T

he holy month of Ramadhan is for all Muslims to enjoy, regardless of their sexuality, the Al Fatah islamic school for transgender people in Kotagede, Yogyakarta, will tell you.

On a Wednesday evening, owners and students of the school gathered in the main hall of a 200-year-old Javanese joglo for tarawih (evening Ramadhan prayers).

Transgender people who feel more comfortable wearing men’s clothing, such as Yuni Sara, performed their prayers behind the imam in the front row, while those who wore mukena (head-to-toe prayer gown), such as Al Fatah leader Shinta Ratri, prayed in the back row. “This is our first activity in the Ramadhan month after [the Al Fatah] was arbitrarily shut down by the Islamic Jihad Front [FJI],” Yuni said, referring to a hard-line group that opposes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

FJI has been the loudest critic of Al Fatah Islamic school, which was shut down by local authorities in early 2016. Authorities, in the face of pressure from the hard-line religious group, claimed that the school’s events and activities were a public nuisance.

The crackdown against transgender people, which pushed Al Fatah to cease all events and activities, was one among a number of cases of religious intolerance, which occurred last year in Yogyakarta, one of Indonesia’s most notable cultural melting pots.

The closure not only showed the vulnerability of the Indonesian Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community, but it also stained Yogyakarta’s long-preserved image as a “city of tolerance.”

Al Fatah finally resumed its school activities after GKR Hemas, the wife of Yogyakarta Governor-cum-Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, ensured their safety, Shinta said.

During the Ramadhan month, Al Fatah performs its activities every Wednesday and Sunday. The activities, ranging from iftar (breaking of the fast), Quran reading, tarawih, and sahur (pre-dawn meals) together, are carried out from afternoon to early morning the next day, Shinta said.

The school, which is located in Jagalan Village, also holds a celebration of Nuzulul Quran (the day the Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad) and sells cheap staple foods. It also held a seminar to counter radicalism in Jepara, Central Java.

“Exercising religion is a human right. We, as transgender people, have the right to perform prayers,” Shinta said.

Contrary to the claims of intolerant groups that Al Fatah is a public nuisance, local residents do not complain about the school’s activities and instead let visitors to the school park their motorcycles in their yards.

Al Fatah, which was established elsewhere in 2008 and moved to Jagalan in 2014, has always attracted visitors, including researchers from both Indonesia and abroad. On this particular Wednesday evening, two university students from Bandung interviewed a transwoman named Aliya, who was later photographed by the college students wearing a veil.

“Here [at the school] I learn about the ordinance of prayer,” Aliya answered when the students asked her about what she learned at Al Fatah.

Prior to a discussion held after the tarawih, Shinta asked the transwomen to come together and visit Abdul Muhaimin, the leader of Nurul Ummahat Islamic School and Al Fatah Governing board, who was unwell after an accident, as well as Sandra, their friend who became ill after silicone breast implant surgery.

“That’s why [we] should stop using silicone,” said Shinta, a statement that was met by laughter from the transwomen.

That night, Arif Nuh Safri, a cleric who has been a mentor at Al Fatah since 2010, did not give a specific religious sermon. Instead, he answered a question from Eva, a transwoman, who asked if her transgender friend could officially marry a woman.

“Because of her legal status as a man she can marry a woman,” Arif said.

As a cleric, Arif wanted citizens to respect transgender people. Even though the transwomen themselves confessed that their behaviors are not always in accordance with religious values, they had a willingness to perform ritual prayers and fasting, Arif said.

“The exercise of religion is a basic human right of the individual. Why should we ban people from connecting with their God?” a lecturer at Al Quran Institute in Yogyakarta said.

He expected that citizens would be willing to understand the complex lives of transgender people, who face negative stigma and pressure since birth. People should not insult transpeople. Instead they should hold dialogues like Prophet Muhammad and other prophets did, he said.

“Prophet Muhammad never insulted, not even his enemies. What he did was come to them, hold discussions and even give them service,” Arif said.

Last Sunday, Al Fatah also held a voluntary counseling and testing (VTS) program, where medical personnel and NGO Viesta took blood samples of some transwomen to check for HIV infections.