Award-winning law professor advances cause of Muslim women

BY JOAN TUPPONCE

Dr. Azizah al-Hibri is as comfortable talking with former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor or President George Bush as she is lecturing in her Richmond law class.

A professor at Richmond School of Law, al-Hibri has practiced corporate law and works to help Muslim women attain their rights.

“I am now a jurist,” she says. “I get to combine my philosophical, legal and religious training in my work, which is unique.”

Her background and contributions to law education and women’s rights have earned her a number of prestigious awards. She is a former Fulbright Scholar and Distinguished Educator at Richmond, and in 2007, she became the first female Muslim recipient of the Virginia First Freedom Award from the Council for America’s First Freedom.

The Virginia First Freedom Award recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to advancing religious freedom through education or diplomatic means. Last year’s four recipients also included Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. secretary of the state.
“The reason we gave Azizah this award is that she has singularly stood out to advance the cause of Muslim women, particularly with respect to human rights and religious freedom,” says Isabelle Kinnard, vice president for education for the council. “She is an extraordinary scholar and legal thinker. She is a model for women of all color and Muslim women especially.”

al-Hibri came to the United States in 1966 after graduating from the American University of Beirut. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania in 1975 and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1985.

Kinnard describes al-Hibri as a woman who is deeply committed to her family and her community, citing her work with Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, an organization al-Hibri founded in 1993.

Karamah is committed to supporting human rights worldwide. It leads the effort to empower Muslim women to define their own contributions and forms of participation within their communities through legal education, leadership development and an enhanced understanding of Islamic law.

al-Hibri started Karamah as a virtual organization, focusing on research—the organization now has offices in both Richmond and Washington, D.C., and hopes to soon launch Karamah Research Institute.

“A lot of people in the government were interested in Karamah’s work after 9/11,” al-Hibri says. “Officials in Washington wanted our insights. We had a series of meetings with the White House, the Justice Department, etc. There was a meeting scheduled by President Bush five days after 9/11 at the Islamic Center in Washington.”

The United Nations, local communities and various U.S. embassies around the world often invite al-Hibri to speak on governance and women’s rights. She met O’Connor prior to one such lecture. “Our goal is not to get caught in anyone’s political machine,” she explains. “We want to stay apolitical because we are jurists. We are interested in human rights issues and constitutional law issues.”

Before coming to Richmond, al-Hibri honed her legal skills in major Wall Street firms. After six years of corporate law, she turned her attention to teaching. She remembers interviewing with Richmond.

“They invited me to a reception in their suite,” she says. “Some of the professors were standing at the door and arguing about the VMI case (and equal rights). They were writing briefs for it and were on different sides. I got so involved that I argued with them. The reception was over, and I was still at the door.”

al-Hibri is currently in the midst of finalizing the first manual to prepare young Muslim women for the modern world—the manual is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy. She plans to take a sabbatical to finish a book she is writing, tentatively titled The Muslim Marriage Contract in American Courts.

al-Hibri sees a growing level of respect for Muslim women.

“Some of the richest women in the world come from Islamic nations,” she says. “Iraqi women are the most advanced women in the Muslim world. Egyptian and Lebanese women are very active. Egypt has been improving its family law. They are not in need of someone from the outside to tell them their rights.”

Even though attitudes have modified, there still are misconceptions about women from Islamic nations.

“One of my Richmond students who accompanied me to the Middle East had the shock of her life,” al-Hibri says. “She met a woman who was a minister, a woman who was a parliamentarian and a woman who was a business leader. She was taken aback. These women dress traditionally and people associate that with oppression and ignorance. It’s a cultural outfit. That’s all.”

When she visits Lebanon, al-Hibri says she does not dress differently than she does here in the states.

“They have the latest Parisian clothes, and I could actually dress better,” she says, smiling.

Perceptions about the Muslim world are going to change drastically, she adds. “There will be countries that are exploding with development and achievement. It will be different; just like the Christian world. You have to think of the Muslim world as nations that are developing differently. It’s simplistic to take one image and apply it to 1.5 billion people around the world.”