A group of about 50 Pakistan clerics issued a religious decree on Sunday stating that transgender marriage is now acceptable.
The clerics who are affiliated with Tanzeem Ittehad-i-Ummat, a relatively unknown group located in Lahore, released the fatwa on Sunday, declaring that a marriage to a transgender is considered lawful, reports Dawn. It also covers how communities and parents should treat transgender sons and daughters.
The documents says that transgender marriage is lawful if transgenders show more dominant qualities of the gender they are trying to be.
“It is permissible for a transgender person with male indications on his body to marry a transgender person with female indications on her body,” the fatwa reads. “Also, normal men and women can also marry such transgender people as have clear indications on their body.”
If a transgender shows qualities from both genders, he is banned from marriage.
The decree also bans inappropriate or discriminatory behavior towards transgender people.
“Making noises at transgender people, making fun of them, teasing them, or thinking of them as inferior is against sharia law, because such an act amounts to objecting to one of Allah’s creations, which is not correct,” the document states.
Parent are forbidden from taking away an inheritance from their transgender children, as the fatwa says that in doing so, parents are “inviting the wrath of God.” And transgenders should also get the same funeral rites that other Muslims receive, according to the clerics.
“This is the first time in history that Muslim clerics have raised their voices in support of the rights of transgender persons. But we have to go further for transgender people and the country needs to introduce legislation, ” Qamar Naseem, a transgender community activist, told the Telegraph.
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