Transsexualism in Malaysia: Syariah Court annuls same-sex marriage
Art by CHUAN ZUI
By ANA A.
This month, the Syariah Court annulled Mohd Sufian Mohamad and Zaiton Aziz’s marriage. The court issued the couple a permanent divorce, despite Zaiton Aziz saying that she was in a physically and emotionally satisfying union.
The judge who presided over the case declared the same-sex marriage illegitimate because of Mohd Sufian’s original gender designation.
According to a New Straits Times article, three doctors had conducted physical examinations and blood tests on Mohd Sufian and concluded that he is a woman.
The doctors should have conducted a psychological or psychiatric evaluation to determine Mohd Sufian’s state of mind.
I recently searched for images on Mohd Sufian.
Zaiton Aziz and Mohd Sufian. Photo from NST
Photographs like the one above show that Mohd Sufian does not identify himself as a woman. It is safe to say that Mohd Sufian identifies himself as a man.
Mohd Sufian’s gender condition is called transsexualism or what is clinically known as Gender Identity Disorder (GID).
Individuals with GID strongly identify with members of the opposite sex, and may choose to appear and behave like them. That said, many transgendered individuals are opposed to describing their condition as a mental disorder. It’s not a matter of choice. It’s natural.
For more information on GID, read this.
Had Mohd Sufian lived in Canada and European countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark, Finland and Sweden and the United Kingdom, he would be able to go for sex reassignment therapy and surgery. And get federal financial support for it too.
Mohd Sufian would also be able to change his gender identity. In fact, should Mohd Sufian, or rather Mazinah Mohamad (as listed in his birth certificate), have opted to do so, his marriage would have been legitimate.
Even ultra conservative Iran condones sex reassignment surgeries. This was the result of a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1983.
Unfortunately for Mohd Sufian, Malaysian Muslim transsexuals are not as lucky as their Iranian counterparts.
Teh Yik Koon mentions in his paper, “Mak Nyahs in Malaysia: The Influence of Culture and Religion on their Identity,” that transsexuals in Malaysia are constantly harassed by Syariah officers and the police.
A majority of the transsexuals interviewed by Teh are resigned to the fact that they are legally and religiously prohibited from performing sex reassignment operations. Most Malaysian Muslim transsexuals appear to have imposed self-restrictions because they want to avoid complications during their Islamic funerals when they die.
Other reasons cited in the paper were the lack of financial means and local resources to make the surgeries possible.
Non-muslim Malaysian transsexuals and Muslim hermaphordites are a little luckier as they can undergo sex-change operations. According to a 1983 fatwa issued by the Conference of Rulers in Malaysia, Muslim hermaphrodites are the only ones in the Muslim Malaysian community allowed to undergo these surgeries.
Islam is the most sex-positive monotheistic religion. It recognizes sex as a natural part of human procreation and recreation. Because of this, current Malaysian attitudes towards the community is at odds with Islam. In addition, Islam did recognize mental health as an important issue in the 10th century. Thus, people who practice this faith should be more tolerant of those who have Gender Identity Disorder (GID).
One can contend that Mohd Sufian and Zaiton Aziz got married to legitimize their relationship. Therefore the Syariah Court’s decision to part them will only send a negative message to the LGBT community (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) and straight folks in Malaysia.
The Syariah Court in Malaysia needs to rethink its position on transsexualism and sex reassignment treatments. It should have just allowed Mohd Sufian to officially change his gender. That would have satisfied Syariah Judge Che Saufi Che Husin’s decision for Zaiton Aziz and Mohd Sufian to be wife and husband, and lead a “normal” married life.
The court should have also considered the couple’s satisfaction with their five-year marriage.
Besides, isn’t allowing them to be legally married in line with Islamic law?
After all, Mohd Sufian and Zaiton Aziz simply wanted to be together in the proper Muslim way.
–
ANA A. is a contributing writer for theCICAK.
Ana enjoys Silicon Valley as much as her fulfilling and satisfying relationship with her girlfriend. Love you, CCM. Ana is planning on tackling same-sex marriage rights next!
CHUAN ZUI is a graphic artist for theCICAK.
Zui is almost an Otaku but hates big-chested anime characters. He is a twisted weirdo because of his islander kiasuness, a result of living his early childhood in Singapore. Zui is an artist of few words. Visit his site.
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Comment of the week
I defend my right as a Malaysian to talk about anything that concerns Malaysia.
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wow what an unbelievable article!
I just wanted to comment harsh words but when I think again, it will be deleted..
so lets just say “UNBELIEVABLE ARTICLES!!”
