Karamah (also known as Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights) is an Islamic activist group operating in the United States and the European Union. Founded in 1993, the group’s stated mission is to “educate all people” on the foundations of Islam, which it claims is “just” and “gender equitable.” The group claims that this is necessary in part because “Western women’s rights advocates” have a “misunderstanding” about the status of women in Islam. More broadly, the group aims to reconcile Islamic doctrine with Western liberal conceptions of human rights. To achieve this, Karamah conducts publicity campaigns and legal activism. The group’s name comes from an Arabic word which it translates as “dignity.” ¹

Karamah has published arguments in favor of contraception and abortion, positing that the scholarly consensus within Islam supports, or at least tolerates, both, within certain limits. ² The group has also endorsed statements attacking the traditional Christian view on abortion as being “rigid” and “destructive” while also claiming that Islamic law is more flexible and less “draconian” on the issue. ³ In addition, Karamah has endorsed various left-of-center environmentalist and racial causes, especially those favoring the Black population. ⁴

Karamah opposed the Trump administration policy of limiting immigration from certain Muslim-majority countries, claiming that it violated the Constitution and caused unspecified “harm” to national security. ⁵ The group continued to claim a constitutional violation even after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the policy in January 2018. It also alleged that most “refugees” attempting to enter the United States are “women and children.” ⁶

Background

Karamah was founded in 1993 by University of Richmond law professor and Islamic scholar Azizah Al-Hibri, who first started producing interpretations of Muslim doctrine in 1981, during her time as a philosophy professor at Texas A&M University. The group started expanding its reach beyond the United States in 2003. ⁷

Initiatives

The Karamah “Law & Leadership Summer Program” instructs women on Islamic jurisprudence and activism coordination. Starting in 2016, this also included mobilizing opposition to President Donald Trump and his administration’s immigration policies. ⁸ Karamah offers related law and leadership workshops to supporters outside the United States. ⁹

Karamah offers “continuing legal education” which instructs attorneys and activists on Islamic law, including guidance on how to apply it when representing clients in civil courts and on “cultural sensitivity.” ¹⁰

Leadership

Azizah Al-Hibri is the founder of Karamah. She is a professor emerita at the University of Richmond law school, where she taught from 1992 to 2012. She is also the founding editor of the feminist philosophy journal Hypatia. In 2011, President Barack Obama appointed her to the federal Commission on International Religious Freedom. ¹¹

Rahmah Abdulaleem is the executive director of Karamah. She has also been involved with numerous other Islamic and race-based legal organizations, including the Capital Area Muslim Bar Association, the National Association of Muslim Lawyers, and the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys Foundation. Abdulaleem received her law degree from the University of Michigan. ¹²

Financials

In 2021, Karamah received more than $216,000 in contributions and spent more than $86,000 on compensation for executive director Rahmah Abdulaleem. ^{13 14} Between 2003 and 2020, the group received more than $1.9 million in grants from the El-Hibri Foundation, which also spent $90,000 in 2014 to help produce a documentary promoting the group. ¹⁵ Karamah also received just over $800,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2009. ¹⁶

1. “About Karamah.” Karamah. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://karamah.org/about/
2. Azizah Al-Hibri. “Family Planning And Islamic Jurisprudence.” Karamah. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://karamah.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Family-Planning-and-Islamic-Jurisprudence.pdf
3. Abed Awal. “Alabama’s abortion law is not ‘Christian Sharia,’ professor says. Sharia isn’t as inflexible, as draconian.” Karamah. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://karamah.org/alabamas-abortion-law-is-not-christian-sharia-professor-says-sharia-isnt-as-inflexible-as-draconian/
4. “Annual Report 2021 & 2022.” Karamah. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://www.canva.com/design/DAE9sBrNd1k/uJBoJTjJLFlaGB-ErWiHKg/view#1
5. “#NoMuslimBanEver.” Karamah. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://karamah.org/nomuslimbanever/
6. “Read Karamah’s Statement on Decision.” Karamah. January 19, 2018. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://karamah.org/read-karamahs-statement-on-decision/
7. “About Karamah.” Karamah. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://karamah.org/about/
8. “Law & Leadership Summer Program.” Karamah. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://karamah.org/programs/law-leadership-summer-program/
9. “Law & Leadership Global Workshops.” Karamah. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://karamah.org/programs/law-leadership-global-workshops/
10. “Continuing Legal Education.” Karamah. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://karamah.org/programs/continuing-legal-education/
11. “Azizah Al-Hibri.” University of Richmond School of Law. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://law.richmond.edu/faculty/aalhibri/
12. “Rahmah A. Abdulaleem, Esq.” Karamah. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://karamah.org/rahmah-a-abdulaleem-esq/
13. “Karamah A Muslim Women Lawyers Committee For Human Rights Inc.” ProPublica. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541726932
14. Karamah—Muslim Women Lawyers For Human Rights 2021 Internal Revenue Service Form 990. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541726932/202330769349301223/full
15. ^[1]“What We Fund – Keyword: Karamah.” Accessed October 1, 2023. https://www.elhibrifoundation.org/grants-database
16. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 2009 Internal Revenue Service Form 990-PF. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://docs.gatesfoundation.org/documents/bmgf-2009-990pf.pdf