Shows how un-Islamic they are: Maria B on trans activists calling out Sharia Court ruling

Federal Sharia Court on Friday declared that individuals cannot have gender surgery at their own discretion

In a press conference on Saturday, Pakistani transgender activists announced their plan to appeal to the highest court against the Sharia Court’s ruling that “guts a law aimed at protecting their rights.” However, their language and anger while communicating their demands did not sit well with designer Maria Butt – who has been vocal against transpeople and their plight.

The plan to appeal came after the Federal Shariat Court (FSC), on Friday, declared that individuals cannot alter their gender at their own discretion, asserting that specific clauses within the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 contradict Islamic law. The FSC rolled back key provisions granting rights to Pakistan’s transgender community merely five years after the bill was passed.

Maria shared a screenshot of a Twitter post on her Instagram Story about how the activists used abusive language during the press conference. The original post read, “Fact check: Heard the press conference of Nayab Ali (Executive Director of Transgender Rights Consultants Pakistan). The kind of language and abuse used tell us many things about the nature of this individual. Interestingly, she said that the acting CJ of the Sharia court did it in a hurry – the case was there in the courts for the last 2 and half years.”

Agreeing with the user, Maria added, “The reaction and abusive language of the foreign-funded LGBTQ and transgender community shows just how much they respect the Islamic way of life. The truth is that the web of lies they constructed has fallen. Indeed, Allah is haq. We know you are not intersex.”

In another Story, she shared a news update about five French League Muslim footballers dropping out of a match after refusing to wear LGBTQ+ colours on their shirts. “This is the norm around the Muslim world. Then why not in Pakistan? Here, we have to defend our religion and prove that this movement is un-Islamic,” she wrote.

Further defending her stance in favour of the FSC court’s ruling, Maria shared a link to a podcast where people who have previously been through gender-altering surgeries opened up on how they regret it now. “These kids who did transgender surgery and now are breaking down in depression,” she asserted.

Lastly, she shared a video titled “Exposing Pakistani trans activists” and shared how the video mentions threats to her identity. “In this video, I’ve seen threats against me and Senator Mushtaq for the first time. May Allah protect us all. May we continue to show people the truth and follow the path of Islam shown to us by our beloved Prophet,” she concluded.

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