On Monday, March 13, 2007, Mohd Sofian, 40, and his partner Zaiton Aziz, 43, were charged under the Malacca Islamic Family Enactment 2002. The Syariah Lower Court judge, Che Saufi Che Husin, has set April 30 to hear the case. If the court finds them guilty, their marriage will be annulled and they will be separated.

Mohd Sofian married Zaiton Aziz in December 2002. Their marriage, solemnised by imam Ishak Juki of the Bukit Cina mosque, was deemed legal as all procedures were adhered to. However, the Malacca Religious Affairs Department refused to register their marriage because it was suspicious of Mohd Sofian¡¯s gender whose birth certificate bears the name of Mazinah Mohamad.

In this case, it was not mentioned whether Mohd Sofian has had a sex change operation to become a male. If he has already had a sex change and is now with male organs, I hope he will be able to get married with his partner Zaiton Aziz. Obviously, he cannot now revert back to become female and marry a male instead.

Female to male transsexuals, just like male to female transsexuals or ¡®mak nyahs¡¯ which have already been highlighted by our local media and discussed in Parliament in the last couple of years, believe that they are men trapped in the body of a woman. Instead of ¡®mak nyahs¡¯, we call them ¡®pak nyahs¡¯ in Malaysia. ¡®Pak nyahs¡¯, too, long for sex change operation to be fully male if they can. They, too, like ¡®straight¡¯ men, hope to have a loving female partner and family.

As a researcher, there is already enough scientific research in the area of transsexualism to convince many of my local and international colleagues and I that transsexualism refers to a biological phenomenon. This research is published in reputable journals as well as on the Internet.

We always hear phrases like, ¡®Everyone needs love¡¯, ¡®The world will be a better place if there is more love¡¯, etc, and yet we are depriving Mohd Sofian, another human being in this world, from having the one thing that is so important to him, love.

Before 1983, transsexuals in Malaysia were allowed to have sex change operation to be who they are. They are allowed to change their names and gender in their identity cards. In my research over the past 11 years on ¡®mak nyahs¡¯, I have met a significant number of successful cases. They have good careers in the public and private sectors. Many are happily married with loving spouses. They have adopted children and some are now happy grandmothers.

Internationally, where transsexuals are allowed to shine, they include scientists, academics, lawyers, doctors, artiste as well as a famous kick-boxer.

In 1983, a ¡®fatwa¡¯ was implemented in Malaysia prohibiting sex change operations on all Muslims. Transsexuals who have a sex change, including non-Muslims, found it difficult to change their gender in their identity cards. This led to other problems like getting insurance, bank loans, etc. The discrimination they face everyday gives many of them a very substandard quality of life.

The reason for the ¡®fatwa¡¯ is that Islam prohibits sex change operations. However, I have met and heard presentations done by academics from Iran in international conferences and I was informed that in Iran, a sex change operation is acceptable and even paid for by the government as Islam values quality of life for its followers. If a transsexual feels so much emotional pain, he/she is allowed to have the sex change operation in order for he/she to be able to lead a normal life.

Maryam Hatoon Molkara, who was formerly a male known as Fereydoon, was instrumental in obtaining a letter which acted as a ¡®fatwa¡¯ enabling sex change operations to exist as part of a legal framework in Iran. He wrote to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1978, explaining his situation and his need to have a sex change operation. The ayatollah agreed that he should be allowed the sex change operation so that he could have a much better quality of life.

Egypt is another Muslim country that recognises transsexuals and allows sex change operation. The first person to undergo a sex change operation was Sayed Abdullah who changed her name to Sali Abdullah. She was able to get married after the sex change. In Egypt, the Islamic authority accepted that: ¡®A man can undergo an operation to become a woman and a woman can do the reverse if a doctor deems the intervention necessary to bring out signs of femininity or masculinity which are present but hidden¡¯.

If Muslim countries like Iran and Egypt can accept sex change operations and allow transsexuals to lead normal lives like everyone else, isn¡¯t it also possible for Malaysia to do so to give quality of life to our transsexuals like Mohd Sofian who only want their personal happiness? Why the difference in practice between Muslim countries? Moreover, he is not encroaching on anyone¡¯s life. We are after all supposedly kind, compassionate and caring human beings who put love and peace above all else.