Join us at our first meeting this Thursday November 19 at 12:00 p.m. in room W-214. We will be proposing and discussing the creation of Akron Law’s first Muslim Law Student Association. In order to move forward, a group of interested people and elected officers are required for the University’s approval of MLSA.
The group welcomes and encourages Muslim and non- Muslim law students to form a community and explore legal issues facing American-Muslims and other minorities, address misconceptions about Islamic law, and the legal ramifications of non-Islamic laws for the Muslim community while exploring the law from different perspectives.
Following the horrific September 11 attacks, the American-Muslim identity has been propelled to the forefront of the American civil liberties debate as questions about age-old concepts of law – such as justice and freedom – and the Muslim identity are being discussed on a daily basis in U.S. courts, the Executive branch, and the media.
Today, nearly 7 million American-Muslims comprise our society, putting Islam as the third largest religion in the United States, after Christianity and Judaism. However, the negative perceptions and anti-Islamic sentiments have been widely present and affecting many in our community. Unfortunately, those who are in need of legal aid as a result of racial and religious bias, lack the support group in the legal profession due to the small number of Muslim attorneys and attorneys who understand the group’s struggles.
Therefore, the Akron Law MLSA’s goals and dedication will involve:
1. Battling the negative perceptions of Islam as a whole through education and fostering interfaith relationships;
2. Instilling in our law students and future attorneys a greater awareness, open-mindedness, and commitment to the needs of misrepresented minorities in our society;
3. Influencing the legal community to bring out meaningful change to such groups; and
4. Encouraging and empowering American-Muslims’ involvement and integration into the U.S. legal system while forming greater diversity in the legal profession.
Please come and join us in battling the misconceptions and divisions within our community by creating a community that fosters tolerance, understanding, and solidarity. In order to achieve this, a variety of events will take place in the Spring (2016), which will be discussed during the meeting.
“O humankind We [God] have created you male and female, and made you into communities and tribes, so that you may know one another.” (Quran 49:13)