WASHINGTON — Female Muslim attorneys, leaders and students from all over the world and the United States descended on Washington, D.C. last week for an intensive summer program on law and leadership.  Rep. Keith Ellison spoke with the group near the end of the program, imparting words of wisdom and sharing his own experiences.

The group that sponsored the summer program, Karamah, is a charitable, educational organization based in Washington.  It focuses on the domestic and global issues of human rights that are important to Muslim women.  It conducts research and education towards “peaceful social change.”

Karamah was founded by Professor Azizah al-Hibri and several Muslim women lawyers who worked mainly on Wall Street during the late eighties and early nineties.  They sought to confront common misperceptions about the status of women in Islam and stereotypes about Muslim women.  Its first home was at the University of Richmond Law School.

The organization combines social justice with religious research and understanding.  Karameh’s work on Islamic jurisprudential issues relating to women’s rights define its contributions to scholarship and the international community.  

On Thursday, July 24th, the attendees of its 6th Annual Law and Leadership Summer Program heard a lecture from Sister Intisar Rabb, JD, a PhD student at Princeton University.  She spoke on “Islamic and American Constitutionalism” in front of the crowd in a small congressional room.

After her presentation, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), a native of Detroit and one of two Muslim Congressmen, addressed the group.

He thanked the group for inviting him back to speak again and commended them for being a group committed to the “common good.”  He noted that this country does not need more “inward-looking” groups, but that Muslims should get involved in public life to improve the country as a whole.

He also spoke about his own difficulties as a Muslim candidate.  He was accused of being a terrorist by some who opposed him. However, he still won, and said that his faith has not been an issue.  In fact, he pointed out, Muslim staffers on the hill meet for jummah prayers in a room under the dome of the Capitol. He stressed that Muslims can and should get involved in electoral politics.

Rep. Ellison, who planned on being in Detroit last weekend to fundraise for Barack Obama, addressed the candidate’s gaffe in mid-June when aides asked two Muslim women not to sit behind Obama, in the cameras’ view, at a rally.   He said how it was not a call by the candidate and that Obama called the women to apologize.  He did not discuss his own story about the campaign’s cancellation of his planned trip to Iowa to campaign for Obama at one of the nation’s oldest mosques.

The participants in the Karamah program responded favorably to his discussion.  When Rep. Ellison noted that he has traveled all over the country and seen Muslims excited about politics, they noted their approval vocally, saying “right on” and nodding their heads.

When one of the participants asked what younger Muslims can do to get involved, the Congressman stressed the importance of self-education.  Knowing history and facts is central, he said, “so iqraa.”