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University Professor Becomes First Muslim Superior Court Judge in New Jersey
A University political science professor became the first Muslim ever to be appointed to the Superior Court in New Jersey on Jan. 27 when he was sworn in to the Family Division of the Court in Somerset County.
Hany Mawla, 36, is also the youngest to be appointed to the Superior Court in the state, said Hesham Mahmoud, media chair of the New Jersey chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
Mawla was a partner at Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith and Davis in Woodbridge, where he specialized in family law.
“It’s awesome to see somebody with roots at Rutgers achieve that high status,” said Chris Keating, a Rutgers College alumnus who took Mawla’s class last spring semester.
Mawla served as chairman and commissioner to the New Jersey Arab-American Heritage Commission, which former Gov. Jon S. Corzine established in 2008 within the Department of State. He was also a commissioner to the New Jersey Commission on Civil Rights.
Mawla is also a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Standing Committee on Minority Concerns and the Seton Hall University School of Law Dean’s Diversity Council.
Political science Professor Eric Davis said as chairman of the Arab-American Heritage Commission, Mawla created links with other heritage commissions. These include the New Jersey Amistad Commission, which ensures integration of the history and contributions of African-Americans in public schools and the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education.
“It shows the extent to which he is committed to the larger society, not just his own,” said Davis, who Mawla described as a longtime mentor. “He has a very expansive mind that is capable of grasping the big picture.”
Mawla said he and Davis devised the “Islamic Law and Jurisprudence” course at the University after Sept. 11, 2001, with the help of Abed Awad, an attorney who teaches at Rutgers School of Law-Newark.
“After 9/11, [Davis] and I agreed that there needed to be an apolitical response to it, that the issues and the problems that led to 9/11 had to be addressed outside of politics,” Mawla said.
Rutgers College alumna Sana Siddiqi took Mawla’s class in 2002 when it was first offered. “I … think it’s great to see a Muslim-American as a judge. It shows that the concept of equality, liberty and justice are guaranteed for all, regardless of faith,” she said.
Mayor Domenick Stampone of Haledon, N.J., was a law school classmate and close friend of Mawla’s. He said Mawla’s new role is a great moment for Arabs and Muslims, but his appointment is entirely merit-based.
“We’re getting a community that’s seeing one of their own appointed as a judge, and the legal community is getting a terrific lawyer who’s going to be a terrific judge,” Stampone said. “Hany is young, but he comes with an incredible wealth of experience.”
Mawla said his involvement in Arab, Muslim and minority concerns is important to him because Arabs have called New Jersey home since 1870, and yet, in his view, they are not featured as prominently in the conversation in the state. He said law is a good way to give his community a voice.
“For me, it was an opportunity to make sure Arabs and Muslims are more a part of the political and civic discourse that occurs in the state,” Mawla said.
Asraa Mustufa
The Daily Targum