Nadhira Al-Khalili serves as in-house counsel for CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a nonprofit that advocates for civil rights for Muslims across the U.S. Born in D.C. and raised in the Shenandoah Valley, Al-Khalili embraced the faith of her parents, who had converted to Islam. After majoring in Spanish as an undergraduate, Al-Khalili went on to law school because she wanted to be an advocate for disadvantaged people. She’s been practicing law for 10 years, using her skills to fight injustices against Muslims. Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
I consider myself to be a Muslim — a follower of the faith of Islam. What I appreciate most about the faith of Islam is that it instructs Muslims to be good human beings — to have respect for others, to take care of the earth and their communities, to look after the vulnerable members of our societies and to be honest, truthful and trustworthy.
You help advocate for Muslims who feel they’ve been discriminated against because of their religion. Is religious persecution a reality in 21st century America?
Yes. That is the majority of what I deal with in my job at CAIR. A great deal of the work I do involves targeting that Muslims face from law enforcement agencies — agencies who are supposed to protect Americans, not persecute them. I believe that institutionalized and government-sanctioned persecution naturally spreads to private citizens. When non-Muslims witness law-enforcement agencies targeting Muslim communities, they begin to feel that they have something to fear. The fear leads to anger and mistrust. Anger and mistrust leads to persecution, whereby non-Muslims will engage in activities such as vehemently protesting a mosque or Islamic school being built in their neighborhood.
Hertz recently fired 25 Muslims for not clocking out while taking daily prayer breaks. Is time for Islamic daily prayer something employers need to allow no matter what? How should America balance respect for religion and equality for all?
Islamic daily prayers are something that employers need to allow, but I would not go so far as to say “no matter what.” Muslims recognize that employers have expectations for productivity and other concerns. CAIR advises our community members to consider their employers’ concerns when requesting accommodations for religious practices. That being said, it’s a very rare occasion where both sides cannot work around their particular stances and come to some agreement. America has a long history of trying to balance respect for religion and equality for all — that’s part of what America the country that it is. Religious equality should not be an exception to this.
Tell me more about your work with SISTERS.
SISTERS (Sisters In Solidarity to Educate Respond and Serve) is an organization that I work with in my personal life. It was started by a group of women in the Washington, D.C., area who saw a need to empower and energize Muslim women. The leaders in SISTERS are very educated and successful Muslim women who want to teach and mentor the Muslim women who may not have had the same opportunities we’ve had. We refute the critics of Islam who say the faith is repressive to women by practicing what we preach, so to speak. SISTERS does annual fundraising for national causes such as breast cancer. We organize a women’s business exposition and classes on topics that women need to know about such as car repair and health and fitness.
Only about 1 percent of African Americans are Muslim. How have you learned to embrace both heritages?
Only 1 percent of African-Americans are Muslim, but Muslim African-Americans make up the largest minority group of Muslims. It’s very interesting for me to take advantage of being both because they overlap so much. I have the benefit of having generations of American ancestry, but the unique global perspective of a Muslim. I’ve learned to embrace both heritages by concentrating on the positive attributes of each. I definitely treasure the fact that I am unique.
You’re a successful lawyer. How far have American Muslim women come in their attempts to break through the glass ceiling? How much farther is there to go?
American Muslims women have a long way to go to break through the glass ceiling. But so do other women and minority classes all over the world. I hope for the day when America’s leaders, especially our elected leaders, actually look like the people they are elected to represent.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
One day God is going to question each of us about what we did in our lives. I hope that we all have really good answers.
– Liz Essley
