Ayatollah Khomeini Said 'sex-change Operations Are Allowed' -

[SShah]

Salaam

I was just reading this article on the BBC, and it mentions the following...

He shows me the book in Arabic in which, 41 years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini wrote about new medical issues like transsexuality.

"I believe he (Ayatollah Khomeini) was the first Islamic scientist in the world of Islam who raised the issue of sex change," says Hojatulislam Kariminia.

The Ayatollah's ruling that sex-change operations were allowed has been reconfirmed by Iran's current spiritual leader.

That has meant that clerics like Hojatulislam Kariminia can study transsexuality - unlike homosexuality which is completely forbidden in Islam and illegal in Iran.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4115535.stm

Now my question is, isn't modifying your body haraam in Islam? e.g. As in the case of tatoo's, which are strictly forbidden. On what grounds does the Ayatollah make such a statement?

Please share your views.

Jazakallah Khayr

[T_shah]

(salam)

Some marja's allow tatooes as long as they are not to impersonate kuffar and as long as you don't undergo lots of pain. They're not strictly forbidden.

Ma'salam

T

[kidman]

Yes, Tatoos are not haraam, only under certain circumstances and depending on your marja...

And as far as sex change goes, it has restrictions as well. Like, you have to be born a certain way to undergo a sex change. As you know, scientifically, some people are born as transexuals, in that case it is ok to undergo treatment to be like the other humans and be either a male or a female. But if you are born a complete male, you cannot undergo a sex change just because you are gay and want to do haram (sleep with other men).

It is just for those instances where the person has both organs for both male and female, and they can choose what direction they would like to go in.

You can find more about this i am sure, if you search for it or ask a Scholar

Kidman

[~RuQaYaH's BrOtHeR~]

i dont think the fatwa applies to transsexuals, transvestites, or cross dressers, but rather to hermaphrodites who have ambiguous genitals. it is then easy and logical to see that a scholar should allow someone who has organs of both male and female and let him/her decide upon which gender s/he wants to be, and then undergoing sex re-assignment surgery.

but i have never confirmed whether the fatwa applies to transsexuals also.

does anyone have access to the fatwa??

[repenter-gone4awhile]

That explaination is not complete. Point is, many people are born with hormonal inbalance. They have male genetials but have overload of woman hormones, and they basically feel like woman.

In islam its allowed to fix your body if something is wrong with it, spiritual, physical(external and internal).

Sex change operations are allowed as long as a doctor approves that you have hormonal issues and you hormonally your basically a woman, or man.

[gogiison2]

i beg 2 differ, just becuz a hormonal imbalance , a man may sleep with a man? i doubt that brother....and also i dont agree with haveing tattoos as this is a way of kinda showing that we dont agree with what God has made us to be. this comes also from Christianity.

Edited April 24, 2007 by gogiison2

[Shiawarrior83]

what none of these things are allowed! sex changes or tatoos?You are not allowed to change Allahs creation.

[SShah]

Yes, Tatoos are not haraam, only under certain circumstances and depending on your marja...

And as far as sex change goes, it has restrictions as well. Like, you have to be born a certain way to undergo a sex change. As you know, scientifically, some people are born as transexuals, in that case it is ok to undergo treatment to be like the other humans and be either a male or a female. But if you are born a complete male, you cannot undergo a sex change just because you are gay and want to do haram (sleep with other men).

It is just for those instances where the person has both organs for both male and female, and they can choose what direction they would like to go in.

You can find more about this i am sure, if you search for it or ask a Scholar

Kidman

Jazakallah for clearing the point about born transexuals. However, you mentioned the point about Tattoos not being haraam.

I'd just like to bring to your attention the following hadith, which clearly forbids tattoos:

The evidence for that is the hadeeth of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Allaah has cursed the woman who does tattoos and the one who has them done, the woman who plucks eyebrows (al-naamisah) and the one who has it done (al-mutanammisah), and the one who files her teeth for the purpose of beauty, altering the creation of Allaah.”

(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5931; Muslim, 2125)

[Mahdiyah]

Salaam.

A person whos gender is correctly identified, apparent and is not a victim of mistaken gender and still wants to change his/her gender, really needs mental treatment - its all in the mind - change that first. Otherwise years later after the mind recovering it will be regrets for life when one finds themselves really in the wrong body.

W/S

[sayed_ali]

Sometimes when babies are born they have both genitalia - penis and testes, and vagina. The doctors decide (sometimes with parents consent) whether they want the child to grow up a boy or a girl, so they pick one and do the surgery to remove one of the genitalia.

The boy/girl grows up and realises that they have female/male behavior and sometimes they show the outside appearance of maleness/femaleness like heavy facial hair and broken voice, etc. So, this means that they are actually the wrong gender because the surgeons got it wrong. They have a right to correct the gender misassignment, and they turn back to their original sex.

This fixes their problem. A man is not meant to live as a woman, and a woman is not meant to live as a man, and this is the teachings of Islam.

