- EN (English)
Fatwa ID: | 21701 |
Title: | The inheritance of a transsexual person |
Category: | Family and Personal Affairs |
Scholar: | AmjaOnline |
Date: | 05/06/2008 |
I was conducting research on transsexuality in
The Fatwa of the Permanent Fatwa Committee of the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of
All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessing be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed: A question concerning the inheritance of a transsexual person has been referred to the Committee, which issued the following response:
Transsexual people are of two types:
1) The first type: Those who were born intersex (in Arabic: khuntha), meaning that there was a congenital deformity in the reproductive organs, such that he had both male and female gonads, or that he lacked both. It is lawful for this type to seek medical treatment, through hormone replacement or surgery so that his condition can be fully corrected to either male or female. This is one of the treatments prescribed by Islamic law, and his situation is the same as any procedure to correct a congenital deformity in any other part of the body. His inheritance would be determined according to whatever gender he becomes after his condition has been corrected. The ruling for this type is clear and established in the fatawa of scholars, past and present. There is nothing complicated about it, and all praise is due to Allah.
2) The second type: Those who were born in complete male form, and then were transformed into a female via hormone replacement or surgery, or those who were born in complete female form, and then were transformed into a male via hormone replacement or surgery. Anyone who changes from a natural, completely formed male into a female does not actually become female. From a genetic standpoint, his makeup remains male, which is expressed in the xy genotype. He does not develop a uterus or ovaries, and he cannot get pregnant or have babies. The most that can be said on the matter is that he has removed his male reproductive organs and taken female hormones that changed his voice, the distribution of his body fat, and the like, so that he resembles a khuntha, not a female. Likewise, anyone who changes from a natural, completely formed female to a male does not actually become male. From a genetic standpoint, her makeup remains female, as expressed in the xx genotype. She does not develop true male reproductive organs, she cannot produce male spermatozoa and she cannot fertilize a woman's ovum. The most that can be said on the matter is that she has removed her female organs and taken male hormones that changed her voice, the distribution of her body fat, and the like, so that she resembles a khuntha, not a male. The transition of this category is a great crime: it is mutilation, changing the creation of Allah and imitation of the opposite sex—and those who do these things have been cursed by the Prophet (saws). This type is one of the modern catastrophes of this day and age, with the advancement of medicine and people of corrupt nature gaining unprecedented abilities. As such, this type of transsexual person would be treated in the rules of inheritance according to the original condition at birth prior to transition. Based on that, having sex reassignment therapy is a prohibited act according to
The khuntha has only ever presented a problem to the scholars of inheritance law as a descendant (child, grandchild, etc.), collateral relative (sibling, aunt, uncle, etc.—neither ascendant nor descendant) and patronage. It is unimaginable that someone born a khuntha could be a father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, husband or wife, whereas among those transsexual people who transition later in life, there might be some who do so after becoming a father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, husband or wife, such as a father who had children and then transitioned to become female: how can we give him the inheritance of a female? Do we say that he is a father or a mother, since there would be two mothers in the case? Or someone who was a mother with children and then transitioned to become male: how can we give her the inheritance of a male when she is a mother? Can we have two fathers in one case? Likewise, someone who was a husband, who transitioned to become female, and then his wife died: how can the deceased be a woman and the heir a wife? Likewise, someone who was a wife, who transitioned to become male, and then her husband died: how can the deceased be a man and the heir a husband? That is why we rule that he/she inherits according to their original sex, in order to preserve the laws of inheritance in Shari`ah from manipulation, resulting in cases unlike any other in Islamic jurisprudence.
Sex reassignment therapy (SRT) in itself is a corrupt act that is in violation of
And from Allah Most High comes all success.