Islamic shari'a law, neotraditionalist Muslim scholars and transgender sex-reassignment surgery: A case study of Ayatollah Khomeini's and Sheikh al-Tantawi's fatwas

The attitude of Islamic scholarship and law with regard to the issue of transgender sex-reassignment surgery is still an important subject for Muslim transgender people. This operation was mostly regarded as sinful, thus prohibited (haram) in Islam by both Sunni and Shi'a traditional scholars. But in the late 1980s, sex-reassignment surgery was legalized (made halal) in shari'a and/or in state law by the fatwas of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran and Sheikh Muhammad al-Tantawi in Egypt. It seems that these fatwas should initially be considered as an indication of Islamic tolerance toward transgender Muslims. This article explains how the transgender Muslims’ situation prompted the fatwas on sex-reassignment surgery and, therefore, how the fatwas, ultimately, expanded the scope of Islamic tolerance. The paper analyzes the main juridical reasons behind Khomeini and Al-Tantawi issuing such progressive fatwas through their classical methodology of understanding the Islamic concept of ijtihad. Following the same methodology, the article, as further discussion, offers to open up an Islamic debate over similar and related cases, such as homosexuality and bisexuality, aiming to improve Islamic tolerance or acceptance of these phenomena.