Lawyer Considers Issues from Islamic Perspective
Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Wednesday, September 14 2011
Snapshot: Azizah al-Hibri, lawyer, professor, editor
Azizah al-Hibri is founder and chair of KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, a professor at the T. C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond, and founding editor of Hypatia: a Journal of Feminist Philosophy. In 1992, al-Hibri became the first Muslim woman law professor in the United States. Since then, she has written extensively on women's issues, democracy, and human rights from an Islamic perspective. In June, al-Hibri was appointed by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission dedicated to reviewing the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to making policy recommendations to the president, the secretary of state, and Congress.
al-Hibri has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world in support of Muslim women’s rights. She has visited 14 Muslim countries and discussed with their religious, political, and feminist leaders, as well as their legal scholars, issues of importance to Muslim women.
A Fulbright scholar, she has written extensively on issues of Islam and democracy, Muslim women’s rights, and human rights in Islam. al-Hibri is the recipient of the Virginia First Freedom Award, presented in 2007 by the Council for America's First Freedom; and the Dr. Betty Shabazz Recognition Award, presented by Women in Islam in 2006. In 2004, the University of Richmond awarded her its Distinguished Educator Award. She received the Willie L. Moore Award from the Law School's Black Law Student Association in 2003.
She will be the keynote speaker next month at the annual Building Bridges Awards dinner sponsored by the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta.
Womenetics: In June, you were appointed by President Obama to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. How do you feel about being named to this prestigious group?
Azizah al-Hibri: The appointment presents me with a good opportunity to serve my community and country. As a Muslim woman, I am pleased about the appointment since some of the issues raised require knowledge of Muslim countries, their local customs versus Islamic laws, and generally knowledge of human rights and freedom of conscience in Islam. As an American, this is an opportunity for me to serve and put into action my views about human rights that I developed over the years and implemented through the organization I founded, KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights. I am hoping that I will provide useful insights to my fellow commissioners during our discussions.
Womenetics: What exactly will you be doing as a member of the commission?
al-Hibri: I am one out of nine commissioners. We determine each year, through a thorough consultative and democratic process, what countries and issues deserve to be focused upon during that year. The commission conducts investigations that often require visits to select countries and discussions with government officials and others about matters of concern. The commission then evaluates all the information at hand and issues an annual report in which it highlights countries and issues of special concern and makes recommendations to the U. S. government in light of its findings.
Womenetics: As you were growing up, how important was religion in your life?
al-Hibri: In my childhood, it was central. I studied the Quran and read about other religions as well. Then I became less religious while growing up. As I matured, religion became central to my life again.
Womenetics: What drew you to the legal profession?
al-Hibri: In the '60s and '70s I was immersed in the American women’s movement and wrote many articles on women’s rights. While the articles were well received in our academic circles, I was concerned that they were not leading to real change. As a lawyer, I thought I would have a better chance to see my views implemented. So, I left my position as a philosophy professor and returned to school to study law.
Womenetics: What is the biggest misunderstanding of women’s role in Islam?
al-Hibri: That women are subservient or inferior to men. Indeed, Islam gave women full rights more than 1,400 years ago. It repeatedly stated that men and women were all created from the same soul. Muslims were not ready to understand the message. Many allowed their patriarchal biases to intervene between them and a proper understanding of that message. It is up to us women now to make our voices heard and return to a pristine interpretation of the Quran unsullied by patriarchal distortions.
Womenetics: When you lecture around the world about Muslim women’s rights, do you often get any negative feedback or push back?
al-Hibri: Surprisingly I do not. The reason for this is that I start with unquestionable Quranic verses that represent central tenets of Islam, then work my way step by step to support my claims by other Quranic verses and prophetic statements. When I am done, the audience would have followed my logic and the proof supporting my claims. They may differ on interpretation of some matters, but they would recognize that the view is solidly rooted in Islamic sources. So the most they can do is disagree, something quite acceptable in Islam. Sometimes, I am told that the person questioning me will think about my views and study my sources and would be open to change his views (or work to change the law) if my argument turns out to be correct. This is quite encouraging, but we need more discussions of this kind around the world.
Womenetics: How different is it speaking to an American group rather than an audience in Europe or a Moslem country?
al-Hibri: No difference except with respect to First Amendment discussions, which some European countries do not have in their constitutions. This is significant because it affects their legal responses to Muslim minorities in these countries. Otherwise, the myths and ignorance of Islam are roughly the same, and so the concerns are very similar.
Womenetics: Who has most inspired you in your life?
al-Hibri: My grandfather. He was a learned Islamic scholar who took me seriously and guided me despite my young age then.
Womenetics: What did you want to be when you were a child?
al-Hibri: I wanted to be an author or a journalist. I began publishing in weekly magazines at a very young age. My father did not see the need to send me to college to study literature or journalism, especially when I had at home one of the best libraries in the country. But I wanted to go to college; so I decided to study physics, a discipline which required the use of a lab. This is what I studied in the first two years of my education at the American University of Beirut.
Womenetics: When you are not working, how do you relax?
al-Hibri: I shop for antiques. I learned a lot about the history and soul of this country by visiting out-of-the way shops and talking to the owners about the history of the objects on sale, their memories, and various other matters.
Jan Jaben-Eilon was a founding staff writer of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Since then, she has been the international editor of Advertising Age magazine and has written for such publications as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Journalism Review, and Consumer Reports. She is the author of soon-to-be-published (There is) Life After Cancer. Jan and her husband have homes in Atlanta and Jerusalem.
