Today, we’re honored to learn from Leyla Jagiella about her book “Among the Eunuchs: A Muslim Transgender Journey, which is published by Hurst.
Her fantastic book shares the story of Leyla’s transgender journey as a Muslim woman and finding belonging among the third-gender communities in South East Asia. Her brave and insightful book explores perspectives of gender identity and sexuality in Islam and South Asian cultures.
From an early age, Leyla Jagiella knew that she would be defined by two things: being Muslim and being trans. Struggling to negotiate these identities in her conservative, small hometown, she travelled to India and Pakistan, where her life was changed by her time among third-gender communities.
Known as hijras in India, khwajasaras in Pakistan, these marginal communities have traditionally been politically and culturally important, respected for their supernatural powers to bless or curse, and often serving as eunuchs in Mughal India’s palaces. But under British colonialism, the hijras were criminalised and persecuted, entrenching taboos they still battle today.
In this podcast conversation, Leyla talks with us about:
• Studying Anthropology & The Problem of Othering
• Constructions of Gender & Sexuality in Culture
• Being Drawn to Islam & Beauty of Diversity
• Suppressing Gender Identity & Sexuality
• Advice for Those Struggling with Gender Identity and/or Sexuality
• Gendered Spaces in Mosques
• Gaining Recognition as a Transgender Woman in Islam
• Third-Gender Communities in Islam & Joining the Hijras in South East Asia
• Muslim Spirituality, Sufi Shrines & Eunuchs
• Trans-Affirming Scriptures in the Quran, New Testament & Talmud
You can watch the entire conversation about Leyla’s new book here.
Leyla Jagiella is a cultural anthropologist and scholar of religion, working on orthodoxy and heterodoxy in Islam and gender and sexuality in Muslim societies. As a Muslim trans woman, she has also been a community activist for several decades and works as a social worker with LGBTQI refugees in Germany.
You can download or listen to the conversations here:
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