Lahore: A group of clerics in Pakistan has issued a fatwa (religious decree) allowing marriage with a transgender person saying it is legal under Islamic law.
At least 50 clerics affiliated with a little known Lahore-based Tanzeem Ittehad-i-Ummat issued the fatwa on Sunday, saying that a transgender person having “visible signs of being a male” may marry a woman or a transgender with “visible signs of being a female” and vice versa.
"It is permissible for a transgender person with male indications on his body to marry a transgender person with female indications on her body," said the document issued by clerics.
But a transgender person carrying “visible signs of both genders” may not marry anyone, the fatwa added.
The decree declared that robbing transgender people of their share in inheritance was unlawful and that parents who deprive their transgender sons/daughters of inheritance were “inviting the wrath of God” and called upon the government to take action against such parents.
The clerics also advised people against the display of negative attitudes toward transgender people and went to the extent of terming ‘haraam’ any act intended to “humiliate, insult or tease” them.
"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," it added.
The fatwa also touched upon the issue of last rites of transgender saying they have a right to be buried in Muslim ceremonies, same as for any other Muslim man or woman.
The clerics who issued the fatwa included Imran Hanfi, Pir Karamat Ali, Abu Bakr Awan, Masoodur Rehman, Tahir Tabassum Qadri, Khalil Yousafi, Gul Ateequi, Gulzar Naeemi, Intikhab Noori, Abdul Sattar Saeedi and Khizarul Islam.
Transgender individuals in Pakistan shunned by the mainstream society and are forced into begging, prostitution or dancing to earn a living.
In 2012, Pakistan's Supreme Court declared equal rights for transgender citizens, including the right to inherit property and assets, preceded a year earlier by the right to vote. But the ground situation for the third gender remains the same.
Although the fatwa is not legally binding, it could help make spread awareness in the religious country.
