What is the ruling on a human being changing his gender from male to female or female to male?

Gender transformation is strictly forbidden in Islamic law. It is considered an impermissible alteration of Allah's creation and an extreme form of prohibited resemblance to the opposite gender, while remaining physically impossible to fully achieve from a biological standpoint.

Changing one's gender is forbidden in Shari'ah, because it is forbidden for the woman to resemble the man, and it is forbidden for the man to resemble the woman, so how much more so being actually transformed into the other gender!?

Is it permissible for a person to change their gender in Islam?

No, changing one's gender is strictly forbidden in Shari'ah. Since it is forbidden for a man to resemble a woman or a woman to resemble a man, physically transforming into the opposite gender is entirely impermissible.

What does the Quran say about altering creation?

The Quran links the unnecessary alteration of Allah's creation to the whispers and commands of Shaitan (Satan), as stated in Surah An-Nisa'a (4:119), marking it as a sinful deviation from the natural order.

Can a person truly change their biological gender completely?

No. The text explains that a person can only superficially alter visible organs, but they cannot change their fundamental biological capabilities, such as a man acquiring the ability to get pregnant and give birth.

The Reasons for Prohibition

1. Altering Allah's Creation

Allah the Almighty mentions in the Quran that Shaitan (Satan) orders people to alter Allah's creation in the following Ayah:

(Also, I will order them and they will slit the ears of cattle and alter Allah’s creation. And whoever takes Satan as a guardian instead of Allah has certainly suffered a tremendous loss) [An-Nisa'a 4: 119]

2. The Biological Impossibility

The question is: does a man really have the ability to change his gender? The answer is absolutely not, because in fact man can only change the apparent organs that are visible on his body, but he will never be able to get pregnant and give birth, because the original creation is contrary to that. This case is similar to the one who wants to transform a rock into a living being; no matter how hard he tries, he will never be able to transform a rock into a living being.

Scholarly Insight: In Islamic jurisprudence, scholars make a clear and careful distinction between the prohibited alteration of creation and permissible medical treatment. Elective surgeries to change the gender of a biologically healthy male or female are strictly forbidden, as they alter Allah's creation and violate the natural disposition. However, if a person is born with severe biological ambiguities (known in classical Islamic jurisprudence as a "Khuntha" or an intersex condition), medical interventions are permissible and sometimes necessary. In such specific medical cases, the procedure is not considered "changing" the gender, but rather a necessary medical treatment aimed at uncovering and restoring the person's true, underlying biological sex based on expert medical evaluation.