Legacy of Dr. Azizah al-Hibri: The Inspiring Impact of a Pioneering Recognized Islamic Human Rights Advocate

Summary

Dr. Azizah al-Hibri is a pioneer in Islamic law and a leader in advocating for gender equality within the Muslim faith. She is the founder and president of the non-profit organization KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, as well as a professor emerita of law at the University of Richmond School of Law.

Dr. al-Hibri has dedicated her life's work to challenging and reshaping conventional views about Islam, gender equality, and social justice. In addition to teaching law courses and organizing conferences, she has researched and written extensively about the faith and its role in gender equality.

Dr. al-Hibri is a strong believer in equal rights for women in Islam, arguing that the Quran and other Islamic texts teach gender equality if interpreted properly. She has produced several publications to this effect, including “Gender Equity in Islam: Basic Principles,” “Muslim Women Talk About Equality,” and “Women and the Judiciary: An Islamic Perspective.” In addition, she has published articles, given lectures, and organized conferences to further the cause of gender equality and justice in Islam.

Dr. al-Hibri also founded KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights in 1995 to provide education and technical assistance to Muslim women in the U.S. and abroad. KARAMAH works to promote gender justice in Muslim societies and create awareness of Islamic law and its impact on women. The organization has trained and educated over 15,000 Muslims around the world, empowering them to challenge laws and customs that infringe upon the rights of women and minorities.

For her work, Dr. Azizah al-Hibri has been awarded several honors and awards, including the International Human Rights Award from the American Bar Association and the Interreligious and International Peace Award from the Center for International Understanding. She also received a Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Richmond in recognition of her groundbreaking work in women's rights and Islamic law.

Dr. Azizah al-Hibri is a pioneering advocate for gender equality in the Muslim faith. She is the founder and president of KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and empowering Muslim women to challenge laws and customs that infringe upon their rights. Through her speeches, articles, and research, she has challenged conventional interpretations of Islamic texts to argue for gender equality and justice in Muslim societies. She has also been honored and awarded for her work, including the International Human Rights Award from the American Bar Association. Dr. al-Hibri has dedicated her life's work to advocating for gender equality in Islamic law and promoting social justice in the Muslim faith.
 

Dr. Azizah al-Hibri: An Inspirational Leader in Islamic Law

Dr. Azizah al-Hibri is a world-renowned Islamic Law professor who has had a significant impact on the legal field. She has made contributions to the global academic discourse, her writings on Islamic Law, and her pioneering leadership in the field of Islamic Law and jurisprudence. Dr. al-Hibri is the founder of KARAMAH, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the study and practice of Muslim Women in Islamic Law. She has also served on the Board of various legal organizations and has been honored with numerous awards and distinctions for her work on Islamic Law.
 

The Work of Dr. al-Hibri in the Field of Islamic Law

Dr. al-Hibri is an advocate for Islamic Law and an inspirational leader in the field. She has focused her work on developing an understanding of Islamic Law in the modern world, emphasizing its relevance to contemporary issues and its importance to Muslim societies. Her scholarship and research have opened up new avenues of thought and exploration into Islamic Law. She has provided insight into the ideology and philosophy behind the Shariah, or Islamic Law, and has made significant contributions to the field of Islamic Law.
 

Founding of KARAMAH and Dr. al-Hibri's Contributions to Islamic Law

In 1996, Dr. al-Hibri founded KARAMAH, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the study and practice of Muslim Women in Islamic Law. KARAMAH's mission is to advance the study, practice, and understanding of Islamic Law and its effects on Muslim Women. Through its programs, publications, and conferences, KARAMAH has become an integral part of the discourse on Islamic Law and its effect on Muslim Women. Dr. al-Hibri's contributions to KARAMAH are significant and enduring.
 

Honors and Awards Received by Dr. al-Hibri

Dr. al-Hibri has been recognized and honored with a number of awards and distinctions, including being named “Woman of the Year” by the Islamic Law Studies Association in 2000, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association of Muslim Women in Law in 2002, and receiving the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization Prize for Women's Achievement in 2006. In addition to these honors, Dr. al-Hibri has received numerous other awards and distinctions for her contributions to the field of Islamic Law.

