Any brothers here from Egypt? I learned today that some Muslims in Egypt greet the unbelievers with "Islam Alaikum" instead of "Assalam Alaikum" and that it drives the coptic christians batty. True?
I don't know but that just strikes me as being totally hilarious.
I have a question about my little brother. In the past I haven't had much to do with him but recently he has been seeking religious advise from me. Problem is I really don't know what to tell him except that I have given him a copy of the Qur'an and advised him to study it diligently.
Here is the problem. My brother suffers from gender identity disorder - he's a transsexual. For those who aren't familiar with GID, Anna believes he is mentally and emotionally female and he has doctors aplenty who will confirm that to be so. There are male brains and female brains and Anna's brain is wired up like a female.
This isn't something like homosexuality or transvestism that develops in puberty or later. Anna has always been this way since he was old enough to speak. He has always been a sissy - even downright prissy and has preferred female clothing, toys, etc. since he was a very small child. He has always insisted he is a girl.
When Anna was a kid my parents took him to a lot of different doctors all to no avail as their therapies only created new problems that made him even more dysfunctional. Then when he was 11 they took him to a specialist in Boston who diagnosed him as being afflicted with Gender Dysphoria and he has been a research subject ever since. Now at age 21, Anna is in the final stages of sexual reassignment. He has been taking female hormones for about two or three years and is now permanently sterile and impotent. He will probably have his first surgery within a year. Everything about him - his appearance, mannerisms, emotional patterns, voice etc. are completely feminine. To see him is to see a happy and upbeat young woman. A quite beautiful woman at that. If I pointed him out to you and said 'that is a man' I have no doubt your response would be something to the effect of "No Way!".
Recently one of Anna's transsexual friends died of cancer and he has since taken an interest in religious matters. I have been trying to point him in the right direction but to be honest, I'm not sure what if anything the Qur'an has to say about GID. I have discussed it with the brothers at the mosque but their opinion is derived from Hadeeth that refer IMO to transvestism rather than transsexualism. I can find nothing in the Qur'an about it. If all he was were a homo or transvestite I'd just tell him to straighten up and be a man but I just don't think it is possible for him. There is no man in there. So I'm not sure what the answer is. We (my family) have pretty much accepted him for what he is since he was 15. After my father died my mother made one last ditch effort to change him. She took him to a christian psychotherapist who claimed he could make a man out of him. All he succeeded in was destroying Anna's self-esteem to the point he become suicidal.
Well that's the background, now my real question is this Can Anna become a Muslim and live as a celibate female after the surgery? If he doesn't go though with the surgery can he be a Muslim and live a celibate life as an ostensible female? After all my understanding is that the effects of the female hormones are irreversible. He could get a double mastectomy or liposuction to remove his breasts but other effects will always remain. What is the answer for my brother and people like him? Were they just destined for the fire from birth? How do we interpret Allah's silence on an issue (i.e. the Qur'an says nothing about it)?
TIA
Why reject all Hadeeth out of hand? Isn't that just as foolish as accepting any and all hadeeth without question? I understand that hadeeth are for the most part hearsay, but although they may not have value as spiritual writings is it possible they could have historical value? After all, being hearsay doesn't automatically discredit them. It isn't impossible that what was said and what was heard was accurately and faithfully transmitted and recorded.
And please - I am not trolling. This is of dead serious concern to me so I would appreciate rational and thoughtful responses. I can go to a christian board if I want to get flamed, ridiculed, held in derision, etc.