Yasir Qadhi – How Should Muslim Students Interact with People who Identify as LGBTQ Q&A

			woman
		

			in
		

			the house
		

			nanny Mina mostly me
		

			I said I want to come to LA who are a cartoon Alhamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam or Isla Mala and
maybe a bad my barn. Welcome back to another q&a on our Tuesday episodes. And as usual, please
continue to send send me your emails and your questions at ask why Q at Epic Masjid dot O R G that
is ask why Q one word at Epic messages, one word, dot O R G. And please try your best to keep the
questions as generic as possible. And make sure that you just mentioned a name that I can mention
online and also a place that you're emailing are from so that I can also mention geographic
location. And once again, please do understand I cannot respond to individual emails, I
		

			Alhamdulillah inundated with hundreds of emails and I have to simply choose the ones for our broad
based audience to answer here in this lecture, so I cannot answer specific emails or else I don't
have the time to do that along with Stein along with Stein, in any case, inshallah today, disclaimer
that this is a live q&a That will be somewhat sexually explicit. And so Viewer discretion is
advised. And I would suggest that only those who are above the age of 15, listen to this, or you
know, if they're mature, 1314 years old, definitely not, you know, no need for the younger children
to listen to this one. So this is an email that I got from Sister Alia, and she is graduating from a
		

			high school here in America. She's in her final year of high school. She's a teenager, a young lady.
And she is saying that in her syllabus in her school, there's a lot of discussion regarding the
LGBTQ movement and issues. And in particular, she says regarding transgender issue now trying to
transgender issues. And she emails, you know, saying that, she understands that, you know, Islam has
its own views on the subject. And so in order to summarize her email, she wants to know how we, as
Muslims should view this entire spectrum, and also how she as a person in a particular high school
here in America, how she should interact to a lot of her classmates are identifying with one of
		

			these letters. And, you know, she's wondering, well, what should she do as a Muslim in a high
school? And in particular, she says that the trans question has really been brought up quite a lot
in her class. And there are people that identify within this spectrum. And so she's emailing me for
some spiritual, you know, advice and Islamic illumination in this topic.
		

			Now, this is a very, very, very sensitive topic. These days, as we're all aware, these types of
discussions are easily misunderstood. And people that are very rich and powerful and famous have
been what is called canceled because of because of saying things that are deemed to be politically
incorrect. And this shows us the sensitivities around this entire topic. In fact, many are pointing
out that these sensitivities are actually bordering on
		

			curbing or not allowing a discussion of an academic nature, even and very famous professors have
been disinvited from universities simply because they might have tweeted something about this
subject that is deemed to be controversial, as we're also aware, you know, even very famous authors,
the the author of the Harry Potter series, for example, also tweeted something that was deemed to be
incorrect, and it will cause a huge, you know, debate online, and this is a subject that our younger
students our next generation is asking, and so we cannot remain quiet to be honest. And I seek
Allah's help and, and protection from an evil that might happen in the end of the day. We as
		

			especially those who have trained in the Islamic sciences, it is our duty and responsibility to
clarify to mankind regardless of the consequences, so I ask Allah subhana wa Taala for his Hidayat
interfere Can I ask Allah for his protection? In the end of the day it is our job to clarify what
Islam says. And if we are truly sincere to the religion of Allah, then we must take in the criticism
of their criticism is incorrect, greatest criticized
		

			and face the consequences, but at the same time that does require, Allah does not ask us to be
foolish Allah asks us to be wise and to speak in a way that bility hear us and which ideal home
bility he is. And I say all of this because we are also seeing a counter reaction. And this is a
prelude to the entire conversation and the entire question, what we are seeing is an entire spectrum
of response to this question of the LGBTQ and how we deal with it. On the one hand, we have some
people of our faith and background, who seem to acquiesce to the pressure around them, or maybe
because they're not grounded in Islamic sciences are not really aware of what the Shetty says, or
		

