National Association of Muslim Lawyers (NAML) is an organization of

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

lawyers founded in 1996 as 'Muslim JD'. In 2000, it was renamed to its current name. NAML conducts an annual conference with several hundred legal professionals participating in it, including Muslim attorneys federal judges, law professors, and law students. It is a

501(c)(6) organization A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)). Such organizations are exempt from some Taxation in the Un ...

according to the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

in the year 2001. In a brief before the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, NAML describes itself as the largest professional organization for American Muslim lawyers and its "activities include organizing educational programs on current legal topics of interest, supporting regional Muslim

bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence.

Shari'ah Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...

expert and president emeritus of NAML, Mohammad Fadel, who teaches law at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, quoted a Muslim jurist as saying that in Islamic law, when spouses disagree as to whether the husband has exercised lawful discipline or used excessive violence, it is presumed that the wife is telling the truth unless the husband is known for his piety. In 2017, the president of NAML, Asifa Quraishi-Landes criticised the law proposal

American Laws for American Courts David Yerushalmi (born 1956) is an American lawyer and political activist who is the driving counsel behind the anti-sharia movement in the United States. Along with Robert Muise, he is co-founder and senior counsel of the American Freedom Law Ce ...

banning Sharia in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

spearheaded by

Tom Weatherston Tom Weatherston (born February 15, 1950) is an American industrial engineer and Republican politician. He served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 2013 through 2019, representing the northern half of Racine County. Early life Born in Buffa ...

stating ''"They see any acknowledgment of Sharia in American Muslim life as a first step to the Trojan Horse."'' In the murder case of Nabra Hassanen, NAML expected the criminal to receive a life sentence without parole. In 2016, a new NAML was relaunched, with a new Board of Directors composed of representatives of eleven Muslim lawyer associations from San Francisco to New York City as well as the National Muslim Law Students Association. After its reboot in 2016, NAML restarted its now-annual conferences, beginning with Chicago, Illinois for the first national conference since 2007, with the theme "Advancing Justice; Serving Communities." In 2018, under the leadership of Gadeir Abbas as President, NAML filed an amicus brief in ''

Trump v. Hawaii ''Trump v. Hawaii'', No. 17-965, 585 U.S. 667 (2018), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case involving Presidential Proclamation 9645 signed by President Donald Trump, which restricted travel into the United States by people from seve ...

'', with the assistance of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP. NAML's 2018 national conference, with the theme "Lawyers as Leaders", was in Dallas, Texas. In 2019, under the leadership of Aliya Khalidi as President, NAML convened experts from CAIR, Muslim Advocates, and the ACLU to host a webinar on the potential impact of a Muslim Brotherhood terrorist designation. With leadership from Yasir Billoo, NAML Secretary and the 2019 Conference Chair, NAML brought its annual national conference to the east coast—to Orlando, Florida, with the theme "Shaping Our Future: Innovation and Social Responsibility." NAML also filed an amicus brief in '' Int'l Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump'', again with the assistance of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP. Finally, NAML also made a stronger effort to include law students in the organization. During the pandemic in 2020, under the leadership of Saleema Snow as President, NAML started a speaker series called "Lunch and Learn," which highlighted Muslim attorneys around the country. Topics included Islamic Family Law in American Courts, Employment Based Immigration, and other current subjects. The 2020 conference was held virtually and the theme was "Race & the Law," specifically intended to highlight Black voices within the Muslim community in the wake of the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

. NAML conference members discussed the ways in which race played a role in their fields.

References

External links

* * {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer, 522283398 Legal organizations based in the United States Law-related professional associations 501(c)(6) nonprofit organizations 2001 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 2001 Islamic organizations based in the United States American bar associations

See also

References

External links