After an early morning sexual encounter they both dressed and had breakfast with Asifa dutifully serving her husband breakfast. There was a knock on the door and Asifa ran into the bathroom in fear of being caught by someone while she wore a saree.
A woman came to do some housekeeping by changing the bedsheets and pillows. Salman silently retrieved her phone from a secured place which was recording all events since morning. He placed it in his pocket. Asifa came out once the housekeeper left the room.
“Asifa, I have some important work to do. You can either stay in the room or take a stroll but remember to put on a abaya and hijab when you go out. I wouldn’t want other men to get tempted seeing your lovely hair and body” Salman teased.
“Where are you going?” Asifa asked suspiciously. Salman laughed out loud.
“Great, now you are behaving just like a wife should. Ask the husband a 100 questions when going out. You seem to be getting into the groove. But a man has a 100 things to do in the outside world and you my dear wife need not bother your pretty little head over it” teased Salman as Asifa’s face turned red due to anger.
“Enjoy your solitude as once I come back I don’t think I can keep my hands off you. But beware if I catch you in male clothes in the interim the consequences will be grave. I shall inform the reception and you will receive a courtesy visit for every hour. So you cannot reveal yourself unless you choose to embarrass yourself” Salman warned and left in high spirits.
Everything seemed to be going as per plan and Salman was confident he would be able to execute it till the end.
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Salman for the first time in his life entered a mosque wearing a salwar kameez (male version) and skull cap. He felt a strong sense of pride as he did so. After offering the namaz he went to the Imam’s room and waited for the Imam nervously.
After some time Imam Sherazi entered the room. He was surprised on seeing Salman as he couldn’t believe the young man sitting in front of him was actually a woman.
Salman told the imam in detail about his childhood and how he always felt like a boy and never had any feelings of a girl. He also lied about ‘Asifa’ that she was his mirror image wherein she always felt like a girl.
To prove the point she showed him the video of their sexual encounter that morning wherein ‘Asifa’ was being willingly penetrated on ‘Salman’ with a dildo and also how Asifa was reacting like a woman instead of a man. Imam Sherazi was surprised and didn’t know what to say.
“So what do you want from me?” he asked a bit perplexed.
“Sherazi saab, we both are tired of living a dual life wherein we live our real lives within the 4 walls of the bedroom while we spend the rest of our lives acting out our lives. We are tired of this. We want to live like any normal couple. I want to love her, protect her and look after her while she too was me to love me, honour me and obey me. If we get a chance to live our preferred genders then we shall have children via surrogacy and I can be the responsible father and she can be the loving mother” explained Salman reflecting his pain in his voice. Imam Sherazi listened silently.
“We both are religiously committed and regularly and regularly offer the nafl prayers. We follow every tenet of Islam but we know that Islam forbids men to imitate women and women to imitate men. In fact it emphatically forbids that. So if we cross-dress then we are committing haram whereas if we do not then we not living a false life. I believe the Quran and Shariah have an answer to each and every problem in our lives. So if you can show us a way with your vast knowledge and give us a solution within the purview of Islam then we both shall be ever grateful to you” pleaded Salman. The Imam was a bit moved by his sincerity.
Unlike public perception of all mullahs and imams being regressive this imam was a progressive person and kind-hearted too. He was engrossed in deep thought while Salman looked on anxiously as beads of sweats started rolling his forehead.
"Your transgender is an illness with a cure, and Islam does not forbid the sick seeking a cure for their illness." said the Imam much to Salman’s relief. The Imam had been to many countries in the middle east including Iran and knew how in Iran, which was supposedly one of the most conservative Islamic countries, transgender people were allowed to legally change their gender.
“Bring him……I mean your partner to me tomorrow and I shall think of a solution to your problems” assured Imam Sherazi. Salman was absolutely thrilled and thanked the Imam profusely.
“But Sherazi saab, we have a small problem. Though Asifa loves to be a woman she is afraid to take the step due to societal stigma and how her family would react. She needs some prodding to step across the finish line” said Salman.
“Can you threaten her that if she is not a transgender and has only cross-dressed due to whatever reason then you shall issue a Fatwa to have her stoned? If she can be intimidated then she will take the final step” pleaded Salman to which Sherazi agreed as he knew it was more difficult for a family to accept a male-to-female than a female-to-male transgender.
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Salman returned to the suite in high spirits. He saw his ‘wife’ still in her saree and kissed her happily but didn’t say where he had been.
“It’s a surprise, you will know tomorrow” he said with an ear to ear grin which made Asifa more nervous. Salman forced his wife to accompany him to Chandni chowk for eating some kachoris and gol gappa as well as bought several gifts for her like bangles, perfumes, handbag, clothes etc.