			they don't understand what Islam came with, that they feel that if popular society is allowing it,
then they too should allow it. And so they fall into this, believing that Islam justifies this
entire spectrum. And that is, of course, extremely incorrect. And it shows a lack of knowledge and
perhaps a lack of commitment, even like our job is to submit to what our Sharia has come with us
what the goal of Islam is. So that is one extreme. You also have the other extreme in which people
seem to think that proclaiming the truth means that we speak in the most vulgar manner, and in the
harshest manner, and in the most unwise manner. And they think that bravery is the same as
		

			foolishness that so that the more foolish one is, and the more harsh one is, this is what the shitty
out requires. And this two shows, not to lack of commitment, but I will say it shows a lack of
knowledge, really, it shows a lack of experience as well, because again, generally speaking, we find
that this type of mentality, in particular, amongst what is typically called the Internet warriors,
because they don't do this in their own corporations. By the way, they don't do this in actual real
life. But they take comfort in the anonymity of the internet, or perhaps in the fact that the
internet is something that they can simply type on their computer screens, and they don't have to
		

			deal about in the real world. And so they act in an extremely unwise manner, thinking that Islam
asks them to preach the truth in a manner that is not meant to convince people, but rather, perhaps
turns away people. And if you look at our Prophet Lupe Alayhis Salam, who was sent to a nation that
was engaged in the height of this immorality, the first nation that publicly accepted this
immorality, why don't we look at the language he used, and the interactions he had with his people,
he lived in a land and in a city where this was the norm, and he must have interacted with them and
bought and sold his goods and foods and get all got along in society. You have to if you're living,
		

			you know, with people that you disagree with, you still have to get along with them at the social
level. And when he criticized them, he used a language that got the point across, for example, in
one famous verse, he said, In nearly American middle Colleen, that I am against the actions that you
do, these actions that you do, I don't like them. And so he kind of distinguished not that not that
theoretically, there is a distinguishment between the sin and the sinner, as some Christians saying
the end of the day, we as Muslims,
		

			we don't fully distinguish between the sin and the sinner, because when the sinner commits the sin,
the sin does exist within the sinner. And so to be a little bit philosophical, there is no sin
without the sinner committing the sin. So when we don't like the sin, we're also not liking one
aspect of the sinner who's committing the sin. But we can also appreciate the good of the sinner as
well. The point being when you're speaking to the sinner, when you're interacting with those that
are involved in fashion, evil, there is a way in a language that it will be the most effective, and
the Sharia asks us to be the most effective. This is very clear in the Quran, and in the
		

			interactions of the Prophet salallahu arsenal with the Quran that only those that are obstinate and
arrogant should we repel with a type of you know, anger and harshness, otherwise, the general public
that is unaware of the truth of Islam, the general public that don't really know our faith, we have
to preach in the best of manners and the wisest of words. And I say this because, you know, our
problem is we have this group of, you know, disgruntled, you know, youngsters that are very vicious
in their attacks against most of the mainstream clergy, most of the mainstream preachers, because
they view the mainstream preachers as being not harsh enough. And in reality, these preachers are
		

			inshallah embodying the prophetic model, the way that we're supposed to interact and preach and
teach. You get the message across right without insulting the person that you're trying to get the
message across to. So I say all of this as a disclaimer, because our young sister is emailing and
she wants an answer and the answers that my
		

			Self and many will give will be in sha Allah embodying the values of Islam couched in the language
that the Shetty eye wants us to interact with. And I hope that even in this there is a lesson even
in this there is a, a teaching moment of how we preach the truth unto others that was all the more
Kadima or the introduction. Now, our sister asks that, you know, how should we, as Muslims
understand this entire trend of the LGBTQ plus, you know, movement. And to respond to this, I began
that the first thing that we should always do is, understand where these things are coming from,
what is the origin, you know, of these types of trends, because all too often, we don't really
		

