# Does Islam allow gender transition for someone diagnosed with gender dysphoria?

*Gender dysphoria in Islam, and not creating doubt in children*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/llllbkdgra4/s/1/
- Date: 2019-08-14 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: What does Islam say about Gender Dysphoria? | Mufti Abu Layth (0:00–5:11)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llllbKdGrA4&t=0s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/llllbkdgra4/

**Topics:** Sexuality and orientation; Medical questions; Raising children

**Question as asked:** What does Islam say about gender dysphoria? If diagnosed, can one undergo a gender transformation?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Where there are legitimate biological concerns and medical input, he believes it is permissible, but he opposes sowing doubt about gender in children.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says he believes there is permissibility where there are legitimate biological concerns, with medical experts giving their input.

**Evidence, his words at 1:18:** “where these cases are legitimate biological concerns I believe that there is permissibility where there are legitimate biological concerns and the medical experts can have their input” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llllbKdGrA4&t=78s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth defines gender dysphoria as a person being confused about their gender or feeling they are the other gender, joking about how many genders there now are. He says that where there are legitimate biological concerns, with input from medical experts and the person's own introspection, he believes there is permissibility and that Islam caters for it. He then says some people are creating unnecessary confusion: if someone is gay that is their life and nobody has the right to persecute them, and he has no problem with schools telling children that some men marry men and some women marry women. What he opposes, calling it a form of abuse, is putting doubt into children about whether they are really a boy or a girl, citing a reported school exercise requiring a love letter to a friend of the same gender, which he says would be disgusting if true.

## Transcript (machine tier, 0:00–5:11)

[0:00] of course of course what does Islam say about gender dysphoria if diagnosed can one undergo a gender transformation you see I want to speak about this let me there people all right let me loosen up right gender dysphoria right so look gender dysphoria is when a person is confused about their gender or they feel they are the other gender nowadays we get confused how many genders are they I

[0:38] was like are they still two are we still running on two worries they like s tempers and what's going on what do we you see so people like as a man you say I want to be I'm actually a woman trapped inside a man's body Oh as a woman you go one day mmm I'm actually a man assault on Rio trapped inside a woman's body and I think you see there are multiple issues to be tackled here one issue is that like first of all

[1:18] where these cases are legitimate biological concerns I believe that there is permissibility where there are legitimate biological concerns and the medical experts can have their input and say what those issues on the person can have their own introspective analysis and I feel Islam does it has a catering element for that I do believe that but I want to come to some other very important points here you see I think part of this new age people are creating unnecessary confusion

[1:57] I understand look if somebody is gay let them be that's their life it's their choice and nobody has the right to persecute them I support that I believe that okay now but the back of all of this there's this push to kind of enable confusion that oh are you really a boy are you really a girl you can be a girl if you want young oh you you can be a woman you can be just putting unnecessary doubt into people children they want to put doubt

[2:35] into children I think that is bang out of order I am honestly firmly against creating doubt for children that I think that is a form of abuse I think it's good to add this level what you should say to children is look when you're discussing things like let's say gender roles or sorry like relationships you could say look husband wife like they teach children like my young daughter is 4 4 years old and she's she knows the concept husband wife she knows these things she's seen it on TV she see now let's say in real life she see me she's

[3:15] been told about our school now to say look this is how it happens by the way some people might get married if they want to and they haven't done this in at her school but if they wanted to say look some people get married even men some men get married and some women get married to themselves I think that's fine I've got personally no problem if they want to say that you can say that look that if they do that that's fine some men and men get married some women and women get married but generally you have this husband wife scenario right okay that I'm some Muslims are against that I'm not I think that's fine

[3:52] homosexual people do exist in societies and there's no harm in in creating creating an awareness about that but what is wrong is to kind of say to these children that oh just because you look like a girl doesn't mean you're a girl do you want to be a boy you know do you feel you're a boy you can be a boy if you want to be a boy you know or saying to a boy oh just because you look like a boy doesn't mean you do you want do you want to be a girl do you want a girl's name I heard I I was seriously so shocked if this be true I heard there was a school that said as a mandatory task

[4:32] that you have to write on Valentine's Day a letter to a love letter to the Sun a friend of the same gender if that be true that is disgusting that is abuse you can't do these kind of things you can't say you have to write a lovely you can't a look it write a lovely even if it's to the same gender that's your choice but you can't say write a lot everybody today's exercise we're going to everybody is going to be gay and we're going to write a letter to you that you can't be forcing these kind of things on children and confusing them

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment llllbKdGrA4/s/1. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/llllbkdgra4/s/1/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.