Many Imams (Arabic: إمام plural ائمة A'immah, Persian: امام), Islamic scholars, and clerics have heeded the advice and opinions of medical professionals in their countries, and have come to a consensus that transsexuality is a medical and treatable condition.
They have come to understand the effectiveness and medical necessity of mental health care, hormone therapy, and sex reassignment surgery in the treatment of patients diagnosed with GID, indeed Iran, shares the title with Thailand as the "sex change capitals" of the world.
They have also looked to the Qur`an which mentions the "mukhannath", (Arabicمخنثون "] the Arabic word for transsexual on numerous occasions:
The mukhannath is the one who looks so much like a woman physically that he resembles women in his softness, speech, appearance, accent and thinking. If he is like this, he would have no desire for women and he would not notice anything about them. This is one of those who have no interest in women who were permitted to enter upon women." (Al-Mughni, 7/463; al Sharh al Kabeer `ala Matan al Muqni ´, 7/347 - 348)
And Ibn Qudaamah mentioned : " or a mukhannath who feels no desire (towards women) , the ruling that applies to such a "man" is the same as the ruling that applies to close relatives (mahram) regarding looking at women, because Allah says (the scholar cites Surah 24:31)."
And also Ibn `Abbaas said, regarding the phrase from Surah 24:31,: "This is the one of whom women do not feel shy. This is the mukhannath who is without male potence."
Sometimes there was a case of a "fake mukhannath" or a "mukhannath" who could still have a "drive for women", as it is mentioned by Ibn `Abd al-Barr (refering to a well known report by A`isha, the Prophet`s wife): "Do you not see that the Prophet (s.a.s.) did not prevent that mukhannath from entering upon his wives [whose realm was even more sacred than that of ordinary women:75be9bacc3] at first, but when he heard him describing the daughter of Ghaylaan and realized that he knew about women, he commanded that he should be kept away."
However, in the regular case of a male to female transgender not openly declaring any leanings towards women, the mukhannathun were allowed by Allah and his noble Prophet to enter freely the "harem".
That way they fulfilled an important social function; they served as servants or employees in the houses of noble Muslims and were an important link between the sacred realm of women and the profane realm of men. Indeed, they were the guardians of the "harem". The reports from earlier times show us that they were the only ones who could move freely in every area. They could enter the "harem" as well as the "men only" parts of the mosque. Muhammad (s.a.s.) had given them a very special position in society, elevating them to a special freedom.
Unfortunately, male mistrust arose after the death of noble Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.). The fear from "fake mukhannathun" who could "hurt the virtue of women" was so strong that a mukhannath had to be castrated to be a loyal household servant.
In the 8th century A.C. the Khalifah Sulayman ordered the castration of all the mukhannathun of Makkah (Mecca), although Muhammad (s.a.s.) did severely speak against "creating eunuchs".
However, some of the mukhannathun obviously accepted castration as some kind of a "sex change operation", taking from them the male parts that they never wanted (that is how today`s Indian and Pakistani hijras understand "becoming an eunuch", too)
In summation as we are aware there are number of different sects or denominations in Islam (Sunni, Shiite,Sufi, Wahhabi and others), much as there is in Christianity or Judaism. And much as there are differing degreess of understanding and tolerance amongst Chistians and Jews, the same is true in Islam. And though homosexuality is universally condemned within Islam, there is more and more, an understanding that transsexuality is a medical and treatable condition, thus the fatwas
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