That night once again Salman and Asifa performed their sexual roles.
*****************************************
The next morning they both got ready and went to visit the qutub minar. They took several pictures. As per the plan a gang of around five Muslim men surrounded them and recognized them as a cross-dressed couple. They caught them and took them to the grand mosque.
They told them that cross-dressing was prohibited in Islam and as per shariah they would be stoned to that once the Imam confirms that.
“How can a man ever dress as a woman? You have bought shame to Islam and we will not tolerate anyone bringing shame to Islam” the men threatened. Asifa felt intimated as the crowd was now well over 25-30 that seemed to be baying for their blood.
“No we are not cross-dressing. We are transgender couple so we are dressed as per our soul. Though she is a physically male she is mentally a woman and I am mentally a man” said Salman as Asifa looked in horror.
They left them both together for some time as the Imam was about to come.
“What did you say I am a transgender person” Asifa almost screamed.
“Shut up you bitch. If I wouldn’t say this they will first castrate you and then bleed you to death while I will be raped before being stoned to death. I heard someone say that we will be spared if we are transgender. Didn’t you read about what the Pakistani mullahs had decided recently? That a feminine looking man and masculine looking male can be considered as woman and man respectively and get married. The only way we can be excused from certain death is if we accept that we are both transgendered persons” Salman said curtly. Asifa couldn’t believe what she just heard.
Just then the Imam entered the room with five people who had sticks and rods in their hands.
“So are you both the crossdressers? Don’t you know that its haram in Islam for men to imitate women and women to imitate men” the Imam’s voice thundered.
“Sherazi saab, why do you even bother talking to these haraami’s? Let us finish them” the men demanded.
“Sir, we are not crossdressers. We are both transgendered. I am a female-to-male transgender while she is a male-to-female transgender. I heard an ullema say being transgender is a disease and not a sin which can be cured” said Salman as planned.
“How can I believe you? You may be lying to escape being killed” questioned Sherazi.
Salman hesitated slightly and then showed Sherazi the video he had shot of their first night where Asifa had willingly allowed Salman to take her virginity. The video clearly showed how Asifa had an orgasm and loved being made love by her ‘husband’. Next Salman showed how Asifa served breakfast to her husband just like any wife. There were also several photos of the duo while shopping at Chandni Chowk.
Sherazi observed it thoroughly and asked Asifa “Is this true? Are you a transgendered woman or lying to escape from us”.
“It…….its………its…..true…………I….I am a transgendered woman and consider Salman as my husband” Asifa could hardly complete the sentence.
“Do you know how much you are surrendering to become a woman?” he asked. Asifa nodded in difficulty.
"She does not see it as surrendering Sir," Salman said, "But correcting a mistake."
“Hmmmmm then you both have only two options in front of you. Firstly accept you are transgendered in the name of God. Option two, face death for lying” Asifa felt a shiver down her spine. She was caught between the devil and the deep sea.
“Are you prepared to swear that you are a woman in the eyes of God upon the Quran?” he asked Asifa. “And are you prepared to swear that you are a man in the eyes of God upon the Quran?”.
“Yes I am” Salman said calmly as Asifa looked at him absolute shock and horror.
“What about you? Even if you disagree you have lost all rights of being a man once you were penetrated. If you will not then you need to face the law of Shariah” threatened Sherazi. Asifa had no other option but to agree.
"Then do so," He said, handing her his Koran. Holding the book Asifa called on God to witness her oath and then swore upon the holy book that she was a woman.
"Now that you have taken your oath you are a now woman in the eyes of God Asifa," Imam Sherazi formally told her before he began to speak about the role and duties of a woman in Islam. Although women in India have probably more freedom than any Islamic country Imam Sherazi was follower of Salafi sect and as he spoke it was clear from his words that he expected Asifa to lead her life in keeping with such practice.
"As of this day Asifa you have become a woman, duty bound by God to both publicly and privately lead your life according to the words of the Prophet Muhammed may peace be upon him." Asifa was too shocked to utter a word.
“Will you?” he raised his voice as he asked again. Salman slowly nudged her.
"I will Sir," Asifa said as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I believe you will," he said with a smile.
Taking his time Imam Sherazi again reiterated what the Koran said about her place in God's eyes before asking formally if she accepted the various obligations demanded of by God to live as good a Muslim woman. Asifa nodded with great difficulty.
Next it was Salman’s turn and he was similarly made to swear by the holy Quran that he was a man. Sherazi explained him all the duties and responsibilities of a man.