Meet the proud Muslim American law professor, corporate lawyer and scholar who is as comfortable lecturing across the globe on Islamic jurisprudence as she is teaching business law to future attorneys here in the U.S. Known around the world as the founder of KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, she is a welcome guest at the White House, and this week, we are delighted to induct her into the Law Stars Hall of Fame.

Standing up for freedom, human rights and dignity in the face of adversity and against global odds is the job of a Law Star. Meet Dr. Azizah al-Hibri, Islamic scholar, doctor of philosophy, law professor, international lecturer and good old American corporate lawyer who is known at the White House and around the world for her work as a feminist Muslim spokesperson and the founder and executive director of KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, in Washington, D.C.
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Our Law Star is a proud believer in Islam who has lived the American dream. She is also a lawyer who understands and appreciates Western democracy from the unique perspective of a Lebanese Muslim woman. After September 11, the group of American Muslim leaders called to Washington to meet with President Bush included Professor al-Hibri. Bill Moyers has labeled her "a Renaissance woman." Condoleezza Rice said she is "remarkable."

As a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, Dr. al-Hibri is an expert in the laws of both the U.S. and Islam. With rare versatility, she teaches classes in corporate law as naturally and easily as she lectures on Islamic jurisprudence.

Dr. al-Hibri began her scholarly career at the American University of Beirut, where she earned her BA in philosophy in 1966. Her doctorate, also in philosophy, is from the University of Pennsylvania. And in 1985, she earned her JD at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Before moving into academia, Dr. al-Hibri completed a stint as a summer associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell, then worked in the trenches as a corporate associate at top New York firms, Debevoise & Plimpton and Sullivan & Cromwell.

Skillfully and carefully combining the not-necessarily-harmonious principles of her two loves: law and religion, with her strong convictions on issues concerning women's rights, Dr. al-Hibri thinks globally and acts globally. She has lectured on democracy, Islam and feminism all around the world, including in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bahrain, Yemen, Kuwait, Jordan, Indonesia, the Netherlands and China. She has also added her sought-after voice to the mix on international media outlets such as CNN, PBS, the BBC and the Arab world's Al-Jazeera TV. Her articles and other writings appear in dozens of law reviews, legal journals and books.

And while the good professor recognizes that certain Westerners, as well as some of her fellow Muslims, misunderstand her religion, including when it comes to the place of women in Islam, her life and career serve to demonstrate the proposition that a Muslim woman has no obligation to remain silent. Taking time out from teaching, writing and lecturing, our scholarly Law Star talked with LawCrossing about her life and career in these turbulent times.

Q: Professor Azizah al-Hibri, congratulations on earning your Law Star — you are perhaps the most well-known and successful Muslim woman lawyer in America, and also a respected professor, spokesperson and educator internationally. Can you briefly tell us about your organization, KARAMAH, and why it was needed? How many Muslim women lawyers are there in the U.S.? How about in the Islamic world generally?

A: I founded KARAMAH with two other Muslim women lawyers in 1993 because we wanted to give Muslim women an authentic voice in the international arena. It was common at that time for non-Muslim Western women to speak on behalf of Muslim women in international forums, defining for them their problems and offering secular solutions. Coming out from the American feminist movement, I found that situation unacceptable.

We at KARAMAH felt that the only way to advance Muslim women's rights was by taking seriously the faith of these women and exposing patriarchal interpretations that have been masquerading as mere expressions of divine truth. To do that, I focused in the early years on jurisprudential writings and lecturing around the Muslim world. My writings, which were quite serious from a religious point of view, allowed KARAMAH to gain credibility and respect in various Muslim countries. In the meantime, however, we discovered that American Muslim women have problems, too. Recently, we have been focusing on these problems and issues as well.

I am not good at numbers, but I can say that since I started lecturing a decade ago to various Muslim communities in the U.S. about the need to send their children to law school, the numbers have increased drastically. Women make up a significant part of these law students, and they end up in good positions. The best information about these numbers can be obtained from NAML (National Association of Muslim Lawyers), an offshoot of KARAMAH.

Q: Why did you choose to become a lawyer in America, rather than in your home country, Lebanon? As a Muslim woman, what do you love about America? And as an American Muslim, what do you miss about living in an Islamic country?

