A mosque built by a transgender person raises questions about faith and belonging in Pakistan

Rajab Ali, a 46-year-old transgender man in Okara, Punjab, spent his entire savings of 6 million rupees (about USD 21,000) building a mosque intended to be free of gender discrimination. Since construction began in 2022, neighbors have stolen equipment, harassed him, and refused to pray there, forcing him to pause the project for a year and a half before completing it in late 2025.

Pakistan's 2018 Transgender Persons Act granted equal access to public spaces including places of worship, but a 2023 court ruling struck down provisions on gender identity, and violent attacks on the trans community have followed. Ali is not the first to attempt a trans-inclusive mosque; a similar 2016 effort in Islamabad also drew harassment and stalled.

Religious scholars are divided over whether objections center on Ali's identity or on his past income as a dancer, which some argue makes the money religiously impermissible for mosque construction. Census data shows Pakistan's transgender population remains undercounted and its literacy rate roughly 20 points below the national average.

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