With all of the controversy surrounding women’s rights in Islamic society, this is definitely a new one: A man has a sex-change operation, begins wearing the hijab, and then sues to be readmitted to the Islamic university that he-turned-she was attending before the operation. Oh, and Sally was a medical student. More from Al-Arabiya:

“Sally Mohamed Abdullah, formerly Sayyed, accused Dr. Mohamed al-Tayeb, president of the oldest Islamic university of stealing the case documents that contained a verdict allowing her to re-enroll in medical school, where she had been student before the operation.

The Supreme Administrative Court had ruled previously that the university was obliged to return Sayed after he became Sally. But Sally was taken by surprise when the court secretary told her that her case file had been stolen.

In her complaint, Sally protested that the university president did not implement the court ruling and accused him of ruining her future.”

Al-Azhar University said it refused to readmit Sally after she was belly dancing in nightclubs, saying it was un-Islamic behavior.

But what of the sex-change part? From the Fatwa Bank of IslamOnline.net: “In Islam, man and woman are equals in the sight of Allah. Therefore, there is no justifiable reason for what called sex change operations. …If an imitation in outward appearance is counted as a sin, then by Qiyas (analogy), a total change in gender will be even more sinful act.”

The Al-Arabiya story says, “Sayyed underwent a sex-change operation in 1996 after doctors ruled that his physical and psychological makeup were those of a woman.”