Originally published in Student Lawyer , December 2002 (Vol. 31, No. 4)

SPOTLIGHT

Law Student Wants National Group to Organize His Muslim Colleagues 

Mustafa Kamal started law school at the University of Maryland convinced that only international business law held any appeal for him. But after Sept. 11, 2001, he saw the law in a new light.

“On 9/11, our religion was hijacked,” says Kamal, a practicing Muslim born in Kuwait. “And as a community, we did not understand how to safeguard ourselves in a legal framework.”

Kamal quickly discovered a new interest in civil liberties and civil rights. He also wanted to promote understanding of the American legal system among Muslim-Americans and to help integrate them into the legal profession. This spurred Kamal, now a 2L, to help form a national student group, the National Muslim Law Student Association (NMLSA).

Kamal explains that NMLSA’s immediate work is twofold. First, organizers are putting existing Muslim law student associations in contact with one another, to create a national network. Second, they are encouraging the formation of Muslim student groups at law schools across the country.

“We want to encourage Muslim students in law school to organize and involve themselves in the mainstream legal system, and to contribute to the richness of the law school scene,” Kamal says. “Plus, we want to encourage Muslims to join the legal profession.”

Historically, according to Kamal, Muslim-Americans did not tend to enter the legal profession. Instead, he says, those pursuing professions often chose science, medicine, or engineering. “It’s also a generational thing,” he says. “When our parents’ generation came to the U.S., there were no lawyers. This generation that has grown up in America is becoming lawyers to a greater extent. But after 9/11, we want to encourage more [Muslims] to join the legal profession, to integrate themselves into American society.”

Kamal believes that attracting Muslim-Americans to the legal system will help safeguard the rights of the Muslim community. He says it also will promote understanding, tolerance, and the exchange of ideas among people of all religions and backgrounds. And he thinks law students could prove instrumental in that effort.

“It’s really time to talk, to try to understand each other,” Kamal says. “We can be open- minded at the law school level. As future attorneys, I think it’s very important to have a complex understanding of reality. It’s not necessarily important to agree, but we should understand each other.”

To that end, Kamal and two officers of the school’s student bar association last year organized a program on campus to initiate dialogue on Islam and Muslim-Americans after Sept. 11. More than 100 people attended the forum. For their efforts, the university presented Kamal and his classmates with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Diversity Recognition Award.

Last summer, Kamal interned at Solidarity USA, a civil liberties group that has focused on preventing discrimination against Muslim-Americans, South Asians, and Arabs after the terrorist attacks. This year, he’s taking a two-semester clinical program called “Civil Rights: Racial and Ethnic Discrimination.”

Kamal still seeks a career in international business law, but he says he’ll always remain dedicated to the struggle for civil liberties through pro bono work and his involvement in the Muslim-American community.

For the time being, Kamal is working on raising NMLSA’s profile. He describes student interest in the organization as “phenomenal.” Kamal says people from across the country have contacted him to join the NMLSA listserv or to ask how they can contribute to the organization. “It’s an incredibly diverse group, too,” he says. “Muslims and non-Muslims are getting involved, and that really enriches the group.”

Kamal suggests that students who want to learn more about NMLSA e-mail info@nmlsa.org to join the listserv or request information. NMLSA can provide students who want to set up local chapters with models and advice. Kamal says the organization is looking for people interested in becoming representatives at their schools. It’s also hoping to hear from Muslim student groups already in existence.

Kamal stresses that non-Muslims are welcome too: “We really want this to be a very inclusive group.”

Anne Graber

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