"Be content with the decree of Allah": the cis-heterosexual nafs in Shi?i and Sunni fatwas on transsexuality and intersexuality
This article examines the fatwas of Salafi-Sunni and conservative Shi'i scholars on transsexuality, and how their legal reasoning is limited by the cis-heteropatriarchal nature they ascribe to the nafs (self). Most Shi'i jurists in Iran permit sex-reassignment surgeries, while Salafi schol...
| Subtitles: | "Special Issue: 'Physiology is Theology': Gendered Bodies in Sufi and Islamic Constructions of the Self" |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2022
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| In: |
Body and religion
Year: 2022, Volume: 6, Issue: 1, Pages: 74-93 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Transsexualism
/ Islamic law
/ Fatwa
/ Shi'ah
/ Salafīyah
/ Patriarchate
/ Sexual minorities
/ Self
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| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy BJ Islam NCF Sexual ethics NCH Medical ethics XA Law |
| Further subjects: | B
Patriarchy
B Islamic Law B Fatwa B trans and intersex B sex-reassignment surgery |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article examines the fatwas of Salafi-Sunni and conservative Shi'i scholars on transsexuality, and how their legal reasoning is limited by the cis-heteropatriarchal nature they ascribe to the nafs (self). Most Shi'i jurists in Iran permit sex-reassignment surgeries, while Salafi scholars forbid them as adulterations to the body except in the case of intersex persons. Both inherit normative legal reasoning that privileges the able-bodied, adult, free man as normative. They reference premodern rulings on the khuntha (those with ambiguous genitalia) and build upon the criteria developed by their predecessors to determine an individual’s so-called "true" sex/gender. These scholars also take part in a contemporary world in which the body is medically and psychologically overburdened with gendered meanings. After analyzing these fatwas, I discuss how these cis-heteropatriarchal conceptions of the nafs greatly limit juristic creativity in addressing the spiritual wellbeing of trans, intersex, and non-binary Muslims. |
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| ISSN: | 2057-5831 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Body and religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/bar.22482 |