			understand that much of what is being discussed is actually relatively very recent, it's not
something that was defined in most of human history. In fact, to classify oneself or to classify a
human being based upon their sexual preference is actually an extremely modern phenomenon, I want
you to understand this point, right. So all of these the L is, you know, a lesbian, G is gay, B is
bisexual. So, these are, you know, your sexual preferences, who are you attracted to? Right, what
type of partner do you want to be with, to classify a human being based upon their choice of
sexuality is actually an extremely modern phenomenon. And one wonders that why is this preference
		

			why is this part of one's identity being made to be so important that it becomes the defining
characteristic, and it becomes something that you should actually have a label for, and categorize
people under and this is something that one should also look at, in with respect to another
phenomenon, and that is the fluidity of sexual preferences, ie it is well known and well documented,
that one's preference. So let me let me and again, this is an adult topics are allowed me to be a
little bit explicit here, that Allah created us differently. There's no doubt about that. And even
when it comes to intimacy, let's say normal heterosexual intimacy, some people have certain
		

			preferences over others, I'm talking about normal married couples, right? Would you take a sexual
preference? Would you take something that you are attracted to, you know, that turns you on more
that you prefer a position that you prefer, or something that you fetishize that might be
highlighted even because I have a longer talk, you could listen to it about, you know, what is
highlighted what is not held in the bedroom? Much of it is halal, right. But some people might like
certain things, others might like other things that Allah has allowed much spectrum of Halal in the
bedroom. Now, would it be something that you think is normal to categorize a human being based upon
		

			their sexual preference? Based upon which specific issue they like more than others? Does that make
sense? I mean, it's something that I have a particular like in cuisine, I like a particular color
better than others? Is this a defining characteristic that I should be calling myself The
Videography person? I like biryani more than I like, you know, another dish? For example, think
about it. Why is this personal preference becoming so important that an entire identity is being
created out of it? Even if we were to say that a particular person is attracted to the same or to
the opposite? Is it really something that is so more so important, definitively that it should be
		

			extracted out and a label be put on the person that this person should identify? And if we look at
history, in reality, this is an extremely relatively late phenomenon, it actually begins literally,
in the last generation, or even in the generation when I was a child growing up, basically. So it's
really kind of sort of our own generation. Of course, I'm not saying that
		

			same * intimacy is unheard of, of course, you know, back to the time of the Prophet, nobody has
done him it was well known. And historically, I'm simply speaking historically, that generally
speaking throughout almost all civilizations and cultures, especially those of the Judeo Christian
Islamic heritage, the Abrahamic heritage, that such acts as actions were deemed not just immoral,
but actually illegal that for the bulk of history of Judeo Christian, Western civilization, and
Eastern civilization, that people who are engaging in these actions and were caught would actually
be punished by the law. This is in western lands up until relatively recent times. And the rise of
		

			this movement really began. I mean, technically, one can say that 90, late 1970s, early 1970s. But
in reality up until the 80s, mainstream society did not view these trends as being something to be
embraced. Rather, they felt that these were trends that should not be put
		

			Besides, even if somebody is engaging in it don't make it center of attention. What's happening
behind closed doors, I mean, not everything needs to be publicized. This was the norm when I was
growing up in the 80s. And the term itself, the terms itself that were used to describe these
actions were actually pretty harsh if you like *, or burglary, or these types of things. It was
only relatively recently where a German psychiatrist invented the term homosexual, to make it more
sound more scientific. And in the 1960s, that movement embraced the term gay because they thought
that it was more positive and less shameful. And then with the advent of the women's rights in the
		

			1970s, the female equivalent wanted a term specific for them. So they coined the term lesbian, this
term did not exist until the 70s. They coined the term lesbian from the mythological island of
Lesbos, in which apparently there was a famous poet who was attracted or she was a female, she was
attracted to women. So there's a famous poet, so they kind of crafted a term from this. And then
afterwards, in the 70s 80s, the term bisexual was also made popular, the meaning attracted to both
genders. And then once again, in Germany, for some reason, a lot of this is going back to Germany,
the term transvestite was also used when * change operations began. And this is again relatively
		

