The Care Ethic of Ṭanṭawī’s Fatwā (Legal Opinion) on Sally Muḥammad ʿAbdullah’s Sex Change (Male to Female) in Egypt

This paper depicts that Ṭanṭawī’s fatwā on Sally Muḥammad ʿAbdullāh’s sex change (male to a female) embeds the care ethic because his fatwā somewhat attends to the feeling of ʿAbdullāh (Sally) who suffered from psychological or emotional hermaphroditism. It is a psychological depression or anxiety resulting from dissatisfaction with a male sexual identity.[1][2] His fatwā contains ḥadīths (the utterances ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad and his companions). Some of these ḥadīths encourage curing all illnesses including psychological hermaphroditism and others discourage hermaphrodites. This fatwā seems to be on the side of medicine because it endorses surgical procedures to cure Sally’s psychological hermaphroditism. This fatwā addresses both aspects of these conflicting ḥadīths. The fatwā concludes that the operation is permissible as long as it is performed under the advice of a trustworthy doctor and that Sally did not have it to indulge her desires