“The story of a young Saudi man, Ahmad, who has become a woman has created a furor in the Kingdom — not only because he changed his sex but also because, as a man, he inherited a large sum of money from his millionaire father. He changed his sex only after inheriting; according to Islamic law, as a woman, he would inherit half of what a man inherits. His relatives have filed a lawsuit, accusing him of deception and asking the court to re-divide the inheritance…” —Arabnews.com (Saudi Arabia)

This is a long and quite fascinating story about a person who was raised in Saudi Arabia as a boy but always thought of himself as a girl — and, though the article is ambiguous on this point, he may have even had some physical characteristics of a female. Was he a hermaphrodite at birth?

The obvious joke that comes to mind when you read about an Arab male undergoing a sex change operation is that it must not be so bad for women to live under Muslim law. Here in the west, we consider it oppressive to be wear face-to-toe veils and to live a sheltered existence and whatnot. But if it’s so bad, why would any Arab male choose to become a female?

The truth of this person’s story is much more complicated than that. In the first place, his gender identity was simply more urgent than his ethnic or religious identity. In the second place, he chafed under life in Saudi Arabia and ultimately underwent the sex change operation here in America. After 9/11 he ended up returning to Saudi Arabia, and that’s where things got really complicated. Here in America he had been living openly as a woman. Upon returning to Saudi Arabia, he resumed a male identity. Then he tried to come out to his family — and all hell broke loose. His family feared he would bring all sorts of shame on them, and they were also angry that he spent his inheritance to get a sex change operation. His father had, in fact, threatened to cut him out of his will if he did such a thing.

It all makes for a complicated and tragic story. Certainly you can sympathize with the suffering that the “guy” went through. And you could understand how he might use money from an inheritance to remedy his situation. On the other hand, the family has a valid point too. They live in a repressive religious society. When an individual asserts his personal right to happiness, it can end up creating grief for everybody. What is the moral thing in such a situation — the happiness of the individual? Or that of the group? It’s not an easy call to make.

On the other hand, even religious authorities (as quoted in the article) seem to agree that the person did not do anything wrong in the matter of inheritance. He was a man when he inherited, therefore he deserved — under Islamic law — his full share. What he did afterward could not retroactively change that, no matter how much his family might object to what he did with his inheritance.

VideoBox

It's like the iTunes Music Store for Porn. Download unlimited high-quality video for only $9.95/month.