			recent in this century of ours. Now the term LGBT was first coined, it is said around 1988 89,
relatively recent I was in high school at the time. So it's not that that you know, that old and
what historically what happened was these various trends, so lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender, these various trends decided that they should cooperate together to try to achieve
respectability and normalcy in society. Because as we all know, historically, or we should know that
each of these trends is of course distinct. And generally speaking, they were not viewed as
mainstream, they were not viewed as being within the norms of morality, even if they existed
		

			underground, they existed, you know, behind closed doors, but there's no need to popularize them. So
in the late 70s, early 80s, trends, these trends decided to come together. And to become very
public, the term coming out of the closet became popular that we should tell people that we are like
this, and we should have acceptability. And as more and more trends decided to join this, this
entourage or this bandwagon, so the terms began to be expounded. Until there was a point where there
was something called LGBTQ q ip to S A, this is actually a term here, lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, questioning, queer, intersex, pansexual, to spirit, androgynous asexual, all of these
		

			are there. And then it was just decided LGBTQ IA or maybe LGBTQ plus, and the plus here means
everything else, the plus here means basically, everything else now.
		

			We should be aware, and I'm speaking again to this question is asked by a teenager in high school.
So once again, I'm trying to explain, we should be aware that the DI D default of mankind, the way
that Allah created us, of course, is male and female. And the way that Allah created us the default
is that opposite genders attract and that marriage takes place and that within marriage intimacy
occurs, and that from that intimacy, families are formed and that families become the nuclear unit
of society. This is the norm throughout all of human history, and it is it was enshrined in laws for
the bulk of human history. This normative understanding is called hetero normativity, hetero
		

			normativity. And this is the claim that the default and preferred biological norm is to be
heterosexual. Now, hetero normativity is considered to be a bad thing by modern culture. But the
Abrahamic faiths are heteronormative. So here is the fundamental clash that to say what I have just
said that the default is that God created man in male and female, and that Allah azza wa jal
intended for the opposites to attract and get married, and have children and remain intimate only
within that marriage, that to even say this is considered a type of hate speech, even to say this
and believe it. So to believe therefore, that opposites attract and that's the way it should be, has
		

			become in the modern vernacular, something that is deemed to be hateful, and that is their
worldview. And another term that you should be aware of, is a
		

			cisgender and cisgender is a term that is used to indicate that the gender you identify with is the
same as the gender assigned to at birth. So there's something called biological * you are male or
female. And then there's something called Gender, how you identify. And once again, from the
Abrahamic traditions from the Bible and the Quran, the old the New Testament and the Quran, from
religious traditions, the gender you're born into, the gender you're born with, a male or female, is
the gender that you have for the rest of your life. And we're going to come back to this point as
well. However, once again, the normative understanding, biologically and
		

			religiously, is now being challenged. And to make this statement, once again, is being deemed to be
hate speech. So to be heteronormative, or to be promoting cisgender, ism, these are all technical
terms. That basically means you are biologically saying what most of mankind set for the bulk of its
history. But to claim this is to somehow be a part of the hateful movement against the rest of
mankind, what we are being taught, and perhaps, you know, this is something your syllabus is also
teaching you is that
		

			the notion of heterosexuality being the norm is something that has been reinforced via social
beliefs, politics, religion, policies, and media, and that it is time to challenge this, this is
what the new movement is saying, that we have to challenge this notion of heteronormativity. And we
should try to shake up this reality and understand that gender is something you have the right to
choose, you can adapt to any of this spectrum because you are an individual that is free to make any
choice that you want.
		

