to the contrary at birth.

 Moreover, Islam defines sex as either one of two: male or female. The Qur’an, when referring to the creation of humans, limits the creation to men and women. Shariah does not recognize a third sex nor a combination of both sexes in one individual.

 Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS)

It is a set of medical procedures that aims to transform the physical aspects of one’s body to resemble the opposite gender.  The numerous possible procedures one may opt-into include changes to both the upper and the lower body, including the genitalia.

However, the body contouring, breast augmentation, facial masculinization/feminization surgery, and other upper body surgeries clearly do not transform a person into another sex; rather, it helps the person resemble the opposite sex.  Similarly, surgeries on the genitalia do not actually implant or bring about the private parts of the opposite gender onto a person; instead, one’s own body parts are either inverted, grafted, or implanted to resemble the opposite sex.  Evidenced by the fact that plastic surgeons perform these surgeries, a transgender merely instills superficial, physical changes onto oneself that produce no actual sexual transformation.

 Hormone therapy

This brings about mostly physical changes, such as redistribution of body fat and the other examples mentioned above; the internal body does not fundamentally change.  The genotype (presence or absence of the Y chromosome) cannot change and the body will never naturally produce the elevated levels of hormones induced through such treatment.  The transgender individual will continue to be on a life-long treatment, forcing the body to act in a particular manner while the body fights back to return to its nature. 

The hormone therapy, similar to the SRS, does not transmute the body or otherwise truly convert the person into another sex. It only helps the person feel like another sex.

Furthermore, one may pursue hormone therapy with or without SRS, meaning that a transman may still retain ovaries and a uterus, which makes it possible for her to become pregnant and deliver a child.  Hypothetically, if one assumes that hormone therapy transforms one’s sex, then in the cases of transmen who have carried pregnancies and delivered multiple children, it would mean that a man gave birth and the children have two fathers and no mother!

Ruling of a transgender who undergoes SRS or hormone therapy

Based on the above facts and the view of numerous Muslim endocrinologists, it is evident that Sex Reassignment Surgery and/or hormone therapy does not result in a genuine transformation from one sex to another, even if it results in some physical changes.

These procedures fall under the prohibition of changing the creation of Allah, which the Qur’aan explicitly identifies as a tool of Shaytaan. The results of such procedures extend only to apparent resemblance of the opposite sex, not a conversion into it. Nabiforbade distortion of the body, including the genitals and cursed the one who imitates the opposite sex. These procedures being an example of it.

Incorrect analogy of some Scholars

Although the scholars agree on the impermissibility of the surgery and that true transformation into a new sex is impossible, some have stated that the transgender individuals who have undergone these procedures will adopt the rulings of the sex they outwardly resemble. They derive their ruling from the guidance of the jurists on determining the sex of an intersex (Khuntha), based off the apparent physical attributes.

Answer to this incorrect analogy

The flaw in the logic stems from comparing transgender individuals to intersexes, although the two are entirely different. The jurists’ guidance on analyzing intersexes based on their outward attributes aims to solve the unknown sex of the child.  The rulings of the jurists regarding intersexes aim to establish the birth sex; it does not apply on cases where one’s sex was already established.  In fact, the jurists explicitly state that their guidance on intersexes applies up to the period of puberty, as any ambiguity around one’s sex ends at that point. 

The discussion of intersexes relates to Tabyeenul Jins (clarifying the sex), while the discussion of transgenders relates to Tabdeelul Jins (changing the sex).  Hence, any analogies on intersexes do not hold any weight.

Conclusion

A male who has changed his gender into a female will still be considered as a male. It is not permissible for him to marry a male.

He should make Istighfaar for his incorrect actions and try to remove the effect of the opposite gender to the best of his ability and if possible. With the advice of a doctor, he may start taking testosterone to help him in his cause and may undergo any operations which will reverse the effects.

Given that such a person outwardly resembles an opposite sex, some rules based off precaution shall apply. Thus, one should not look at his upper body part or touch it. If the glance or touch is accompanied with desire, one will be sinful.

All other matters relating to him will also be based on precaution for him as well as others who may be affected by his “new” appearance.

Checked and Approved By:

Mufti Muhammed Saeed Motara Saheb D.B.

