THE TRANSGENDER PERSONS (PROTECTION OF RIGHTS) ACT 2018: A SHARIAH APPRAISAL OF SELF-PERCEIVED GENDER IDENTITY WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO RIGHT OF INHERITANCE

Abstract

The transgender community is considered deprived of fundamental rights around the world. Pakistan, being an Islamic state, introduced an enactment to protect the rights of transgender people. The existing leading legislation has violated many Islamic injunctions in the name of transgender protection. The current study at hand aims to analyse the legislation titled Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018 in the context of Islamic injunctions. Firstly, this paper discusses the context of the legislation and analyses the sections of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018. The main purpose of the current research is to examine transgender legislation from the Islamic perspective with special reference to their right to inheritance. This paper also intends to explore the fundamental shariah principles for the perception of gender identity. This research focuses on the right of self-perceived gender identity and the right of inheritance in Islamic law and the legal system of Pakistan. This paper concludes that the existing legislation on transgender persons is not in accordance with the injunctions of Islam and needs some amendments.