			Now, this is of course, something that we as Muslims, frankly disagree with, and we say that Allah
azza wa jal very clearly in the Quran says that He created you from a male and female and from these
two he spread forth multitudes of men and women by Theremin humare. Gel and Kathy run one is
		

			and Allah Subhana Allah to Allah says in the Quran that wala teman Noma football Allahu be Heba
Docomo Allah about literally jolliness Cebu Mactan Cebu, Wali Nisa in Cebu mimic the seven that do
not desire to have what Allah has given the each over the other and this is the verse is about
genders. And Allah is saying that do not be, do not be delirious, do not want to have the perks and
blessings of the other each one has literally Giardino see what it is in Aussie. Men have their
share whatever Allah has given them, and women have their share whatever Allah has given them. So
each of the two genders has basically a type of default gender roles, and a type of default of the
		

			Sharia. Now, again, much of these gender roles can be negotiated, they're not obligatory, but there
is a default of what is expected of the genders. And there is a default in the Shetty of what their
genders should and should not do. The entire books are filled basically, almost from beginning to
end have minor differences in law, about purification, you know, and about prayer rituals, and about
fasting and about Hajj, and about inheritance and about marriage and about divorce. Now throughout
all of this, these differentiations indicate that there is a reality difference between these two
genders. That having been said, This distinction is not meant to prefer one over the other the Quran
		

			is very clear what at the time and know that don't prefer what one has been blessed over the other
men have and women have. And Allah says that will document about them, the two of you are from each
other. And Allah says that whoever does good male or female, I shall give them the reward that they
deserve. And so the Quran is very clear, men and women are spiritually equal. The two are not more
or less human, they have the same potential to enter Jannah they have the same equality in the eyes
of Allah as human beings. However, Allah created men and women biologically different
psychologically different physiologically different intellectually and emotionally. Each one has
		

			perks that the other does not have. It's not that one has more than the other. No, it's that they
are different. Just like we can understand that two human beings to twins, if one goes to medical
school and one goes to architectural school for 10 years, and they practice and whatnot, their minds
are going to be different, their talents are going to be different, and therefore they're going to
have
		

			different roles? Well, if this is something that you can train, how about that? Which is
biologically embedded? How about that which are born with the XX chromosome, the X, Y chromosome?
How about your genitalia? How about your hormones, Allah created the two differently, is it
therefore surprising that as a default, the Sharia has come with a gender norm as well, that the
woman, the mother, the husband, the father, there are certain things that they are sometimes
required to do, the father is required to maintain and pay, you know, money to the wife into the
children, and sometimes it is understood and the Sharia encourages, but does not make binding. So
		

			all of this being said, the claim that hetero normativity and cisgender ism is something that should
be opposed and is unnatural, that is their claim. For us. It is biologically and rationally and
historically and religiously the norm, and there's nothing wrong with this. So one point, however,
that quite a lot of people ask is that how about, you know, people who are not male or female, and
they are born with maybe, you know, chromosomes that are in, you know, somewhat both? And this is
something that the Sharia does give a slight exception to, and that is called Hamza, Hamza, and
Hamza in English is called intersex. So, in this term, LG BT q i right, by the way, so in case
		

			somebody is not aware, so L means obviously lesbian, and that is, of course, you know,
		

			a woman attracted to a woman or a woman being with a woman, I'll g of course is gay means male
attracted to a male B is bisexual mean sometimes male, sometimes female, depending on what they're
attracted to. The term q by the way, people have done themselves different What is it over? Some say
that q should mean queer to keep the term because it was a term that was used back in the 70s and
80s. And some say q means questioning that you're still questioning all U L or U G, or or UB or
something else, right? So this is que te we're going to come to because our sister specifically
asked about T transgender, LGBTQ i A so this AI is intersex that's what this intersex is I and
		

			intersex is the only one of this entire you know long string of letters and different letters of the
alphabet is the only one that the Shetty has given a certain acceptability to in that yes, it does
exist what is Ay ay is intersex and intersex is somebody who is born with biological *
characteristics that aren't clearly male or female. Now, intersex itself is a very, very rare
phenomenon, perhaps 1% out of you know, several 100 people perhaps you know 1% would be categorized
as intersex and even within this there are around 40 Plus variations of intersex so basically little
bit less than in biology and I'm no biologist teacher so forgive me for being simple, but I don't
		

