JUDICIAL LEGITIMACY OF GENDER STATUS CHANGE: A CONTEMPORARY FIQH CRITIQUE OF PEKANBARU DISTRICT COURT DETERMINATION NUMBER 28/Pdt.P/2025/PN Pbr

Abstract

This study examines the issue of judicial legitimacy concerning the change of gender status from female to male in the Determination of the Pekanbaru District Court Number 28/Pdt.P/2025/PN Pbr, particularly in relation to the legal certainty of population administration and the normative boundaries of contemporary Islamic jurisprudence. The research focuses on the judges’ considerations, including juridical, medical-psychological, and state-legitimacy aspects, and their compatibility with the Islamic legal concepts of khuntsā, taghyīr al-khalq, fitrah, and maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah. This study employs normative legal research using a descriptive-critical qualitative approach through literature review, analysis of the court determination, statutory regulations, and classical and contemporary fiqh literature. The findings indicate that the court recognized the change of gender status on the basis of “other important events” and a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. However, the judicial reasoning does not clearly distinguish between sex reassignment in cases of biological ambiguity (khuntsā) and gender transition involving individuals with clearly identified biological sex. This condition may potentially create disharmony between state legal status and shar‘i status, particularly concerning marriage, inheritance, and religious worship. The study concludes that judicial legitimacy does not automatically constitute shar‘i legitimacy and recommends stricter evidentiary standards and clearer differentiation between khuntsā and transgender status in judicial reasoning.