VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 137, June 27, 2010
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Volume 137, June 27, 2010
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Editors: Mohamed and Rashida Ziauddin
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful
“MUSLIM BROTHER REGULARLY BUT DISCRETELY PRAYS ALONG WITH OTHER MUSLIM SISTERS IN THE LADIES SECTION OF THE MASJID DURING FRIDAY PRAYERS”
DOES HE NEED TO BE TREATED OR PUNISHED ?
Sample#1: (from tribuneindia.com)All research and advances in sciences are from Allah. In as much as the Ummah does not hesitate to tap the medical resources & treatment to get help for their medical problems and don’t confine their remedy ONLY by prayers (duaa), in the same way they should not hesitate to tap the psychological resources & treatment when they have psychological problems. Depending on the nature and severity of a psychological problem, if ignored or left untreated it could end up getting worse and will eventually return back to disrupt and haunt not only the individual in question but in some cases also the Ummah’s Islamic Order and norms such as the spotlight mentioned above.
Sample#2 (from newshopper.sulekha.com)When confronted with complex bio-physio-psycho-social problems faced by Muslims, it is recommended that the educated Muslim Mental Health Service Professionals incorporate the most recent clinical advances and be aware of available Islamic friendly resources to offer as help.
From the below case study, some people unfortunately may respond to the below individual’s psychological problems merely by stating that “We will pray for that brother” and close the chapter on any further discussion implying that the above willingness to pray is the only intervention that they have to offer. Such a response is misleading and in essence may be a MASK or FACADE to cover up lack of knowledge to deal with the below mentioned psychological problem.
Sample# 3 (From Kashifiat.wordpress.com)A more appropriate response to substitute above response would be something like this:
CASE IN POINT:
One Muslim brother admitted to the Muslim Psychotherapist about his wearing female Islamic clothing and doing regular Friday prayers by joining with other sisters in the Women’s section of the Islamic Center. Being slim and of medium height and generously covering his body with Islamic oriented full dress including hijab, he has escaped detection of his "male" identity thus far.
He wanted the Psychotherapist to “pray” that he “is not caught” by other Muslim sisters. The brother reported having strong Islamic values but stated that he was fighting a “jihad” within himself in terms of his compelling need to dress as a female.
To some laymen, the first thought that may come in their minds if they catch him is to beat him up real bad so that he does not repeat the above practice ever again. Such laymen generally give a hoot to any kind of clinical interventions for this brother and as far as they are concerned, he violated the personal space of their Muslim sisters in the Masjid and deserve to be punished.
In this era of 21st century, Ummah’s response should truly reflect what Islam stands for – Compassion, understanding and assisting such persons who need help in terms of Clinical and Psycho therapeutic intervention.
Historical response of anger and violence against such brother will:
(1) Not be of any help to the brother to voluntarily change such cross dressing behaviors.
(2) Instead such aggression would only help the anti-Islamic forces and biased Media reinforce their negative perception of Islam (as a religion of intolerance and violence).
(3) Further, the perpetrators of such violence and aggression against the brother may end up in jail if convicted on charges of assault and battery.
EXPLORING ABOVE ISSUES FROM A CLINICAL PERSPECTIVE:
DIAGNOSIS:
(Obtained from “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”)
Not going into details and in brief, the Muslim brother in question does meet both the diagnostic criteria A and B for Transvestic Fetishism (TF).
DSM IV: 302.3 TRANSVESTIC FETISHISM with Gender Dysphoria (persistent discomfort with gender role or identity).
There are different theories related to this psychiatric disorder, many stemming from the psychoanalytic school of thought. They suggest that childhood trauma (e.g., sexual abuse, or other significant sexual experience) or significant childhood experiences can manifest itself in such exhibitionist behavior.
The Paraphiliac focus of Transvestic Fetishism involves cross-dressing. Usually the male with TF keeps a collection of female clothes that he intermittently uses to cross-dress. Transvestic phenomena range from occasional solitary wearing of female clothes to extensive involvement in a transvestic subculture. Some males wear a single item of women’s apparel (e.g., panty or hosiery) under their masculine attire.
Other males with TF dress entirely as females and wear make up.
For Muslim male patients, this may include wearing traditional female Islamic dress with hijab. The degree to which the cross-dressed individual successfully appears to be a female varies, depending on mannerisms, body habitus and cross-dressing skill. The disorder typically begins with cross-dressing in childhood or early adolescence. In many cases, the cross dressing is not done in public until ADULTHOOD.
In some individuals, the motivation for cross-dressing may change over time, temporarily or permanently, with sexual arousal in response to the cross-dressing or disappearing. In such instance, the cross dressing becomes an antidote to ANXIETY or DEPRESSION or contributes to a sense of PEACE and CALM.
In others, gender dysphoria may emerge, especially under situational stress with or without symptoms of DEPRESSION. For a small number of individuals, the gender dysphoria becomes a fixed part of the clinical picture and is accompanied by the desire to dress and live permanently as a female and to seek hormonal or surgical reassignment.
