Abstract
Muslim jurists have issued several fatwas (Islamic legal opinions) permitting
gender-confirming surgery (GCS) for various groups of intersex and/or transgender people.
However, these fatwas have been critiqued for conceiving of intersex and transgender individuals
as diseased people who need treatment for an illness. By closely examining the legal-hermeneutical
arguments behind four widely cited fatwas on GCS—the fatwas of the Islamic
Fiqh Council of the Muslim World League, the National Council of Islamic Religious Affairs,
Shaykh Tạ ntạ̄ w¯ı, and Ayatollah Khomeini—this article argues that although the objection to the
medicalization of the recipients ofGCSin such fatwas is mostly correct, it is not always accurate,
as it is not the case in Khomeini’s fatwa. The present study, based on the legal-hermeneutical
reasoning established in modern Shiʿi juristic scholarship, proposes a discursive space within
Khomeini’s fatwa that suggests that intersex and transgender individuals are not people who
suffer from physical or mental illness, although they should be permitted to undergo GCS if
they wish.
gender-confirming surgery (GCS) for various groups of intersex and/or transgender people.
However, these fatwas have been critiqued for conceiving of intersex and transgender individuals
as diseased people who need treatment for an illness. By closely examining the legal-hermeneutical
arguments behind four widely cited fatwas on GCS—the fatwas of the Islamic
Fiqh Council of the Muslim World League, the National Council of Islamic Religious Affairs,
Shaykh Tạ ntạ̄ w¯ı, and Ayatollah Khomeini—this article argues that although the objection to the
medicalization of the recipients ofGCSin such fatwas is mostly correct, it is not always accurate,
as it is not the case in Khomeini’s fatwa. The present study, based on the legal-hermeneutical
reasoning established in modern Shiʿi juristic scholarship, proposes a discursive space within
Khomeini’s fatwa that suggests that intersex and transgender individuals are not people who
suffer from physical or mental illness, although they should be permitted to undergo GCS if
they wish.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 359-386 |
Journal | Journal of Middle East Women's Studies |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2022 |
Keywords
- transgender
- intersex
- gender-confirming surgery
- illness
- fatwa