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Islam

Every religious tradition has its own unique forms of mysticism in which spiritual experience is emphasized over religious doctrine.  In Islam, the main mystical practice is Sufism.  Sufis place great emphasis on the power of love to unite the devotee with God.  According to Leonard E. Hudson in his article, Islamic Mysticism and Gender Identity –

God and man are separated "by the illusion of self and only by Love can self be overcome and the mystic attain to...Union with Him and so become one with the Real Being, the True Beloved." Once fana is attained, the mystic may find baqa, "'duration, remaining with God'" or "a new life in God." It seems that Love, because it encompasses so much, is the final and most important stage in attaining fana and baqa. It is even suggested by the great Sufi Mansur al-Hallaj (858-922), that Love is of greater importance than faith. The key to the Sufi brand of mysticism, therefore, is the pure Love of God and only God. (Full text available here .)

Even though Allah is considered male, most Sufis envision divinity as female, thereby avoiding any kind of homoerotic sentiments that would be frowned upon in Islam.  But some Sufis follow a path similar to the bridal mysticism practiced by Christian mystics.  They envision themselves as being female in their loving relationships with God.

Sufi scholar Annemarie Schimmel comments on the practice of bridal mysticism in Islam, writing in Religion and the Body, edited by Sarah Coakley –

It may seem amazing that even in a traditional setting where woman was usually referred to in rather deprecating remarks, a kind of bridal mysticism could develop.  En early Sufi said: “The saints are God’s brides, but only the close ones (mahram) can see the brides,” for God is jealous of the and not everyone has access to them. (Page 280)

Islamic scholars provide the theological basis for the Sufis’ bridal mysticism.   In his introduction to Ibn al Arabi’s Bezels of Wisdom, translator R.W.J. Austin describes al Arabi’s view of the friendship between God and the prophet Abraham –

The friendship, therefore, is of the most intimate kind; indeed it is, as the title of the chapter suggests, more like the rapturous love by which the lover is wholly permeated by the beloved.  (page 90)

Islamic Law and Transsexualism

Islam has limited tolerance for gender-deviant persons.  Some interpretations of shariya Muslim law state that homosexuality is punishable by death.  Transgendered people, too, are subject to discrimination based on Islamic law.  According to Faris Malik in his article, Queer Sexuality and Identity in the Qur'an and Hadith –

There are other hadiths (Bukhari LXXII 61.773 and 62.774) against cross-dressers in which the Prophet specifically curses "males" who imitate women and women who imitate "males," and in which the consequence of their malfeasance is that he "evicts them from the houses." The specification of "males" is made very explicit:
 

61.773 The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, cursed female-impersonators who are males, and the male-impersonators who are women.

62.774 The Prophet, peace be upon him, cursed the effeminates who are males, and the male-pretenders who are women, and he said: Evict them from your houses. (Full article available here .)

Surprisingly, some Muslim religious authorities have recently ruled that transsexualism is a physiological disease, curable by surgery.   According to the Wikipedia -

Iran has between 15,000 and 20,000 transsexuals, according to official statistics, although unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 150,000. Iran carries out more gender change operations than any country in the world besides Thailand. Sex changes have been legal since the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution, passed a fatwa authorizing them nearly 25 years ago. Whereas homosexuality is considered a sin, transsexuality is categorized as an illness subject to cure.  (Full article available here. )

The text of a fatwa (religious edict) issued on June 8, 1988 allowing gender reassignment surgery for transsexuals is reproduced in Sex Change in Cairo: Gender and Islamic Law by Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen, published in The Journal of the International Institute. (volume 2, number 2) –

That being so, the rulings derived from these and other noble hadiths on treatment grant permission to perform an operation changing a man into a woman, or vice versa, as long as a reliable doctor concludes that there are innate causes in the body itself, indicating a buried [matmura] female nature, or a covered [maghmura] male nature, because the operation will disclose these buried or covered organs, thereby curing a corporal disease which cannot be removed, except by this operation.  (Full text available here .) 

To help transsexuals avoid the religious sin of homosexual activity, Iran even helps to cover the costs of their gender reassignment surgeries.  This policy has supposedly led some non-transsexual gay men to undergo surgery to avoid punishment for homosexual activity.

Resources:

Wikipedia includes articles on Transexuality in Iran  and LGBT rights in Iran .  

An article from Iranian.com  - Truth of sex: While trans-sexuality in Iran is made legitimate, homosexuality is insistently reiterated as abnormal.

Critical Montages  blog includes an interesting article, Changing Sex, Changing Islam.

An article from the New York Times  - As Repression Eases, More Iranians Change Their Sex.

The Safra Project has resources for Muslim LBT women.   

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