Nadia Kahf Becomes 1st Hijab-Wearing Judge in the US
The Syrian-born attorney is not, however, the first Muslim judge in US history.
US attorney Nadia Kahf has become the first hijab-wearing to sit on the judge’s bench after being appointed to the New Jersey Superior Court.
The Syrian-born attorney took the oath on Thursday to serve as a judge at the Passaic County Superior Court.
During her career, she has been serving as a member of the board of directors for the NJ chapper of the Council on American Islamic Relations since 2003.
She also serves as a president of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, which is one of the largest mosques in the state of New Jersey.
Many media reports have described Kahf as the first hijab-wearing judge in the US.
However, other sources have emphasized that the US’ first hijab-wearing Muslim judge was Carolyn Walker-Dialo, who took oath as a civil court judge in New York in 2015.
Journalist Anil Sural stressed that Kahf is the first hijab-wearing judge in New Jersey, but not in the US.
“In 2015 Carolyn Walker-Diallo was the first hijab-wearing judge in the USA,” he said in a tweet as he disputed news reports that identified Kahf as the first hijab-wearing judge in US history.
Although the two women are the only judges known to be wearing the hijab on the bench, many other Muslims are serving as judges in the US.
One such minority judge is Pakistani-American Zahid Quraishi, who made history in 2021 by becoming the first Muslim federal judge in the US.
