Each year, KARAMAH holds a parallel event at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) session that is held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York with the attendance of representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, KARAMAH hosted a parallel event to the UN CSW60 on March 23, 2016 with the co-sponsorship of Women in Islam, Inc. The event was titled: \u201cThe Law and Leadership Summer Program: Training a New Generation of Muslim Women Change-makers.\u201d Speakers at the event were: KARAMAH Executive Director Ms. Aisha Rahman, Founder of Women in Islam, Inc. and KARAMAH Board Member Ms. Aisha al-Adawiya, KARAMAH Board Member, Lawyer and Specialist in Islamic Law Mr. Abed Awad, and alumna of KARAMAH\u2019s 2014 Law and Leadership Summer Program Ms. Zara Iqbal, esq., who is also a manager at Advanced Bio Behavioral Sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The theme of this year\u2019s CSW 60s session was \u201cWomen\u2019s empowerment and its link to sustainable development.\u201d KARAMAH believes that gender equity and women\u2019s empowerment are crucial for achieving the economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainable development. We believe that, once women know their rights, they become powerful agents of change \u2013 one of the pre-requisites for sustainable development. Therefore, KARAMAH has worked hard for the past 23 years, to change the narrative surrounding gender equity in Islam and to empower Muslim women with knowledge of their faith and the skills they need to affect change in their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a brief introduction to KARAMAH\u2019s mission and work by Ms. Aisha al-Adawiya, Ms. Rahman spoke about KARAMAH\u2019s history and how the Law and Leadership Program came to being. KARAMAH was founded, she said, by three Muslim women lawyers who were disheartened when the Western feminist movement changed its tune. The same sisters along whom they fought for women to speak in their own voices, tried to take over Muslim women stories and identity and portraying them as helpless victims who needed to be \u201csaved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This cemented for KARAMAH\u2019s founders the need to have an organization that elevates the voices of Muslim women who speak for themselves and gives them the opportunity to learn from each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the 9\/11 attacks, KARAMAH found a growing desire among young Muslim women not only to learn about the rights Islam afforded them, but to achieve them in the real world. This is why the Law and Leadership Program was founded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At LLSP, Ms. Rahman explained, KARAMAH gathers women from around the world to encourages them to reclaim their narratives. Because KARAMAH doesn\u2019t only want these women to have a peace of mind knowing their rights, the program provides them with a combination of education starting from the basics of the faith to nuanced concepts of Islamic law, and leadership and conflict resolution skills. Our alumnae take these skills to their societies and make changes at a systemic level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given that \u201cgender equality\u201d is one of the CSW sustainable development goals, it was necessary to emphasize that KARAMAH advocates for \u201cgender equity\u201d and not \u201cequality.\u201d Ms. Rahman explained that the Qur\u2019an differentiates between men and women, and affords them rights and privileges accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms. Zara Iqbal, an alumna of KARAMAH\u2019s 2014 Law and Leadership Summer Program, spoke about the empowerment she experienced during the program and how she applied the principles she learned at KARAMAH at the personal level, professional and community levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms. Iqbal said that KARAMAH emphasizes on strengthening Muslim women\u2019s voices and teaches women to be strong and speak up, especially in regards to issues of gender and faith. \u201cAt KARAMAH, I witnessed the most empowered women from all over the world. The most beautiful thing I saw was that when Muslim women\u2014some in burqas, some in hijabs, and some with neither\u2014came together as a team\u2026 it was a beautiful thing to see that we were all strong in our own ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What makes LLSP unique is its combination of the theoretical and the practical. In addition to the theoretical framework based in Islamic jurisprudence, said Mr. Awad, LLSP provides women with practical skills to utilize these ideas to \u201creengage with the heart and soul of the Islamic heritage\u201d that encourages women\u2019s leadership contrary to the current shift and marginalization of women\u2019s voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Awad went on explaining how LLSP is beneficial to lawyers. \u201cIslamic law is implicated in many layers of international family law litigations,\u201d he said. Marriages and assets are crossing boarders and so do diverse family issues. At LLSP, KARAMAH provides lawyers with the skills to better present their cases in American courts and protect their clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But LLSP is not only for lawyers. LLSP also provides practical advice to Muslim women advocates, and social workers on how to deal with issues relating to gender. Mr. Awad cited a recurrent issue he has experienced with local imams who fail to understand issues relating to family and immigration law through a gender equitable lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The presentation was followed by a Q&A session, in which the audience inquired about the nature of the LLSP program, including its availability to men, its effectiveness in mediating sectarian issues, and KARAMAH\u2019s current work on developing a certificate program for imams on gender-specific Islamic work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KARAMAH educates the entire community, men and women, through diverse educational programs including lectures, and training workshops for advocates, imams and attorneys. However, the Law and Leadership Summer Program is specifically designed for Muslim women, said Ms. Rahman, LLSP is meant to be a sisterhood and a safe space for Muslim women to learn from and inspire each other.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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