About NMLSA
NMLSA Constitution | NMLSA Bylaws
Who We Are
The National Muslim Law Students Association (NMLSA) represents a collection of law students and local Muslim Law Students Association chapters, working towards the goal of giving Muslims in the legal field academic assistance, career help, and furthering the social needs of Muslims in our community.
Mission Statement
The National Muslim Law Students Association looks to create a strong network of Muslims pursuing their JD or LLM, in an effort to centralize the access of knowledge amongst themselves, as well as those interested in the field.
Overview
NMLSA hopes to play a key role in facilitating dialogues to promote understanding, tolerance, and the exchange of ideas among law students of all religions, races, and backgrounds. We also aim to encourage the active involvement and integration of Muslims into the American legal system and to promote greater diversity in the legal profession. Through its activities, NMLSA plans to promote the balanced and comprehensive professional, spiritual, cultural, and academic development of all law students, regardless of their religious or racial background.
NMLSA hopes to play a key role in encouraging and promoting the active involvement of Muslim law students in shaping the American legal landscape. At the same time, NMLSA will encourage Muslim law students to be proactive and push to set up new chapters in their law schools to give Muslims a voice in the American law school scene.
Goals and Purposes
NMLSA seeks to:
- Articulate and promote the professional needs and goals of Muslim Law Students;
- Foster and encourage professional competence;
- Focus upon the relationship of the Muslim Law Student and the Muslim Attorney to the American legal structure;
- Instill in the Muslim Attorney and Law Student a greater awareness and committment to the needs of the Muslim community;
- Influence the legal community to bring out meaningful change to meet the needs of the Muslim community;
- Encourage Muslim Law Students to pursue careers in the judiciary; and
- Facilitate the cultural, religious, academic and professional development of its members through innovative programing on national, circuit and local levels.
The National Muslim Law Students Association (NMLSA) jumpstarted just a year after the horrific September 11 attacks. Following this period, the Muslim American identity was 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 were being discussed on a daily basis in U.S. courts, the Executive branch, and the media.
The Association’s goals were to meet the needs of Muslims in the community and help foster the community’s professional growth while maintaining solid educational and spiritual roots for Muslims in the law for generations to come. In this role, NMLSA founders hoped to formulate a solid identity for the Muslim American law student and future lawyer.
In the summer of 2002, Mustafa Kamal, the founder of NMLSA, approached Muslim American law students throughout the nation by way of an email list-serve with open invitation for membership regarding the formation of NMLSA. The list-serve had the dual function of reaching prospective members, but also to post late-breaking news about legal career resources, educational programs, general news such as updates on the civil liberties and international law crisis concerning Muslim Americans, mentorship opportunities, and the overall cohesive communication among Muslims studying the law and those interested in the law.
Soon over 150 members had signed onto the list-serve, quickly spreading the news about the first national organization for Muslim law students. Incorporation, affiliation with the
What We Provide
NMLSA provides its members:
- mentoring programs
- legal resources
- career resouces
- academic resources
- internships
- scholarships
- involvment with important advocacy programs
- career and social networking opportunities
For more information, contact us at: nmlsageneral@gmail.com