Finally he signed a fatwa wherein it was declared that Salman was by all purposes a man and Asifa was for all purposes a woman. Salman was delirious with happiness while Asifa fainted in shock.
Imam Sherazi’s house was within the mosque premises. Asifa was resting in the bedroom and tended to by his wife while the Imam and Salman were seated in another room.
“Salman, are you happy that you achieved your goal?” he asked Salman.
“Yes Sir, I am” Salman said with a broad smile.
“Are you happy to cheat Asifa into becoming a woman?” he asked sending a chill down Salman’s spine. The Imam laughed.
“Do you really think I believed your story that Asif was transgendered? My hair hasn’t become grey due to the sun” he pointed.
“Then……….then why did…………did you let this happen?” he asked still in fright
“Well, by hook or crook you made love to her like a man and she let you do it. He lost all rights as a man at that moment. So I decided to make him a woman” he reasoned. Salman apologised profusely for lying.
Just then Sherazi’s wife informed them about Asifa gaining her consciousness. Salman went to the room. Asifa started throwing things at him blaming him for the mess. She came to hit Salman but Salman with his superior strength once again easily overpowered her and threw her on the bed.
“Look Asifa, you are no longer a man but woman and a woman needs to know her place. If you insist on claiming to be a man then you are turning away from your word you gave to God swearing on the Quran which means you have committed apostasy. As you know Islam does not tolerate Apostates. So gather yourself and commit to live your life as a good Muslim woman” Salman said. Asifa buried her face between her legs and cried. Salman let her do it so that all the bitterness will be out of her system. A few minute later he sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulder assuring her.
“This was unexpected as even I wanted to just cross-dress for a week, but things turned out this way. But believe me, if we support each other through thick and thin we can cross this unscathed” he consoled her.
“But……….but…….I am a man. Not a woman” said Asifa.
“No dear, you were a man, and now you are a woman. Just because you have a cyst between your legs and a flat chest doesn’t make you a man. A woman can have it too. You are Asifa, a woman, in the eyes of God and hence shall be treated as a woman and shall have only the rights of woman” explained Salman.
“You are a devout Muslim and I am sure you wouldn’t want to face the wrath of God by going back on your word. You will burn in eternal hell” Salma hit Asifa where it would have impact. Asifa knew she cannot go back on her promise and felt like she had sunk into a deep black hole.
“Now put your abaya and niqab and come outside. The Imam wants to speak to us” he prodded and helped Asifa outside.
**********************************************
“Now that Salman you are a man and Asifa you are a woman your previous marriage will be nullified as it was between Salma and Asif. Hence I decree that your marriage is annulled the moment you both swore by your new genders in the name of God as a woman cannot be a husband and man cannot be a wife in a marriage” informed Sherazi. Salman too was surprised along with Asifa.
“Which means that you both will need to remarry in your proper roles” he added much to the delight of Salman and misery of Asifa. “The nikaah will be held tomorrow morning so that you both can embark on your new journey together”.
Asifa just looked in dismay as to how her life just got destroyed in a matter as 2 days.
*****************************************
The rest of the day was spent in Sherazi’s wife and daughters-in-law getting Asifa ready for the nikaah by applying mehendi on her hands. For the first time in her life Asifa entered a ladies parlour and had a good scrub and facial done. Hair extensions were added and styled into beautiful curls using rollers. Asifa also had her ears and nose pierced which made her eyes well, though out of humiliation than pain. At the end when Asifa looked at herself in the mirror she hardly found any traces of Asif.
That night while Salman offred his prayers with the men in the main mosque Asifa offered the prayers with the womenfolk in Sherazi’s house. Sherazi’s wife led the prayers with Asifa and the other women wearing abaya’s and hijab.
The next morning there was a simple nikaah ceremony with both the bride and groom giving their 3 ‘Qubool Hai’ and formally signing the nikaahnama with salman offering a handsome Mehr to his bride.
During all this chaos Salman and Asifa would speak to their family on phone as Salma and Asif. Salman had decided to keep it themselves for the time being and Asifa had no choice but to follow her husband’s decision.
That evening they visited the Taj Mahal in Agra and then took leave to Kulu Manali as per their plan. Sherazi promised Salman that he would do the favour that Salman had asked him to do.
After spending 3 days in Kulu Manali in which Asifa spent most of the time in a Niqab on fear of being recognized finally it was time to go back.
Salman informed that they would be going directly to Bangalore instead of Hyderabad as Salman had decided to change a few things.
