This is the first book length treatment to offer a detailed analysis of how Islamic scripture, jurisprudence, and Hadith, can not only accommodate a sexually sensitive Islam, but actively endorse it. About the Author Scott Kugle is the first Muslim to publish widely on the issue of homosexuality and Islam. An independent research scholar in Islamic studies, he has previously held positions at Duke University, the University of Cape Town, and Swarthmore College. All Rights Reserved.
Site Map. This website requires cookies to provide all of its features. For more information on what data is contained in the cookies, please see our Cookie Policy. To accept cookies from this site, please click the Allow Cookies button below. The receptive or passive partner, on the other hand, is viewed with disgust.
Traditional ideas about gender roles cause particular problems for transgender people, especially in places where segregation of the sexes is more strictly enforced and cross-dressing is criminalised.
Within a couple of weeks at least 14 people were thrown into prison for the new offence. Since there is no mechanism in Kuwaiti law to register a change of sex, even trans people who have had surgery are at risk of arrest for cross-dressing.
As it happens, Islam has case histories in this area which make it accommodating in some ways, though not in others. Eunuchs often acquired influential positions administering wealthy Muslim households. The mukhannathun were less respectable, with a reputation for frivolity and loucheness, though they seem to have been broadly tolerated during the earliest years of Islam. A third type — the khuntha , who today would be called intersex — proved more complex theologically.
The question this raised was what to do about children born with ambiguous genitalia since, according to the doctrine, they could not be sex-neutral. The issue then was how to discover it, and the jurists devised elaborate rules for doing so. In that connection, a remark attributed to the prophet about urine and the differing inheritance rules for men and women proved especially helpful.
On that basis, operations have been carried out in Sunni Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The case became public when Al-Azhar University refused to readmit her either as a male student or a female student. There were also many who found the concept of gender dysphoria difficult to grasp and some characterised her as a gay man who was trying to game the system.
Basically, this left the question of surgery for gender dysphoria unresolved, allowing both supporters and opponents to interpret the fatwa as they chose. In practice, however, obtaining surgery is not necessarily the biggest hurdle — those who can afford it often go abroad. Gaining social acceptance and official recognition of a change of sex subsequently can be more difficult.
Theologically, Shia Iran seems to have fewer problems with gender dysphoria than the Sunni Arab states. There have been repeated claims that Iran now performs more reassignment operations than any country other than Thailand. Although at first sight the Iranian approach to transgender might look remarkably liberal, it does have a darker side.
One concern is that people may be pressurised into operations they do not actually want. Organised activism for gay rights began to develop in the Middle East in the early s. Both of those are based in Israel but have connections in the Palestinian territories. These are not the only activist groups. Others have sprung up in various places — often disappearing again fairly quickly. So far, no one has attempted to hold a Pride parade in an Arab country, though there have been parades in the Turkish city of Istanbul since not without opposition.
Non-governmental organisations working in Arab countries often face government restrictions, and those working for LGBT rights face the additional problem of social stigma. The development of social media has also created space for a more informal kind of activism which seems to have proved successful in a couple of instances recently.
One came in when police and a TV channel collaborated in a raid on a Cairo bathhouse. There is no formal ordination process in Islam. Worship is most often led by imams who have completed extensive theological studies and have proven themselves strong leaders. Islamic Society of North America P. Box 38 Plainfield, IN Website: www.
By clicking "GO" below, you will be directed to a website operated by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, an independent c 3 entity. By using this site, you agree to our use of cookies. To learn more, please read our Privacy Policy. Accept More Information. Share on Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email More than a billion Muslims inhabit this planet, and they inhabit geographic, linguistic and cultural spaces that are enormously diverse.
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