A: When I chose to become a lawyer, America was already my country. I came to the United States in the sixties to obtain a doctorate degree in philosophy, and ended up becoming the founding editor of the first journal of feminist philosophy, Hypatia. I then taught at Texas A & M for a number of years. Ultimately, I decided that quick social change is hard to bring about through philosophy. So, I went to law school to help other women. Like the Lebanon I left behind then, America was a place where I could voice my opinions and be free to act. I had planned to return to Lebanon originally, but was prevented by the break-out of the civil war. After that I settled in the United States, especially since I increasingly felt that I had a special role to play as a feminist Muslim woman.

I do miss being in Lebanon. I miss the large family, the closely knit neighborhoods, the Qur'anic readings on the radio and the call to prayer from the mosques. I miss the social visits. It just seems that there is a lot more time over there to be with each other, to have leisurely lunches by the seaside. Here, time simply flies.

Q: You also practiced corporate law at a number of big New York law firms. You chose a career in academia rather than one making the big bucks as a corporate lawyer. Do you find teaching more rewarding than practicing law? Why? Are you ever tempted to go back into practice?

A: I have never been tempted to go back to practice. I remember how I felt after drafting documents and then sending them to the file room, never to see the light of day again. I missed being a writer whose work is read and enjoyed by many others. At one point, I even wondered whether I still had the gift of writing and conceptual thinking that I carefully honed as a professor of philosophy. I never had enough time to enjoy the money, and remembered that I had a pretty good life in College Station on a lesser salary. The minute I left the practice, I went out and bought several very colorful and flowery dresses. I walked in the sun and enjoyed the light. I even enjoyed being home in the morning. But I was not relieved until I tried to write an article and found out that I still could!

Teaching is fun. It is about being with others, talking, arguing. But as enjoyable as teaching is, I feel sad every year at losing my students. Many, however, have written back after graduation and told me how my teaching helped them in their careers. That makes me really happy.

Q: As war continues in Afghanistan and Iraq, many people wonder whether Islam is consistent with sustained American-style democracy. Some believe Islamic practice and custom are more compatible with theocratic government as opposed to democracy, with its cornerstone, separation of church and state. Do you think the concept of separation of mosque and state is antithetical to Islamic faith and its law, Shari'a?

A: I addressed that issue in 1992. I believe I was the first to address it in the English language in the US. The crux of my argument was that Islam was, at heart, about democratic governance, and that this fact emanates from the values directly articulated by the Qur'an itself. I later also discovered that Islam's views on freedom of belief anticipated our American views on separation of church and state. As with the early American anti-establishment discourse, Muslim jurists in medieval times also refused to allow the Muslim state to establish a sect (this position is similar to the historical position of the Baptists in the US). Unfortunately, the worldly leaders of the various Islamic states were ultimately able to overcome the objections of the religious leaders and establish official sects in their countries. Thus the history of internal conflict in the Muslim world was not about restraining the power of religious leaders, but rather protecting religious leaders from secular powers using religion for their worldly ends.

Q: There are intolerant fundamentalists in all religions, of course. Do you think Wahabism, the extreme form of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia, as well as anti-American rhetoric taught at "madrasas" and Islamic religious schools in many Muslim nations, contributes to global terrorism? What can America do to remedy the ill effects of negative images exported around the globe by Islamic radicals, or is continued terrorism along the lines of the attacks of Sept. 11 inevitable?

A: There is nothing inevitable in this world. But to solve our problems properly we should take the time to analyze them. Painting with a broad brush is not helpful. While some Wahabis have been extremists, others are simply ascetic. The difference between the two is not Wahabism, but patriarchy and authoritarianism, i.e., the readiness of one person to impose his views on others. Even the best of all philosophies sours when it is imposed on others; and that includes democratic philosophies.

"Madrasa" simply means "school." I went in Lebanon to an American "madrasa." It was called the American School for Girls or "al-Madrasa al-Amerikiyyah." Different schools have different curricula. Too much control by the state of educational institutions has led in the past to suppression of freedom of thought. This suppression explodes into violent behavior when healthy outlets are not available. We need to emphasize the need for a free and active market of ideas, instead of narrowing the scope of what may be taught in schools/madrasas. We need to encourage freedom of expression, even if we do not like some of the expressions. An approach true to our American democratic values would go a long way towards easing the tensions.