			want to you know make any mistakes. Obviously, the default of mankind 99 point something percent of
mankind are either born x x, which is woman female or x y which is male. So, x x is female and x y
is male, this is like 99 point something percent of mankind 1% or less, they have a permutation x x
y x y y x x. So, they have x xx they have multiple permutations which is considered to be not the
norm this is less than 1% This is intersex and there are 40 Plus such variations. Now, the majority
of those born within these variations are so trivial that they don't even know that they have an
issue until they become older and age and something happens either they are not able to have
		

			children or you know, their genitalia is not developing normally or something of this nature you
know maybe they don't have you know, if a woman she doesn't have her menstrual flow when medical
exam is done is discovered oh she is particularly like this, but they live their lives looking,
acting, talking and being one of the two genders there is only a very very very small group of
people. That is called complex intersex that's very true gonna model intersex and it's called that
and this is extremely rare Don't Don't quote me but I think is 0.001 present very, very rare, in
which there are both ovarian and testicular testicular tissues, you have a little bit of male and
		

			female. This is also called True hermaphrodite. or, excuse me, I'm not a biologist. Her math ro
defeatism true hermaphroditic ism. This is what is called in the Shetty. I can tell you the shady
terms with much more ease here.
		

			On almost kill the difficult hermaphrodite This is where perhaps both origins can be visible
biologically, and this is the one category intersects overall and the content which can in
particular, where the Shediac has said that, if an operation needs to be done, then yes, it may be
done that if
		

			one of the two genders you know can be preferred over the other, then that should be taking place no
problem. And so, there is some leeway given but even for this category, the Shediac says that one of
the two needs to be chosen, and then defaulted for the shitty our purposes, so, that person will be
treated like one of the two genders until they pass away. And so, this is the intersex category. And
as I said, they are the ones whose actual, you know, DNA, the biological characteristics are
different, and they are not simply xx, nor are they xy, their sexual chromosomes are varied. And
that category, much can be done surgeries if hormones need to be done, that's a very unique
		

			category. And they are known by testing and sometimes at birth. But as I said, sometimes they aren't
even aware until they themselves are older. So and by the way, this term LGBTQ I a, what is a by the
way, I forgot to mention a, a is for asexual, that those who don't find themselves attracted to any
sexual orientation. And if a person is asexual, there's no problem in that. So there's no need to
put it in this in this long list. A person is not required to get married, and a person can live a
life without any partner. So there's no problem from a shittier perspective to be the A in this and
there's no need to make this any issue. If a person has no desires whatsoever. And there are a few
		

			people that are like that, they may just live their lives as a single human being, or if they want
to find a partner of the opposite gender who has a similar and they are aware of the situation. And
they want to live like this no problem that is also possible. By the way, just FYI. So this plus at
the end, right? It basically means a whole spectrum of things. The last time I checked, there's
something called you know, well, I don't want to mention the website. But there are websites out
there that talk about these things for for purposes.
		

			of education, I looked I logged on to this a few weeks ago to prepare a lecture. The plus category
when I logged on last I checked, it had more than 214, nine different categories of them. Just to
give you an idea is pansexual. Someone who can feel sexual attraction to any person in the spectrum
of them is gender queer, someone who doesn't identify with either male or female, their identity
doesn't fit in with what society has deemed male or female of them is gender fluid, someone who
feels their identity changes, depending how they feel. There's a third gender, there's a demo
gender, a week, or partial connection to one gender. So if a boy sometimes feels like a girl, that
		

			would be a demeyere. Girl, there's by gender, Pan gender, a gender, and I can go on and on and on.
So that plus category is simply an indication of lots of different, you know, fine differences
between this notion of how one wants to identify. Now, my point being from the shifty eyes
perspective, and I've given longer talks about this.
		

