Nadia Kahf, a Syrian-born family law and immigration attorney got be the first ever hijabi to serve as the state Superior Court judge in New Jersey. After she received the prominent role, she took an oath by pressing her hand on the Quran that she inherited from her grandmother, “I am proud to represent the Muslim and Arab communities in New Jersey in the United States. I want the younger generation to see that they can practice their religion without fear and that they can be who they are. Diversity is our strength, it is not our weakness,” Kahf said during the oath-taking ceremony.
Her life in the US began when she immigrated to the country from Syria when she was just two years old. She went on to take a number of significant roles including serving as a member of the board of directors for the New Jersey Chapter of Council on American Islamic Relations as well as the president one of the biggest mosques in the State, the Islamic Center of Passaic County.
Kahf will be the third Muslim woman to sit on the New Jersey Supreme Court and her new role will place her in the company of other Muslim women who made big strides in the legal sector.
Her appointment was celebrated and veneered by many including The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations who said, “Nadia may be the first to wear a hijab on the Superior Court bench in New Jersey, but she certainly won’t be the last, insha Allah.”
