KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights is currently accepting applications for its 4th Annual Summer Leadership Development Program, which will take place from July 10 through July 28. The program is an intensive, full-time training program in Washington, DC. It requires that young women participants live, study, and work on projects together. We are looking for highly motivated and dedicated women who have a commitment to women's issues as well as to the civil rights of ethnic and religious minorities, especially the Muslim community in the United States.

The program is highly competitive. The participants will spend three weeks in daily, intensive and thought-provoking workshops, which cover a multitude of topics. The program curriculum will cover three over-arching topics: Islamic Jurisprudence; Comparative Law; and Leadership Training and Conflict Resolution.

The Islamic Law courses are divided between Usul al-Fiqh (Principles of Jurisprudence), Quranic Sciences, Hadith Sciences, the Islamic Marriage Contract, the Gender Paradigm of the Quran, and Family Law Codes in the Muslim world. The main objective of this segment of the Program is to create an understanding of the foundations of the prevailing interpretations of Islam and to introduce students to a progressive and socially just and equitable Islamic worldview. We will have classes on core concepts in Islam as well as on women’s rights within Islam, focusing specifically on family law issues. Besides increasing the participants’ literacy in Islamic Jurisprudence, the courses are designed to train participants to think on their own, develop their leadership gifts and acquire a good grasp of basic areas of Islamic law.

Renowned law professors and attorneys have regularly taught our Comparative Law courses, which demonstrate the complex interactions between the American Legal System and Islamic Law. These courses serve as an important introduction to the way in which the law surrounding Islamic marriage and divorce in becoming an important and complicated part of the American Legal landscape. The third segment of the program is dedicated to unique and effective classes in Leadership Development. The academic exposure allows students to identify, analyze, and critique the various forms and techniques of influence and power, which enables them to become effective leaders in all capacities of life. During the workshops, trainers present scenarios on conflict-resolution and leadership styles. The exercises and discussions that follow focus on enhancing participants’ facilitation skills and developing cultural-specific solutions that incorporate alternative leadership possibilities.

The aim of the Leadership Development Program is to instill leadership qualities in a core group of women and to provide them with the basic tools to understand and articulate the guiding principles of Islam. With this knowledge, the students will be able to articulate and defend Muslim women’s rights within their own religious, cultural and institutional contexts. Armed with adequate leadership skills and jurisprudential tools, they will be able to bring about progressive and peaceful change within their communities.

Please send a resume and cover letter to: irfana@karamah.org