Islam and The Intersexed

[panduwinata]

Hey all,

This is actually a re-post of my reply to Wyn about Islam. I reposted it here since it is more appropriate to be put here. (This is actually a rule from my campus' message boards: repost when off-topic. I apply this rule here for your convenience.)

Some facts about Islam:

(1)
It is in fact not true that Islam has a unitary Male God. Unitary, yes; but our God is declared in the Koran to be "a genderless substance". Yes, most English translations of the Koran refer to Hir as "Him", but only for lack of a better translation. (Gender-neutral language such as "Hir" isn't popular with translators of religious text, I guess ) This means in Islam, God is Intersexed.

(2)
Believe it or not, there are laws in Islam for intersexed people as well.

The intersexed in Islam are called "khuntsa". We khuntsa have our own rituals and rules which are completely different from women (called "akhwat") and men ("ikhwan"). Effectively, there are three genders in Islam. Khuntsa, akhwat, and ikhwan. Intersexed, female, and male.

Khuntsa are allowed to marry either men or women. We are allowed to live as women or men, but are suggested to wear clothes that are "in-between". During prayers, a khuntsa prays between the males and the females. A khuntsa has most of the obligations of males and most of the obligations of women--and all of the rights of both.

The Prophet Muhammad created the khuntsa concept because during his time there was an intersexed (probably true hermaphrodite) person living in the village nearby. S/he wished to join Islam, but was confused over the rules. The Prophet then told hir all the rules s/he needed to be a good Muslim intersexual.

(3)
Islam as a religion was once a very non-patriarchal religion. The Prophet himself, although male, was the first person in his day to fight for the freedoms of women.

I know what you are probably thinking: Are we talking about the same religion here? Islam seems to be an immensely male-dominated, extremist, unyielding religion. That's true. The *current* Islam discriminates against women (and the intersexed) intensely. The current state of Islam is dire: Terrorist Imams rule the religion, preaching hatred against the gender-challenged; women are treated like third class citizens, forced to wear thick veils wherever they go; feminism is a dirty word; homosexuals are beaten and lynched.

But this has not always been the case. If you look at the earliest history of Islam, you'll find that the religion first drew adherents because of its respect for women.

Islam has been hijacked by the region's dominant patriarchal society. It is the religion's luck to be founded in the most patriarchal society in the world: Arabia. This is the region where, before Islam, female babies are buried alive with their placenta. The patriarchal society has skewed the religion to its views and needs.

An example:
Before the founding of Islam, men in Arabia are allowed to take as many wives as they like. Then Islam came along and limited the allowed wives to 4, and even then said "If you cannot be fair to them you should marry only one". This was a revolution, especially since another chapter of the Koran explicitly pronounced, "Men cannot be fair." Which means men cannot be fair to their wives, and are no longer allowed to be polygamous.

But what happened? The terrorist Imams skewed this perfectly good rhethoric and said that the "men cannot be fair" phrase only applied to business dealings and such. The imams then declared men can take four wives, making Islam one of the last remaining polygamous religions.

Hijacking. Pure and simple. It saddens me.

(4)
What about transsexuals? Check out Transsexuality in Iran in Wikipedia. This wiki shows that transsexuality is not only *allowed* in Islam, it is in fact nearly *obligatory* for certain cases. But this is *not* a popular fact in my community.

(5)
The current status of intersexed people within Islam: Imams do not like to admit it, but that is one aspect of Islam that is still purely unhijacked. The intersexed are still totally welcome in my religion. And I am oh so happy that we are.



Pandu W