Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen
سياڤاكه سبنرڽ نور ساجت؟
I really don’t know if Nur Sajat, or, as someone has claimed, Muhammad Sajjad bin Kamaruz Zaman, is male or female. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know who this person is. Some say she’s transgender, others insist she’s all female.
Even JAKIM doesn’t seem to be sure. The Islamic development authority has, however, confirmed that Nur Sajat was born with both male and female genetalia, meaning, he (or she) is technically an Intersex.
That’s Allah’s will, not something Nur Sajat or anyone else has control over. Scholars of Islamic jurisprudence have detailed discussions on the status and rights of intersex based on what mainly exhibits in their external sexual organs.
An intersex person is called a Khunthaa in the books of Fiqh. There are three types of Khunthaa:
1. A person has aspects of both organs, and urinates from the male organ. This person will be included among the males and the laws regarding males will fall on him.
2. The person urinates from the female organ so will be included among the females. The laws related to females will fall on this person. This applies before the person reaches maturity. After maturity, the person will be rechecked. If he experiences wet dreams like a male then he will be counted as a male. On the other hand, if the person develops breasts and other signs of being feminine the she will be included among the females.
3. When both masculine and feminine signs are equal and it cannot be determined whether the person is more male or more female then such a person is termed Khunthaa Mushkil.
The term Hermaphrodite has been used in older literature to describe any person whose physical characteristics do not neatly fit male or female classifications, but some people advocate to replace the term with intersex.
Clinically, medicine currently describes intersex people as having disorders of sex development, a term vigorously contested.
This is particularly because of a relationship between medical terminology and medical intervention.
Intersex civil society organizations, and many human rights institutions, have criticized medical interventions designed to make intersex bodies more typically male or female.
So who is to say if Nur Sajat is anatomically, psychologically and (or) biologically male or female? What’s written on the birth certificate? Even Islam dictates that a Khunthaa needs to be reevaluated after he (or she) reaches maturity.
Has Mujahid reevaluated Nur Sajat?
I can give you numerous occasions where the gender of an Intersex was arbitrarily decided by medical practitioners at the behest of a child’s parent without there being proper medical investigation.
Reports indicate that Nur Sajat is a highly successful and popular cosmetic mogul. On the 13thof May 2019, he (or she) was charged at the Johor Baru Magistrate’s Court for possessing 19 types of beauty products not registered with the Health Ministry.
I carried an article written by a certain Ustaz regarding Nur Sajat’s attire simply because the matter appeared so urgent, a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department was actually prompted to issue a statement, insisting that Nur Sajat’s decision to wear female attire in Mekah tarnished relations between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
But is Mujahid certain Nur Sajat is male? Has he (or she) been subjected to legitimate medical reevaluation to verify his (or her) gender?
I think it’s high time this religious minister of ours explains how this one person, born as an Intersex, tarnished relations between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
I think Mujahid owes it to the people to explain what Islamic authorities are doing about Nur Sajat’s gender identity and whether Jakim has undertaken to subject him (or her) to medical examinations for verification purposes.
I do not want to get sucked into an issue involving this one individual without knowing head or tail about him (or her), lest I be accused of fitnah.
I suggest others refrain from doing so and focus on getting a proper explanation from Mujahid, now that he successfully turned this into an issue of “national proportions.”
I’d be glad to host a response from Nur Sajat or meet him (or her) to get his (or her) side of the story.