Luckily, our brother has not yet reached above stage of wanting to live permanently as a female and seek hormonal or surgical sex change. Individuals with TF often seek treatment when gender dysphoria emerges.
In others, gender dysphoria may emerge, especially under situational stress with or without symptoms of DEPRESSION. For a small number of individuals, the gender dysphoria becomes a fixed part of the clinical picture and is accompanied by the desire to dress and live permanently as a female and to seek hormonal or surgical reassignment.
Luckily, our brother has not yet reached above stage of wanting to live permanently as a female and seek hormonal or surgical sex change. Individuals with TF often seek treatment when gender dysphoria emerges.
TREATMENT:
Treatment involves PSYCHOTHERAPY that is directed to uncover and work through finding out the root cause of such behavior.
PROGNOSIS:
Prognosis is generally fair. With some patients, there may also be an underlying discomfort with gender identity, which will complicate treatment prognosis
EXPLORING THE ABOVE FROM AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE:Part of the fitrah (the natural inclinations with which humans were created) is that men should preserve their masculinity, which Allah has created in them, and women should preserve their femininity, which Allah has created in them. Men resembling women and vice versa is something which goes against human’s innate nature (fitrah) and opens the door to multiple individual and social problems.
How prepared are the Muslim professionals in the Human Services field to accept and treat its receptive members by incorporating the gems of Hadith & Quran as part of the treatment intervention for Muslims who are (1) Gay or lesbians who have problems with their sexual identity (2) Bisexuals (3) Transvestite (4) Transsexuals / Transgendered. Their problems are compounded if they have additional problems with mental illness, substance abuse or medical problems and further aggravated if they are stigmatized by the brothers & sisters of their own faith.
Mental Health Professionals of the Global Ummah, have a great responsibility and by representing the most compassionate and peace loving religion of ISLAM, we cannot just dismiss our above brothers and sisters by saying that their place is in HELL and their life is doomed.
The Muslim Health and Human Service Professionals should increase their contacts, co-ordination and consultation with the IMAMS & ISLAMIC SCHOLARS who could be considered to be the specialists in terms of ISLAM and come up with the best possible treatment plan that has both the most advance treatment techniques as well as the gems of Islamic advice and guidance.
The Muslim Health and Human Service Professionals should increase their contacts, co-ordination and consultation with the IMAMS & ISLAMIC SCHOLARS who could be considered to be the specialists in terms of ISLAM and come up with the best possible treatment plan that has both the most advance treatment techniques as well as the gems of Islamic advice and guidance.
Coming back to the resembling of men to women and vice versa, the ruling in Shariah is that when it is stated that the person who does a particular thing is cursed, that thing is haraam.
Ibn ‘Abbas (RA) reported that Prophet Muhammad (PUH) said in two different contexts:
(1)“Allah has cursed the men who make themselves look like women and the women who make themselves look like men” (Reported by al-Bukhaari).
(2)“Allah has cursed effeminate men and masculine women”. (Reported by al-Bukhaari). The resemblance may be in the way they move, walk and speak.
The evidence that the two sexes should not resemble one another in dress is found in the Hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah (RA) “Allah has cursed men who wear the clothes of women and women who wear the clothes of men”.
The evidence that the two sexes should not resemble one another in dress is found in the Hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah (RA) “Allah has cursed men who wear the clothes of women and women who wear the clothes of men”.
THE CHALLENGE TO THE MUSLIM PSYCHOTHERAPIST:
Through the bio-psycho-social assessment, the Psychotherapist first gets detailed information regarding the patient’s history. He then tries to understand the Patient’s perspective in terms of his perception of what the main problem is and his perception of Islam. If the Patient values Islam as an important part of his life, then his strong belief in Islam could be used as one of his STRENGTHS that he has in his current situation and it could be incorporated as one of the tools used for clinical intervention.
The Psychotherapist initially accepts the Patient’s current situation and perspectives “as is” and gradually works his way up to formulate a realistic and feasible treatment plan. Then through a series of intensive psycho-therapeutic sessions, the psychotherapist works to assist the Pt to achieve the stated treatment goals by using both ISLAMIC MEANS via the treasures of Quran and Hadith as well as the latest psycho-therapeutic treatment interventions.
Let’s not forget the hadith and Quranic advice of helping the sick, which implies the “mentally sick” too.
THE END
The Psychotherapist initially accepts the Patient’s current situation and perspectives “as is” and gradually works his way up to formulate a realistic and feasible treatment plan. Then through a series of intensive psycho-therapeutic sessions, the psychotherapist works to assist the Pt to achieve the stated treatment goals by using both ISLAMIC MEANS via the treasures of Quran and Hadith as well as the latest psycho-therapeutic treatment interventions.
Let’s not forget the hadith and Quranic advice of helping the sick, which implies the “mentally sick” too.
THE END
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