[~RuQaYaH's BrOtHeR~]

if tattooes and sex re-assignment surgery was impermissible, then it would neither be a sufficient reason nor a neccesarry reason that its disallowed because we cannot change Allah's creation. growing up is changing, cutting hair is changing, circumcision is changing, mowing your lawn is changing, etc etc. as ironic as it sounds, we r in a constant state of flux.

so thats not the reason why because it would be an invalid and silly reason.

[Hassan kachal]

Yes, Tatoos are not haraam, only under certain circumstances and depending on your marja...

And as far as sex change goes, it has restrictions as well. Like, you have to be born a certain way to undergo a sex change. As you know, scientifically, some people are born as transexuals, in that case it is ok to undergo treatment to be like the other humans and be either a male or a female. But if you are born a complete male, you cannot undergo a sex change just because you are gay and want to do haram (sleep with other men).

It is just for those instances where the person has both organs for both male and female, and they can choose what direction they would like to go in.

You can find more about this i am sure, if you search for it or ask a Scholar

Kidman

This is unbelievable, hear what the guy at the end says. My mouth was wide open when i watched it. 'Its ok for a PERFECTLY HEALTHY man to change... as long as no bad looks or touches take place during surgery :huh:

This is the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard. Khomeini is quoted as saying 'if he feels trapped in another body'. That is like gays who say they were born that way.

I thought this law only applied to homaphredites (sp?) but obviously not

[wayfarer.]

What would you prefer.. getting a sex-change operation or getting punished with death ?

...yea i was wondering what the ending statement meant? How is it possible to do surgery without a foribidden glance or touch ? :unsure:

[Sadiq M...]

From my research on this Fatwa, this Fatwa is meant to offer a way out to homosexuals who have not committed homosexuality, but fears of doing so over time, so why not offer them a way out?

Khomeini never says homosexuals are OK, he just says with the state of science available, why not offer them a way out of their dilemma?

You must keep in mind that NOT every random person can have this done, you must present your case to the Majles who would then decide whether or not you are eligible for the sex change.

There are those who argue: "Why change the gender which Allah has given you". This is a very weak argument as going by the same logic all operations from changing the bone marrow to reconnecting broken bones would then become Haram as you are still tampering with your body.

In the light of the above-mentioned basic facts, I would conclude by saying that it is not allowed in Islam to change the gender, and doing so will be changing of Allah’s creation.

The only exception to this ruling is related to a person who has both genders potential in body, so a medical treatment can be sought to unify one gender. In this case it will be a correction, and not a change in the creation of Allah, the Almighty. This issue has been previously discussed by our earlier Fuqahaa’ (jurists) and the same ruling has been given.

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satelli...aEAskTheScholar

The above quote is taken from the Sunni Islamonline.net website where they themselves admit that those who are hermaphrodites can change their gender. This is primarily what Khomeini believed in, but many have taken his fatwa out of context.

Edited May 6, 2008 by Sadiq M...

[Hassan kachal]

From my research on this Fatwa, this Fatwa is meant to offer a way out to homosexuals who have not committed homosexuality, but fears of doing so over time, so why not offer them a way out?

Khomeini never says homosexuals are OK, he just says with the state of science available, why not offer them a way out of their dilemma?

You must keep in mind that NOT every random person can have this done, you must present your case to the Majles who would then decide whether or not you are eligible for the sex change.

i read there have only been 18 over the whole time of the revolutionary govt. But then this vid said hundreds.

You are contradicting yourself first you say any homosexual can do it if he fears he will do haram then you say not any randomer can?

[rzairul]

imho, it is hard to accept if sex change operations are legitimated to be used in any circumstances.

it may be better to limit the operations to special cases, e.g. born with female & male genitalia, etc

according to the imams, what is the definition of "male" & "female"?

[wayfarer.]

imho, it is hard to accept if sex change operations are legitimated to be used in any circumstances.

it may be better to limit the operations to special cases, e.g. born with female & male genitalia, etc

according to the imams, what is the definition of "male" & "female"?

the one who urinates via a male organ is a male and one who does so through the female organ is a female.-- thats what I heard, anybody else would take the trouble and pls confirm.

[Hassan5785]

the one who urinates via a male organ is a male and one who does so through the female organ is a female.-- thats what I heard, anybody else would take the trouble and pls confirm.

I read that before. I think the gender reassignment only applies to hermaphrodites.

[hayyibnyaqzan]

The interpretation of Syd Khomeini's fatwa should not be left up to us. Iran actually performs more gender reassignment surgeries than any other countries except Thailand and will even subsidize part of the bill. I cannot personally discuss the issue itself due to lack of academic qualification. I would recommend writing to a scholar from Iran and asking their opinion. Unless a scholar is alive and we can ask them personally, its just safer to not assume what circumstances their rulings apply under. And the issue of being transgender is a complicated one on both a psychological and biological level, aside from the spiritual one. We should all be thankful that we don't have to deal with such confusion and emotional conflict in our hearts.