The American Muslim Bar Association (AMBA) is a left-of-center advocacy group for Muslims in the legal profession which frequently issues letters and legal analyses about matters ranging from supporting legalized abortion to claiming that law firms engage in “Islamophobia” when not hiring law students who espouse anti-Semitic beliefs. ^{1 2}

AMBA was founded by Salmah Rizvi, a lawyer and former official in the administration of President Barack Obama who guaranteed the bail of a lawyer who firebombed a police car in New York City during the 2020 riots, whom Rizvi described as her “best friend.” ³

Background

The American Muslim Bar Association was founded in 2020 to provide a voice for Muslims in the legal profession to engage in advocacy on social and political issues. ⁴ It became tax-exempt in 2022. ⁵

Issue Positions

Israel-Hamas War

American Muslim Bar Association includes opposing Israel’s war against the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas in response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023. AMBA endorsed the March on Washington for Gaza. ⁶

AMBA has joined other Muslim legal groups in accusing law firms of engaging in Islamophobia when not hiring law students who espouse anti-Semitic viewpoints. ⁷ AMBA also accused the Biden administration of potentially engaging in censorship of pro-Hamas viewpoints and said the Federal Bureau of Investigation engaged in “intimidation” of Muslims. ⁸

Abortion

AMBA has declared abortion to be a “human right,” and says opposition is based on “colonialism” and “white Christian nationalism.” A paper on the issue also described women who carry babies as “pregnant persons” and was signed by Muslim legal groups, abortion advocacy groups like Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, and left-wing faith-based advocacy groups like Faith in Public Life. ⁹

Defunding Police

In 2020, AMBA urged elected officials across the country to defund local and federal law enforcement agencies. ¹⁰

Leadership

American Muslim Bar Association’s founding president was Salmah Rizvi, whose parents came to the U.S. when she was a child. As of May 2024, Rizvi sits on AMBA’s board and was named executive director of Hawaii’s ACLU chapter in 2024. ^{11 12} Rizvi was a human rights activist in her youth, worked in several significant roles during the Obama administration, and was named a 2014 fellow by the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. ¹³

In 2020, she defended two friends who were accused of bombing an empty police car amid rioting after the death of George Floyd. Rizvi told CNN that her friends “are not a threat” and are “really kind-hearted.” ¹⁴ She also told National Public Radio that one of the attorneys, her “best friend” Urooj Rahman, was “not a radical,” and took on bail responsibilities so Rahman could return home while awaiting trial. ^{15 16} Rahman was eventually sentenced to 15 months in prison after being convicted for throwing a Molotov cocktail. ¹⁷

The president of AMBA’s 2024 executive committee is Bilal Ezzeddine, a corporate attorney. ^{18 19}

1. Tribe, Meghan. “Muslim Bar Groups Accuse Law Firms of Fueling Islamophobia (1).” Bloomberg Law. November 14, 2023. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/muslim-bar-groups-accuse-law-firms-of-fueling-islamophobia
2. “The Islamic Principle of Rahma: A Call for Reproductive Justice.” American Muslim Bar Association. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.ambalegal.org/ambainthenews/the-islamic-principle-of-rahma-a-call-for-reproductive-justice
3. Scher, Brent. “Former Obama Intelligence Official Helps Secure Bail for Molotov Cocktail-Throwing NYC Lawyer.” Washington Free Beacon. June 3, 2020. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/former-obama-intelligence-official-helps-secure-bail-for-molotov-cocktail-throwing-nyc-lawyer/
4. AMBA’s Journey. American Muslim Bar Association. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.ambalegal.org/leadership-alum
5. American Muslim Bar Association. ProPublica. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/863656615
6. Endorsers. March on Washington for Gaza. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://march4gaza.org/endorsers/
7. Egan, Matt. “Law firms accused of fueling Islamophobia and chilling free speech.” CNN. November 14, 2023. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/14/business/islamophobia-antisemitism-law-firms/index.html
8. “Genocide of Palestinians & Censorship of Americans.” American Muslim Bar Association. October 13, 2023. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.ambalegal.org/ambainthenews/amba-stands-against-the-genocide-of-palestinians-ampnbspthe-intimidation-censorship-and-retaliation-against-americans-exercising-free-speech
9. “The Islamic Principle of Rahma: A Call for Reproductive Justice.” American Muslim Bar Association. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.ambalegal.org/ambainthenews/the-islamic-principle-of-rahma-a-call-for-reproductive-justice
10. “Statement Against Injustices Facing the Black Community.” American Muslim Bar Association. June 9, 2020. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Racism/RES_43_1/NGOsAndOthers/american-muslim-bar-association.pdf
11. Salmah Y. Rizvi. LinkedIn. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/salmahrizvi/.
12. “ACLU of Hawaiʻi names Salmah Rizvi as next executive director.” Hawaii Public Radio. January 25, 2024. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2024-01-25/aclu-of-hawaii-names-salmah-rizvi-its-next-executive-director
13. Salmah Y Rizvi, 2014. Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. Accessed April 19, 2024. https://www.pdsoros.org/meet-the-fellows/salmah-y-rizvi
14. Orden, Erica. “How two promising lawyers found themselves facing life in prison for alleged Molotov cocktail attack during protests in NY.” CNN. June 18, 2020. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/17/us/brooklyn-molotov-lawyers-protests/index.html
15. Temple-Raston, Dina. “Lawyers Charged With Seven Felonies In Molotov Cocktail Attack Out On Bail.” NPR. July 1, 2020. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.npr.org/2020/07/01/882075310/lawyers-charged-with-seven-felonies-in-molotov-cocktail-attack-out-on-bail
16. Scher, Brent. “Former Obama Intelligence Official Helps Secure Bail for Molotov Cocktail-Throwing NYC Lawyer.” Washington Free Beacon. June 3, 2020. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/former-obama-intelligence-official-helps-secure-bail-for-molotov-cocktail-throwing-nyc-lawyer/
17. Christenson, Josh. “Left-Wing Lawyer Who Firebombed Police Car Dodges Five-Year Sentence, Will Spend Just 15 Months in Prison.” Washington Free Beacon. November 18, 2022. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://freebeacon.com/courts/left-wing-lawyer-who-firebombed-police-car-sentenced-to-fifteen-months-in-prison/
18. 2023 – 24 Executive Committee. American Muslim Bar Association. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.ambalegal.org/leadership
19. Bilal Ezzeddine, CIPP/US. LinkedIn. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/bilal-ezzeddine/