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i just wished you (or the original source) had never uploaded her picture. shouldn’t the privacy of these ppl be protected?
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I got this one randomly on Facebook, and now it’s stuck in my head.
“A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”
- Winston Churchill
So I decided to start commenting on this one now. Although, I won’t say much.
Just that I hope Ana A. keeps on fighting for these issues, especially the one “she wishes to tackle next”.
Although, I can personally state that I don’t see the current government nor the next 2 governments doing anything to acknowledge any of these agendas. The conservatives are still too powerful.
And even if it was allowed, I would think our “official religion”, which is mine as well, would disallow the liberties granted in the future upon Muslims.
C’est la vie’.
I for one would start a different cause. The cause to allow these individuals to migrate overseas to live the life they wish, free from the grasp of conservatives here.
But then, that’s just me.
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its not their fault. Its purely genetic although some cases could be due to socialization. besides, its bad enough for them to face the social stigma that comes with being gay.
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2 wrongs doesn’t make a right. Just because other countries are allowing their people to perform sex reassignment operations doesn’t mean it is OK, and that we should follow suit.
Actually, it depends. If you look at it from a secular point of view, then they should be allowed to be married legally. But from a religious view, Mohd Sufian and Zaiton Aziz’s marriage is illegal, no doubt.
There’s no doubt that the SYARIAH court looks at it from the religious point of view.
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yuhhhhhhhhhhh malasia yuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
disgraceful malasia disgraceful
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I think these people (transsexuals) need support from the comunity. I think I can safely say that many of us want to help these people, but we are not sure how.
Protesting? What if we are caught?
I feel we are afraid. Plain afraid to stand up and voice our opinions. I think the author is really brave.
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I find it sad that the Syariah court doesn’t take the couple’s happiness into account.
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its ilegal to live them like that.just sepreat them
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Emptyspace: I’d like to hear your opinion anyway..
Eon: The picture came from NST website. The picture is public to begin with. I don’t think exposure would hurt the couple. My hope is the more people who know and understand their situation, the better the situation will be for other individuals. Short term, perhaps some legal group can help Aziz and Zaiton with their cause
Aput: Thanks for your fantastic comments. Truth be told, its a shame that I can only feel comfortable practicing my religion and my lifestyle in a country outside my own. Equal shame is that the couple’s best short term hope is to move outside the country too..
Democratic Junkie: Exactly my point, GID is a psychological often irrevocable state of mind. We need to recognize and help these individuals at a state and religious level. Although a point I’d like to make is in the case of Zaiton and Aziz, I don’t think I would consider the relationship gay since Aziz is a guy and Zaiton is a woman. The relationship is a straight relationship but for Aziz’s inability to recognize his true gender.
E.C: Maybe it boils down to which fatwa is more appropriate with the times. Is recognizing one’s true gender wrong?
Turkey: Well I won’t say that the whole of Malaysia is being disgraceful. I’d say a handful of folks need to expand their train of thought.
MeiSze: Thank you, I think you already started by expressing sympathy. Sometimes movements can start simply from a place of understanding and knowledge. Spread the word. Sympathize and educate next time you encounter a similar situation.
Squigglylion; Yah me too
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poor guy. so this sufian is a khunsa right? have both genitals or doesn’t have one at all. what should he do when it comes to worship routines? like going for mass prayer on friday etc. there so many things that should be investigated and i believe the case should get opinions from mufti and religious officer as well. scientist and doctors also can provide information and investigate, to help the religious officers to settle the case. he/she is a victim of situation. i wonder why don’t they get help from syeikh qardhawi. his opinion and knowledge is ultimately broad.
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I’m really on the fence about this. Although I have nothing against people deciding to be gay, bi etc and I believe that you have the right to be whoever and whatever you want to be and nobody has that same right to tell you otherwise, I have no issues with the decision made by the Syariah court. It may not only be the married couple’s marriage status in question, but also the conscience of the person making this decision. Honestly, if i was put in the same position as the Syariah judge, being a Muslim myself, I couldn’t allow it as well as I will have to live with it for the rest of my life, knowing that I allowed something I knew that was clearly against my religion. I know that that may seem selfish and that it slightly contradicts what I said earlier but being gay, bi etc is different from being married to a gay, bi etc. That’s where I see the difference anyway, I don’t know about anybody else. But by all means, if these people want to get married in those other countries that the author has mentioned, go ahead, I have no qualms. That’s my view on this matter.
But I wish the author all the best, nonetheless =)
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I got a feeling we have this talk before.
Actually I think the issue here is, how in the world did they get married in the first place “legally” and then suddenly being made to divorce is my question.
