Pakistani clerics declare transgender marriages legal in Islam

[brooklynite]

Source: Dhaka Tribune

Fifty top Pakistani clerics have issued a fatwa declaring that transgender people have full right of marriage, inheritance and funeral under Islamic law.

According to the fatwa issued on Sunday, a female-born transgender who has "visible signs of being a male" may marry a woman or a male-born transgender with "visible signs of being a female” can marry a man.

However, the fatwa stated that a transgender carrying "visible signs of both genders" - or intersex – can not marry anyone.

Pakistan does not allow transgender to marry and gay marriage remains punishable by life imprisonment in the country, reports The Telegraph.

Read more: http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/2016/jun/29/pakistani-clerics-declare-transgender-marriages-legal-islam

[Iliyah]

1. HUH. Strange days.

[MADem]

2. Well, isn't this progress...relatively speaking, mind you.

Still, this is a BIG deal for any sect or branch of Islam:

The fatwa also declared that any act intended to "humiliate, insult or tease" the community is forbidden and the transgenders should not be deprived of family inheritances, nor the right to be buried in Muslim ceremonies.

Muhammad Zia Ul Haq Naqshbandi, Lahore-based head of the Tanzeem Ittehad-i-Ummat religious law organisation that issued the fatwa, said: “Parents who deprived their transgender sons or daughters of inheritances were inviting the wrath of God.”

Tanzeem Ittehad-i-Ummat is not a political organisation, and its fatwas are not legally binding but the group wields influence thanks to its tens of thousands of followers across Pakistan.

Activists claim that transgender persons receive insufficient protection from authorities in Pakistan due to their taboo status. They called on Pakistan’s government to codify the decree with binding legislation.

“This is the first time in history that Muslim clerics have raised their voices in support of the rights of transgender persons,” said Qamar Naseem, a transgender community activist. “But we have to go further for transgender people and the country needs to introduce legislation on it".

- See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/2016/jun/29/pakistani-clerics-declare-transgender-marriages-legal-islam#sthash.qHnXqSlH.dpuf

[rpannier]

3. Amazing

1st that troglodyte Marion Pat Robertson speaks sympathetically about people have sex-reassignment surgery and now this
Tectonic plate shifts forward