Mustarjil
| Classification | Gender identity | ||||
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| Culture | Ahwari | ||||
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Mustarjil (Arabic: مسترجل), also in its feminised form mistarjila,[1] is an Arabic language term, as well as a gender identity associated with the Ahwari culture; the term equates with 'becoming a man' and is used for women who have adopted a masculine gender expression through choice or economic necessity.[2][3] Lives of mustarjil people are recorded by British writer Wilfred Thesiger who lived with the Ahwari in the 1950s; his observations were supplemented by the work of anthropologists Sigrid Westphal-Hellbush and Heinz Westphal. In 21st-century usage the term has misogynistic overtones. In Islamic tradition, the "mustarjila" (masculinized woman) is condemned; according to prophetic hadiths, she is cursed and thereby excluded from God's mercy.
Etymology
[edit]The word "mustarjila" (مُستَرجِلة) is derived from the root R-J-L (ر-جُ-ل) in Arabic language, which means man. The active participle from the verb istarjala is mustarjil (مُستَرجِل) for masculine, and mustarjila (مُستَرجِلة) for feminine.[4] The term equates with 'becoming a man'.[a]
Ahwari gender identity
[edit]Wilfred Thesiger recorded some aspects of the lives of mustarjil, as well as recording one person who was assigned male at birth, but lived and worked openly as a woman, during his time with the Ahwari people in the 1950s.[5] In The Marsh Arabs, Thesiger describes meeting a cisgender man who fought with a mustarjil, and was defeated.[6] He also reflects that the nearest comparison he can make to them are "the Amazons of antiquity".[6] Some mustarjil married, but did not undertake typically female work in the home.[5] Again Thesiger recorded a conversation where his male companion stated that mustarjil married and had sex with women, in his words, "as we do".[6] This was explained that although they were born into women's bodies they have "the heart of a man, so [live] as a man".[6][7] Those who assumed the gender identity had the same rights as men, both socially and militarily.[5] Those who fought were rewarded for their service in the same manner as cisgender men.[5]
Anthropologists Sigrid Westphal-Hellbush and Heinz Westphal made similar observations to Thesiger about the lives of mustarjil.[8] They observed that young women made the decision to live as mustarjil soon after puberty, however in terms of inheritance mustarjil were still viewed as women. If they wanted to have children, they had to dismiss their transmasuline appearance and could not return to it in future.[8]
Eli Erlick has described how mustarjil lived lives parallel to that of trans men in the twenty-first century.[9] They have also been compared to hijra and mukhannath.[10] Folk singer Masoud El Amaratly is the most widely researched mustarjil: he was a famous singer in Iraq and neighbouring countries from c.1925 to his death in 1944.[11][10]
21st-century usage
[edit]The term has been used in many contexts within popular culture, religious texts, and other descriptions applied to women who resemble men.[12] Regardless of the reasons for this difference in women's appearance, the label has been applied to anyone society perceived as possessing masculine traits.[12] This description was often used for purposes such as mockery, criticism, or as a way for society to deter women from such differences.[12]
In Islamic tradition, the "mustarjila" (masculinized woman) is condemned; according to prophetic hadiths, she is cursed and thereby excluded from God's mercy,[12][13] as she is seen to have attempted to alter God's creation.[12] Moreover, it is said that God will not look upon her on the Day of Judgment, as a form of rebuke and deterrence.[13] Cutting one's hair in a way that resembles men's hairstyles is also considered forbidden under Islamic law.[13][12] According to an article in the Jordanian newspaper Ad-Dustour, Arab society in general, and Muslim society in particular, views the term "mustarjila" as an insult directed at women.[14] The article goes on to say that any masculinisation of Arab women is due to Western influence.[14]
Mistarjila is used as a term for queer women in the Levant, but has misogynistic overtones according to The Queer Arab Glossary.[1] The glossary describes the term as: "'mannish'; tomboy; suggesting she may be lesbian; in the past the term zanmardeh was also used (woman-man in Persian)".[15]
Notable people
[edit]- Masoud El Amaratly, folk singer
- Khawla bint al-Azwar, Islamic fighter.[16]
Explanatory notes
[edit]- ^ From the verb استرجل (with harakat: اِسْتَرْجَلَ, istarjala), with the meanings 'to become a man, to reach manhood, to grow up', or 'to act like a man, to man up' or 'to display masculine mannerisms, to resemble a man', for which مُسْتَرْجِل is the active participle.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Dehghan, Saeed Kamali (2024-06-25). "'Hey pigeon-keeper, flip me on the grill rack!' The spicy guide to queer Arab slang". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ Ryan, J. Michael; Rizzo, Helen (2024). Sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa: Contemporary Issues and Challenges. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-8156-5724-8.
- ^ Reference Library of Arab America: Countries & Ethnic Groups, Algeria to Jordan. Gale Group. 1999. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-7876-4174-0. OCLC 42413709.
- ^ ترجمة و معنى مسترجلة بالإنجليزي في قاموس المعاني. قاموس عربي انجليزي المعاني مصطلحات صفحة 1. Almaany (in Arabic). Retrieved 2025-09-24.
- ^ a b c d Lane, Ruth (2017). The Complexity of Self Government. Cambridge University Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-107-16374-4.
- ^ a b c d Thesiger, Wilfred (2007). The Marsh Arabs. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-0-14-190443-6.
- ^ Kubba, Shamil A. A. (2011). The Iraqi Marshlands and the Marsh Arabs: The Ma'dan, Their Culture and the Environment. Reading, UK: Ithaca Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-86372-333-9 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ a b Fortier, Corinne (2019). "Sexualities: Transsexualities: Middle East, West Africa, North Africa". Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. al-02448267. Retrieved 2025-09-24.
- ^ Erlick, Eli (2025). Before Gender: Lost Stories from Trans History, 1850–1950. Boston: Beacon Press. pp. 60–65. ISBN 978-0-8070-1735-7.
- ^ a b Kaabour, Marwan (2023-06-26). "Recovering Arab Trans History: Masoud El Amaratly, the Folk Music Icon from Iraq's Marshes". Ajam Media Collective. Retrieved 2025-09-16.
- ^ "Tales from the India Office". BBC News. 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2025-09-15.
- ^ a b c d e f Ibn Taymiyya. "22". The Great Compilation of Fatwa [The Great Compilation of Fatwa] (in Arabic). pp. 145–157.
- ^ a b c Zaidan, Abdul Karim (1994). "Chapter 4". Al-Mufassal fi 'Ahkam al-Mar'ah wa Bayt al-Muslim fi al-Shari'at al-Islamiyyah (in Arabic). Mu'assasah al-Risalah. pp. 123–145.
- ^ a b الدستور, محرر. المرأة المسترجلة.. ظاهرة سببها المجتمع وتناقضاته. Ad-Dustour (in Arabic). Amman, Jordan. Archived from the original on 2025-09-24. Retrieved 2025-09-24.
- ^ Kaabour, Marwan; Alameddine, Rabih; Haddad, Haitham; Mubayi, Suneela, eds. (2024). The queer Arab glossary: = Almuejam alearabiu alkubaraa. London: SAQI. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-86356-092-7.
- ^ "المرأة المسترجلة". Asharq Al-Awsat (in Arabic). Retrieved 2025-09-28.
External links
[edit]- The dictionary definition of استرجل at Wiktionary