Anti-American rhetoric has been around for a long time in Third World countries. Some Hollywood movies attest to that. But until recently, the majority of Muslims admired Americans and liked them. To understand the recent wave of terror, we need to understand what events could have pushed certain individuals into crossing the line and taking their own lives and those of others. To argue that their religion is violent is to express pure bias. Bias is not helpful because it stands between us and a proper and clear analysis. The proper discussion or analysis is not about a religion or a race being essentially and irredeemably violent. Rather, it is about geopolitics, something beyond the scope of this discussion.

Q: As you know, France is currently embroiled in controversy over the ban on head scarves and other religious attire in state schools. We have read that a large majority of French citizens favor the ban. One French official specifically said the head scarf represents "diminished status for girls" and should be eliminated from French life. And in secular Islamic countries like Turkey, the head scarf issue has also been very divisive. We also heard about the tragic deaths of 15 girls in a Mecca school fire after male rescuers were prevented from entering the building because the girls were not wearing their abayas, or proper clothing. Is the wearing of veils, head scarves or other covering a religious obligation or a matter of culture? What is your view on this matter, generally, as well as on the French government's position?

A: I have refrained from providing a jurisprudential view of the veil because of the emotional climate surrounding the issue. This issue is an internal Muslim issue about what is required by our religion. The discussion should be scholarly and free of all political pressures. This is not the case now. This well has been poisoned.

Regardless of our position on the veil, Islam guarantees to each Muslim the right to freedom of belief. So does the American Constitution. Therefore, those who believe that wearing the veil is required by the Qur'an are entitled to their beliefs, and no government should interfere with the free exercise of their religion. The French government is imposing a secular view on all its citizens, thus engaging in secular authoritarianism by denying its citizens basic religious freedoms.

The events of the fire in Makkah are shocking. They exhibit the extent of twisted patriarchal thinking that must be combated. They are reminiscent of female infanticide in ancient Arabia that the Qur'an and the Prophet flatly prohibited.

Q: In a speech at a KARAMAH event in Washington, D.C. last year, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice reflected that, as a Black woman in America, her ancestors were "three-fifths of a man," and, even after slavery was abolished, "women were not given the right to vote until the 20th century." Similarly, Time magazine recently quoted Dr. Riffat Hassan, religious studies scholar, as saying, "The way Islam has been practiced in most Muslim societies for centuries has left millions of Muslim women with battered bodies, minds and souls." Do you see parallels between the experience of blacks in America and women in Islam as far as the struggle for civil and human rights? Are you optimistic about the future?

A: The Qur'an recognizes the equality of women when it states that all humans were created of the same soul. In fact, Islam came to liberate women of ancient Arabia, who were described by the Prophet as "captives" (awan) in their own homes. The Prophet himself drew several parallels between women and slaves in ancient Arabia, since both were vulnerable constituencies. He called on men to modify their behavior towards both, and laid the foundations of a just society where there would be no slaves, or oppressed women.

For this reason, in early Islam Muslim women became quite active and an important part of the Muslim community. They became scholars, teachers, business women, leaders, and even queens. The demise of the status of the Muslim woman went hand-in-hand with the slow demise of democratic institutions established during the life of the Prophet. Today, with slavery abolished and women's right on the rise, patriarchal influence is being curtailed. But the path to full liberation, in accordance with the Islamic ideal, is neither easy nor short. Layers of patriarchal thinking must be peeled away. This is a slow and painful process which may lead to conflict and some periodic set backs. But in the end, I am optimistic that the Qur'anic ideal will emerge.

Q: In connection with the charges against pop star Michael Jackson, media reports appeared regarding some involvement of the Nation of Islam. What is the Nation of Islam and what role does the group play in the American Muslim community?

A: The Nation of Islam has identified itself with the heritage of Elijah Muhammad. Warith Deen Muhammad (Elijah's son), however, has identified himself with orthodox Islam. His following is quite large. Nation of Islam has garnered some attention because of its efforts against drug use in African American communities. But, as reported in American papers, it has also been involved in controversies. I have no further information on this group, especially with respect to its beliefs. As far as I know, it does not represent a large segment of the Muslim community.

Q: As we love to ask all our Law Stars, what are your hobbies and what do you do for leisure and relaxation?

A: I have not had much leisure time recently, but I like to listen to music, especially pieces composed by my husband. I also enjoy looking at paintings, shopping for antiques, and decorating my home.

Q: Finally, professor, who were the biggest influences, so far, in your life and career — who are your personal Law Stars?

A: My grandfather and my brother. They both had trust in my abilities from the very beginning.
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