I guess the Syariah Court weren’t doing much of their homework before pronouncing them men and wife or in this case maybe wife and wife?
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how in this world . people think men and men or women and
women should get married. if that continues. dont u people
think very soon the world will be short of human power.
so who will be left to replace us after our death. means the lower animal can take over the world?? foolish western ideas
nigerian living in malaysia
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There are six BILLION people in the world. We have overrun the earth. I highly doubt a few million same sex marriages would dangerously impact our human population count.
Millions of homeless orphans starve to death every year. When these men marry men and women marry women nuptials occur, they often adopt - giving life and future to those who had none.
Also, there are heterosexual marriages who never have or adopt children. Should they be prosecuted for non-contribution to our bulging population?
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I have nothing against the LGBT community, trust me, I have friends who are lesbians. But in this particular case, they are both Muslim. It states clearly in the Quran that same-sex marriages are not allowed, and the both of them being Muslim should already know that or at least aware of such law. I agree that both of them were granted a permanent divorce and their marriage was annulled.
Maybe they should get help.
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Excellent journalism. See also the web site Transgender Asia run by Dr Sam Wnter.
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the issue at hand is technically, very related to religion. the religion of Islam. what have been discussed before is actually taken at surface level only and did not include any reference to the religion that both these people believe in. if they are true Muslim, they will know that same- sex marriage, eventhough after undergoing operations to change the gender, is still illegitimate and not permissible.
from what has been said by Ana A, GID or rather, transgendered individuals, to me, face problems or rather confusion between what they think they are (men @ women) and what they actually (physically) are born with. this is the problem of the mind. if “he” is actually a “she”, but “he” can’t accept it, can she just turn around and change what has been perfectly given to them by the Creator? if “he” faces any health problems because of that (the khunsa for exampe) islam does permit for operations to be done, but to change what is already been given is another different question altogether.
i want to post a question here. if one thinks that he is in love with a monkey, can he just turn around (not considering about the religion, law or what other people say) and marry the monkey? this is just the same situation. intention can’t permits the doing.
marriage is a sacred thing that our society nowadays have failed to protect. let’s come together and really ponder about what is the real objective of marriage and please don’t allow any such crooked idea about marriage cloud our minds. just think about what the future of our children will be if same- sex marriage is allowed to be spread what we have now.
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In all fairness, sex change is not possible when Islam arrives. It was not possible then, so hence there was no such law on this. Can anyone for sure says that these is really forbidden in Islam? Or is it based on what they feel it should be forbidden? It is sad that people likes to take a simple religion like Islam and makes it a difficult one. People would take interpretations that it is not allowed for a man to dress as a woman as transsexualism, which is not true. Islam do forbids these to prevent transvestism, but at no such incidence does transsexualism appears in the picture then.
The interpretations by people on whether sex change and their marriages are allowed are only based on people’s opinion. As this thing never existed back then during the Prophet’s time, a Fatwa must be issued. However, it is sad that the Malaysian fatwa was issued to cause more heartache to those who are born as transsexuals. It is also sad that the transsexuals who have undergo sex change surgery and yet are not allowed to be married and live a normal life. Everyone is born with sexual desires, and what will this only achieve? Impose a restrictions on these couples and ask them to commit adultery for the rest of their life instead? Marriage is suppose to prevent couples from committing adultery. Sure, people will say, these couples should not engage in sexual activities and must live their life sex-free. Why don’t these people try doing the same thing, no partner from young until they die and see whether they can live their life without having sex even once.
Iran & Egypt, in fact, the Al Azhar (The Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs), allows for sex change - ‘A man can undergo an operation to become a woman and a woman can do the reverse if a doctor deems the intervention necessary to bring out signs of femininity or masculinity which are present but hidden’. The Egyptian Fatwa is also where Malaysia would seek fatwa advises from too, yet the fatwa for this doesn’t seems to match the fatwa issued by Al Azhar. Transsexualism is a medical problem and sex reassignment surgery is how this medical problem can be resolved. We see many babies born with some medical problems that can be rectified in the modern technology but we do not impose such restrictions on them too. Transsexualism is a medical problem.
It is sad that a transsexual can change sex and marry in Egypt and Iran, yet it is not allowed in other countries, despite the same religion, all because of the differences in the fatwas issued. Does this means a person should emigrate to the country the fatwas will help recognize them in Islam?
My heart goes to the couples and to all those are suffering in Malaysia due to this rulings.
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[…] Read the full article at: thecicak.com […]
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[…] of hate crime as well as of judicial and spiritual neglect. For example, as per my article on Transsexualism in Malaysia, transgendered Malaysians with the exception of hermaphrodites have no judicial rights to official […]
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