			We look at sexuality in a very different manner. Sexuality is a gift from Allah when it is used
properly. And it could be a test if it is used improperly. And the fact that we have sexual desires
as normal, there's nothing wrong with that. And Allah created us upon the default, and the default
is to be attracted to the opposite gender. And we're supposed to control that default until we get
married, and use that sexual energy to solidify the marriage and to have children and to maintain a
happy bond between couples. That's the ideal and the norm, does not mean that no alternatives exist,
of course, they do exist. And throughout human history, there have been aberrations, these
		

			aberrations don't need to become the norm, nor should they need to be publicized more than it needs
to. And if a person falls into one of them, and commits a sin that is between that person and Allah,
they don't need to make a normative tradition about it. There are things that happen that shouldn't
happen. Adultery happens, it shouldn't happen. If it does happen. Should we go and publicize it?
Should we make a category of people these are the adultery people and they're identifying as a
adultery people and we want people to accept them because they're engaging in adultery. You know,
sometimes if a indiscretion happens, we ask Allah for forgiveness as between us and Allah, but to
		

			propagate it like adultery. Let's make adultery the norm. Let's say Right, let's make this something
a part of this entire spectrum. Let's put a category for those that commit adultery. Why should
anybody disrespect us consenting adults, our society has not yet deemed adultery to be acceptable.
So it's not on this list. We understand it doesn't make any sense to publicize this at
		

			As a category, we should understand the same applies to every other aspect, especially the LGBTQ as
for intersex is beyond their control. As I said, it's not something that anybody should be ashamed
of a look, you know, created in that way, and they're able to allow surgery or whatnot. So our
sister asks about the gender the term t, in particular, transgender. And transgender is a very broad
term. And it has underneath it many categories. But the main aspect that unites all of them is that
a transgendered person is not content with their biological * that they're born into, as I said,
that movement differentiates between gender and *. So you're born with a biological * male or
		

			female, then they say, you might identify with a gender as you grow up, you can choose your gender,
As for us, your gender should be the same as your biological *. If Allah created you, you know,
xx, or Allah created you x y, then your gender and your * are either male or female. And for only
the intersex people that less than 1%, we can, you know, do surgeries if need be, or take hormones
or whatever. And we will ascribe them to one of the two categories for the purposes of this world
for the purposes of legal rulings for the purposes of inheritance and whatnot. Now, so as we said,
transgender is a broad term. And it basically means that a person wants to choose a gender that is
		

			not the same as their as their biological gender. So transgender is the opposite of cisgender
cisgender, you're born male, you want to be a male, you're born female, you want to be a female, and
for us Abrahamic traditions, we think that is the normative tradition. As for transgenderism,
there's three different things. And again, I'm being very simplistic because this is not the time to
go to a lot of detail. There's three aspects we can look at, number one, gender dysphoria, number
two, gender expression, and number three, gender transition, this is going to be the three things,
gender dysphoria, gender dysphoria, is the belief that biological *, and the gender that you
		

			assume are not matching up. So you're born male, but you feel female, you're born female, but you
feel male. Okay? Gender Dysphoria is that the biological * you were born into, does not match the
way you feel and you want to be treated, and your internal perception. And gender dysphoria in and
of itself, is something that the Shetty I would classify as feelings. And as I have said many times,
feelings in and of themselves are not going to be held accountable, nor shall they be sinful. Even a
person who has same * feelings or is not going to be punished for those feelings. Feelings will
not get you punished by Allah subhanahu wata either, it's doing more than feelings. So perhaps at
		

			some level, gender dysphoria is really not something that we as Muslims should consider to be
anything that is said to be looked down upon. On the contrary, if a person comes to us struggling
with this, we should help them in this regard, except that ALLAH has tested people with different
trials, and this might be a particular trial for them. So gender dysphoria and I have spoken to a
number of people that have come to me with this. And I have, and I continue to learn, I'm always
going to say this is something that, you know, it's not a very common phenomenon or subculture so we
will learn and interact and see. So gender dysphoria in and of itself, we don't understand why this
		

			is the case. Perhaps there are biological factors, perhaps there are, you know, cultural factors of
upbringing, whatever it might be, in the end of the day, it is a feeling and if nothing is done to
act upon that feeling, we will tell this person, our brother in faith, our sister and faith that you
know, indeed, the way that you feel is something that you don't have to decipher the act upon and
try your best to maintain the gender that you were born into. Because our Prophet sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam said that Allah's curse is upon the man who is effeminate, and the woman who is masculine,
the Model X masculine. So the man who acts effeminate, I should say, not chained, let me change the
		

