Pakistan’s first transgender-only madrasa breaks barriers. With a long white shawl on her head, Rani Khan provides daily Quran lessons at Pakistan’s first transgender-only madrasa, a religious school she set up herself utilizing her life savings.
The school is an important milestone for the LGBTQ community in the Muslim-majority country, where transgender people face ostracism, even though there is no official limitation on them attending ecclesiastical schools or praying at mosques.
Rani Khan reads the Quran at Pakistan’s first transgender-only school she set up. Clasping back tears, Khan recalled how she was disowned by her family at 13 and forced into begging.
“Most families do not accept transgender people. They throw them out of their homes. Transgender people turn to wrongdoing,” Khan stated.
At 17, she joined a transgender group, dancing at weddings and other functions, but quit it to connect with her religion after a dream in which a deceased transgender friend and fellow dancer asked her to do something for the community.
Khan studied the Quran at home and attended religious schools, before opening the two-room madrasa. She elucidated how the school offered a place for transgender people to worship, learn about Islam and repent for past actions.
Along with some donations, Khan is teaching her students how to sew and embroider, in hopes of raising funds for the school by selling clothing. However, the school has not obtained aid from the government, although some officials promised to help students find jobs.