“I have asked Bobby to look for a new apartment for us as we cannot live in your old apartment unless youcan want to risk being identified in your current avatar. You can inform your landlord that your cousin ‘Salman’ shall come and pick your things and the balance payment of the advance amount can be transferred to Salman’s account. You also need to resign from your job as I don’t think you want to work there as Asifa. Even if you want I wouldn’t want my woman to work. You can be a housewife looking after me and our children in the future. These were anyways your ideals too as you also believed the same when you were a man” Salman spelt out his plan in detail. Asifa looked in wonder as to how Salman had taken to being a man like a fish takes to be in water. Salman quickly seized control of the situation, assessed it and found able solutions.
Asifa did as asked wherein he called his manager and said due to personal reasons he has to quit with immediate effect and also informed the landlord about vacating his house. Next she called her parents and in-laws and informed them about the change in journey plans due to an urgent problem.
The long return journey was similar to the onward journey wherein the wife wore the abaya and niqab while the husband wore a normal jeans and t-shirt. Although Salman had conversations with his fellow passengers Asifa refused to utter a word in fear of being recognized.
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Bobby picked the couple from the airport. Though she knew what had happened she was still not able to believe that the couple in front of her were actually cross-dressed. They went straight to the couple’s new house. It was a 2 BHK terraced apartment.
The next morning Asifa had to wake up early get ready and cook breakfast before her husband got up. Salman got up and had breakfast and left in a hurry as it was the first day of job in Bangalore Office. He spoke to the HR about his gender transition plans and luckily the company did not discriminate against transgender. Since it was a new office everyone thought Salman was always a man.
Salman loved every moment of his new life. After a good start to his new job he left home in the evening. As he knocked the door Asifa opened the door. She was looking as fresh as a daisy wearing a white saree and blouse (on Bobby’s instructions who had given a whole lot of instructions on how to behave and what to do. Salman lost all his fatigue on seeing his wife welcome him. He took the packet from his bag revealing jasmine flowers. He went and placed the flowers in her hair and wrapped his hands around her waist and kissed her neck. He had already realized the weak spots in his wife. She would get weak on her knees when kissed on the neck or belly.
Over the next month they spent like any newly married couple. Salman could hardly get his hands off his wife when they were together. Although Asifa was supposed to dress demurely outside the house in the bedroom Salman had her wear skimpy baby doll nighties and silk camisoles.
One day they several documents. Salman and Asifa opened them andfound that they contained their marriage certificate, new birth certificates as well as passports with their current names and status. Asifa was shocked but salman knew that Sherazi had used his clout in the Muslim Personal Law Board and got these issued. Now Asifa was legally and socially a woman, daughter and wife. Salman was quickly but surely closing every door tracing back to Asif.
The following weekend was the last nail in the coffin for Asifa. Sherazi flew down to Hyderabad and met both Salman and Asifa’s parents house and told them about their Islamic gender change. While Shakeel was happy he got a male heir Nisar was furious and refused to accept it. After a lot of deliberations and discussions it was decided that the first male child of Salman and Asifa would be raised as Nisar’s heir and carry that family name. With that Nisar cooled down although still feeling hard to believe he had lost his only son.
Sajida was distraught as she lost her son who was her pride. On the other hand Hasina hated Asifa as she felt somehow it was because of Asifa that she lost her beautiful daughter.
The moment Nisar saw Asifa enter dressed as a woman he jumped to attack her but was restrained and severely warned by Sherazi to not harm Asifa as she was his daughter too as he had acted as her father during their nikaah. He made it clear that even a tiny scratch on Asifa would have serious implications and repercussions. Nisar was forced to back off but with that day he stopped speaking to his, now, daughter.
The next day was the walima and Shakeel arranged it in a grand style to show his happiness. With that there was also a Rukhsati and this time Sajida had to send her ‘daughter’ to Hasina’s house.
The following day Hasina was forced to accompany her ‘son’ and ‘daughter-in-law’ to the doctor. After an initial chit-chat the doctor informed them that starting that day the couple would have their disease cured. They both received their first shots of hormones.
They frequently visited the doctors and sometime the visit would result in them overstaying for a couple of days.
On one visit they had their vocal chords changed to suit their current gender. On another visit Asifa had full body electrolysis to remove her unwanted hair. Then they had their facial structures changed and finally the sexual reassignment surgery.
Asifa by now had mentally lost the will to fight and learnt the ropes of girlhood from her sisters and sisters-in-law. Within no time she was proffiecient in all her duties which slowly made hasina accept her whole-heartedly.
Salman was a contented man now. He had everything he wanted. The couple was now planning to have children through surrogacy as they had frozen their sperm and eggs before the surgery.
All’s well end’s well.
THE END.
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