			Hadith, the man who acts effeminate and the woman who acts you know, in a masculine manner, so as
long as you don't act in that manner, then this is something that the shady I will not consider to
be something sinful. The second is gender expression in which you are male or you are female, but
you act out you dress in the manner of the opposite gender, and this is also called being a
transvestite or being a drag queen. So you might identify even with the gender of your birth, you're
going to say I'm a male, and you were born biologically male, or I'm a female and you're born
biologically female, but for whatever reason, either permanently or temporarily, you will
		

			dressed and you will act like the opposite gender, and perhaps even you will want to identify with
the pronouns of the opposite gender. And for us as Muslims, we say, that is not something that is
acceptable. And we need to curb this and not do it if we believe in Allah and His messenger. So this
is gender expression, that our Prophet system said that this is something that this is something
that the divine curse is upon, we do not act out. There are there are characteristics and traits
that are masculine, there are characteristics and traits that are feminine. Now, if it's beyond our
control, some men speak in a very soft voice. Some women have a deep voice, obviously, this is
		

			beyond your control, but to go beyond what you are born with, and to act and dress, and be
pretending to be of the other gender, that is not something that we do. And then the third point and
the final point gender transition, which is actually taking hormones or doing a surgery in which you
physically change your organs. This is gender reassignment surgery, this is also called a
transsexual, transsexualism. And this is something that the Shetty does not allow no fifth Council
in the world to the best of my knowledge that is Sunni there. It is true that non Sunni, there's a
particular famous Ayatollah that has allowed it, but Sunni fifth councils have not and no mainstream
		

			scholars, there are a few voices on the perimeters that are willing. But generally speaking, this is
not something that is considered to be permissible. And once again, not every feeling and not every
desire needs to be acted out. There are some desires and feelings that are painful and difficult.
Some people are attracted to alcohol, some people are attracted to drugs, some people are attracted
to other things. Some of these attractions might be permissible, if you're attracted to the opposite
gender, you want to get married. That's all permissible. Some of these attractions are not
permissible. If they're not, they must be curbed and not acted upon. So to conclude, this is a very
		

			sensitive topic. I know, much more needs to be said. But our sister from high school asked a very
basic question. And so to respond to this question, we say that we need to contextualize this
movement, understand that much of this movement is trying to mainstream, what might be have existed
but not necessarily been mainstream. As Muslims, we must preach the truth. But that doesn't mean we
treat anybody rudely. We treat everybody with the dignity and respect that a human being deserves.
Just because I disagree with somebody's lifestyle doesn't mean I have to be rude to them. We're
polite to everybody. We're polite to even people who don't believe in God or worship a false god. So
		

			you can be polite to everybody in your class. But at the same time, you know, your close friends and
those whom you associate with on a more personal level, you should they should be people who have a
positive influence on you, and follow the faith and the morality and the traditions that you believe
in. And also in this issue of the trans issue. We say if somebody feels a particular way, they
should try their best to control the feelings if they act upon it. That is where things occurred
that we believe are immoral, and even if that acting occurs, doesn't leave the fold of Islam. They
should repent, turn back to Allah subhana wa Tada and Allah forgives all sins, may Allah subhana wa
		

			Tada guide all of us to that which he loves. And may Allah subhanaw taala protect all of us in our
loved ones in our families. Until next time, we'll look at Santa Monica rahmatullah wa barakato.
		

			In Mussolini, now almost Lima Do you want meaning Well, Mina team will call needy now look on
neither team was loading Pina was slowing the bond he was on Dino a slob your auntie one for sharing
you know wonderful she
		

			wasn't for Shireen. I want to follow she I think one downside btw now one downside the importing was
slow on me I was or
		

			what have you Lena photo gentleman wasn't happy award it was good enough. Guess
		

			what the guild on I don't know who
		

			nauseam