Fifth Annual National Muslim Law Students Association Conference: Climbing to New Heights

From March 17th to 19th, the National Muslim Law Students Association (“NMLSA”), a branch of NAML, hosted their fifth annual conference at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. This year’s conference marked the first in-person conference since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conference was organized by NMLSA’s executive board: Chair Sara Tariq; Vice Chair of Operations Humza Yousuf; Co-Chairs of Programming Farisa Khan and Jinan Chehade; Vice Chair of Communications Gehad Abdelrehim; and Regional Representatives Samer Sabbour, Hafsah Mansoori, Mohammad Fawad, Syed Raza, Fazila Naeemi, and Sherry Assi. It was sponsored by, among others, NAML, the Islamic Scholarship Fund, CAIR, McDermott Will & Emory, and Barbri. A full list of sponsors can be found here.

This year’s theme was “Climbing to New Heights as Muslim Attorneys” which aimed to showcase Muslim contributions to the legal field and address the challenges faced by Muslim attorneys in practice. The theme also encouraged law students to think beyond the typical expectations of fitting into the legal field and consider how their identity as Muslims can positively shape the legal profession.

The NMLSA Executive Board 2022-2023 (from left to right: Syed Mohammad Fawad, Humza Yousuf, Gehad Abdelrehim, Hafsah Mansoori, Sara Tariq, Farisa Khan, Jinan Chehade, Sherry Assi, Samer Sabbour, Syed Raza). Photo credit: Khanan Chaudhry

In a statement addressing the purpose of the conference, Conference Chair Sara Tariq (3L at Pace University) stated:

"The NMLSA Conference was an opportunity for our community members to be vulnerable. To meet and have meaningful discussions with peers and truly reflect on their decisions of pursuing a career in law. It is clear that there is a growing number of Muslims in the legal field, but it is time for us all to become a strong and close-knit community.

No one will understand you and help you navigate this world that is not always conducive to the values that we are taught to hold onto firmly in our deen, better than our own. Attending this conference was the first step to building that community.

I hope attendees left this conference with a stronger network. And I hope that they left inspired and empowered to climb to high ranks and take up space as Muslims in the legal field.

Panel topics included: non-traditional career paths for lawyers, diversity in judgeships and judicial clerkships, and ways for Muslim attorneys to support the global Muslim community."

Muslim Law student associations, practicing attorneys, judges, and professors from across the country attended the conference, providing attendees with various networking opportunities. To facilitate networking, the conference featured several networking opportunities throughout the weekend, including a networking reception and career fair, which featured representatives from many organizations and firms.

Conference attendees on the final day of the conference. Photo credit: Khanan Chaudhry

In a statement addressing the impact of the conference, NMLSA Regional Representative Sherry Assi (1L at Boston College Law School) stated:

"As a regional representative for NMLSA, I am blessed to have had the opportunity to help organize the 2023 conference and see it come to fruition the weekend of the 17th. Although planning and executing the conference was especially challenging as a 1L student, the result created a unique feeling of immense reward and gratitude.

After months of weekly meetings and lengthy discussions about the minute details that would bring the conference to life, our work was realized with hundreds of Muslim law students and attorneys gathering in D.C. from all over the United States. Witnessing this was truly a powerful experience as we all came together with a shared purpose of attending and engaging in discussions that are critical to the growth of the Muslim legal community.

As verse 103 of Surah Al-Imran reminds us, 'hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided.' The turn-out at the conference and zeal of all attendees to create personal and professional bonds portrayed the Muslim legal community’s willingness to remain united and continue striving in pursuit of the pleasure of Allah (SWT). InshaAllah we always aim to strengthen our community such that our Muslim brothers and sisters in the legal profession are supported no matter where they find themselves in the United States."

NAML congratulates the NMLSA 2022-23 Executive Board on a successful conference and looks forward to many more InshaAllah.