Majority of the contents of the Fatwa has been paraphrased from https://fiqhacademy.com/res03/

أَلَمْ يَكُ نُطْفَةً مِنْ مَنِيٍّ يُمْنَى (37) ثُمَّ كَانَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقَ فَسَوَّى (38) فَجَعَلَ مِنْهُ الزَّوْجَيْنِ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنْثَى (39) (سورة القيامة)

والشخص الواحد لا يكون ذكرا وأنثى حقيقة، فإما أن يكون ذكرا، وإما أن يكون أنثى

 [7/327، بدائع الصنائع في ترتيب الشرائع للكاساني، دار الكتب العلمية، الثانية، 1406]

وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ اللَّهِ وَمَنْ يَتَّخِذِ الشَّيْطَانَ وَلِيًّا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ فَقَدْ خَسِرَ خُسْرَانًا مُبِينًا (119: سورة النساء)

حدثنا آدم بن أبي إياس، حدثنا شعبة، حدثنا عدي بن ثابت، سمعت عبد الله بن يزيد الأنصاري، – وهو جده أبو أمه – قال: «نهى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم عن النهبى والمثلة»

[3/135، صحيح الإمام البخاري، بعناية محمد زهير بن ناصر الناصر، دار طوق النجاة، الأولى، 1422]

حدثنا قتيبة بن سعيد، حدثنا جرير، عن إسماعيل، عن قيس، قال: قال عبد الله: كنا نغزو مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، وليس لنا شيء، فقلنا: ألا نستخصي؟ ” فنهانا عن ذلك…

 [7/4، صحيح الإمام البخاري، بعناية محمد زهير بن ناصر الناصر، دار طوق النجاة، الأولى، 1422]

حدثنا محمد بن بشار، حدثنا غندر، حدثنا شعبة، عن قتادة، عن عكرمة، عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما قال: «لعن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم المتشبهين من الرجال بالنساء، والمتشبهات من النساء بالرجال» تابعه عمرو، أخبرنا شعبة

[7/159، صحيح الإمام البخاري، بعناية محمد زهير بن ناصر الناصر، دار طوق النجاة، الأولى، 1422]

خصاء بني آدم فذلك منهي عنه وهو من جملة ما يأمر به الشيطان قال الله تعالى {ولآمرنهم فليغيرن خلق الله} [النساء: 119]،

[15/134، المبسوط للسرخسي، دار المعرفة، 1414]

يؤخذ منه أن جناية الإنسان على نفسه كجنايته على غيره في الإثم لأن نفسه ليست ملكا له مطلقا بل هي لله تعالى فلا يتصرف فيها إلا بما أذن له

[11/534، فتح الباري لابن حجر، بتحقيق محب الدين الخطيب، دار المعرفة، 1379]

قال: وليس يكون الخنثى مشكلا بعد الإدراك على حال من الحالات؛ لأنه إما أن تحبل أو تحيض أو تخرج له لحية أو يكون له ثديان كثديي المرأة وبهذا يتبين حاله، وإن لم يكن له شيء من ذلك فهو رجل؛ لأن عدم نبات الثديين يكون دليلا شرعيا على أنه رجل،

[30/112، المبسوط للسرخسي، دار المعرفة، 1414]

وإنما يظهر الحال ويزول الإشكال بالبلوغ بظهور الحيض والحبل ونهود الثديين ونبات اللحية والاحتلام ونحوها فيجري عليه أحكام الذكر أو الأنثى

[3/357، تحفة الملوك لزين الدين الرازي، بتحقيق عبد الله نذير أحمد، دار البشائر الإسلامية، الأولى، 1417]

اور سائل عمران پر حسب سابق مردوں کے احکامات ہی لاگو ہیں يعنی کسی مرد سے شادی جائز نہیں، اور نماز روز وغیرہ بھی مردوں کی طرح ادا کر نا ضروری ہے ، اور زنانہ کپڑے پہنانا جائز اور حرام ہے، اور اپسے مرداور عورت پرلعنت ہے

8/654، آپ کے مسائل اور ان كا حل، للمفتي محمد يوسف لدهيانوي، مكتبة لدهيانوي، الثاني، 2011

This answer was collected from the official Ifta website of Darul Uloom Azaadville, South Africa. Most of the answers are checked and approved by Mufti Muhammed Saeed Motara Saheb D.B.

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