Are there differences in how an attorney provides legal services for people from various faiths and cultural backgrounds? It’s probably not a question that is at the forefront of most law students’ minds, but in a flattening world maybe it should be.
Like the rest of the University of Dayton, the School of Law (UDSL) strives to incorporate diversity into its student body, curriculum, and extracurricular opportunities for students. The latest student organization to celebrate these goals, The Muslim Law Student Association, was formed last month.
The group was started by Mona Motekallem, a 2L who was a member of the Muslim Student Association as an undergraduate student at Wright State University. Mona found that UD’s chapter of MSA didn’t fit her law school schedule, so she decided to start a group that would. The Muslim Law Student Association was a perfect match. MLSA is a national organization that addresses specific issues surrounding Islam and the law, and serves as a means for Muslim law students and alumni to network.
“Although UDSL does not boast a large number of Muslim students there is a large Muslim population in the Dayton area as well as in the whole of Ohio,” Mona said. “As most students are planning on practicing in Ohio it will become important to understand certain legal needs that a Muslim individual might have.”
These needs can vary from how a will is prepared in accordance with Islamic tradition, to how a business is set up and run, Mona said. “Islam is often described as not only a religion but a manner of life,” she explained. “To be aware of those needs and be able to find means of addressing those needs will be of great importance in the future for some, if not most, of UDSL graduates.”
The UD chapter of MLSA currently has about 7-8 members and has held one official meeting. Its next event, an Intro to Islam, is scheduled for March 5th at 12:30pm in Room 14. Omar Tarazi, one of the summer starter students, will make a short presentation that will be followed by a Q&A session. The group also hopes to organize a presentation on women and Islam, and, eventually, bring an Imam (spiritual leader) to speak on the Sharia (the body of Islamic law), as well as Muslim lawyers to speak on Islam within their practices.
But all of those plans are secondary to Mona’s primary goal for the group. “I really hope that MLSA can bring diversity to UDSL's campus as well as awareness to topics and issues in the legal realm that face Muslims in the United States today.”