Members of Bangladesh’s transgender hijra group, who had been disallowed from attending different prayer providers, have been welcomed at a brand new mosque within the Muslim-majority nation with the promise of worship with out discrimination.
The standard construction, a single-room shed with partitions and a tin roof, is a brand new group hub for the minority, who’ve loved higher authorized and political recognition in recent times however nonetheless endure from entrenched prejudice.
The mosque close to Mymensingh, north of the capital Dhaka, on the banks of the Brahmaputra river, was constructed on land donated by the federal government after town’s hijra group was expelled from a longtime congregation.
“I by no means dreamt I may pray at a mosque once more in my lifetime,” mentioned Sonia, 42, who as a baby liked to recite the Quran and studied at an Islamic seminary.
However when she got here out as hijra, as transgender individuals in South Asia are generally identified, she was blocked from praying in a mosque.
“Individuals would inform us: ‘Why are you hijra individuals right here on the mosques? It is best to pray at house. Don’t come to the mosques’,” mentioned Sonia, who makes use of just one identify.
“It was shameful for us, so we didn’t go,” she added. “Now, that is our mosque. Now, nobody can say no.”
Hijras have acquired rising authorized recognition in Bangladesh, which since 2013 has formally allowed members of the group to determine as a 3rd gender. A number of have entered Bangladeshi politics, with one transgender girl elected mayor of a rural city in 2021.
However they nonetheless wrestle for fundamental recognition and acceptance and lack property and marriage rights. They’re additionally usually discriminated towards in employment and are more likely to be victims of violent crime and poverty than the typical Bangladeshi.
Hardline Islamist teams have lashed out on the recognition of transgender Bangladeshis in class textbooks, main rallies to demand the federal government abandon its push to incorporate them within the curriculum.
Mufti Abdur Rahman Azad, the founding father of a hijra charity, mentioned the brand new mosque was the primary of its sort within the nation.
The same endeavour deliberate in one other metropolis was stopped final month after a protest by locals, he added.
Dozens of native hijras donated money and time to construct the Dakshin Char Kalibari Masjid for the Third Gender, which opened this month.
It additionally has a graveyard, after a neighborhood Muslim cemetery final 12 months refused to bury a group member.
The mosque’s imam, Abdul Motaleb, 65, mentioned the persecution of the hijra group was towards the teachings of his religion. “They’re like another individuals created by Allah,” he mentioned.
“All of us are human beings. Possibly some are males, some are ladies, however all are human. Allah revealed the holy Quran for all, so everybody has the suitable to hope, nobody may be denied.”
The brand new mosque is already tackling prejudice. Native Tofazzal Hossain, 53, has provided Friday prayers there for a second week in a row.
He mentioned dwelling and praying with the hijra group has modified his “misconceptions” about them. They stay righteously like different Muslims,” he mentioned.
