A TRANSGENDER ISLAMIC SCHOOL IN PAKISTAN BREAKS BARRIERS

  • 22/03/2021

Pakistan’s first transgender-only madrasa, or Islamic religious school is  running  by  Rani Khan who gives daily Koran lessons.The madrasa is an important milestone for the LGBTQIA+ community in the overwhelmingly fundamental Muslim country, where transgender people face ostracism, even though there is no official restriction on them attending religious schools or praying at mosques.

“Most families do not accept transgender people. They throw them out of their homes. Transgender people turn to wrongdoing,” Khan, 34, said, as other transgender people, their heads similarly covered, swayed back and forth behind her, reciting Koran verses.“I’m teaching the Koran to please God, to make my life here and in the hereafter,” Khan said, explaining how the madrasa offered a place for transgender people to worship, learn about Islam and repent for past actions.

She says the school has not received aid from the government, although some officials promised to help students find jobs.Along with some donations, Khan is teaching her students how to sew and embroider, in hopes of raising funds for the school by selling clothing.Pakistan’s parliament recognised the third gender in 2018, giving such individuals fundamental rights such as the ability to vote and choose their gender on official documents. Nonetheless, the transgender remains on the margins in the country, and often have to resort to begging, dancing, and prostitution to make a living.

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