‘Proud and historic’: Two hijab-wearing women sworn in as judges in NJ

by Hannan Adely

Nadia Kahf, a hijab-wearing attorney from Wayne, drew a standing-room crowd at the Passaic County Courthouse last Tuesday, as she was sworn in as a state Superior Court judge, in an event that sparked international headlines describing her as a trailblazer.

That barrier was broken again the very next day when Dalya Youssef, a family law attorney who also wears the Islamic headscarf, was sworn in to the Superior Court bench in Somerset County.

For Muslim women, who have long faced harmful stereotypes about their religion and their role in it, having two women who outwardly show their faith in such prominent positions is deeply meaningful.

“It brings a lot of pride and a lot of inspiration to my heart knowing they can practice their faith openly without compromise and continue to serve our community in such an honorable way,” said Rana Sabagh, a social services manager at a Paterson mosque, calling it a “proud and historic moment.”

Kahf and Youssef were not the first Muslim women to become state judges. Sharifa Salaam and Kalimah Ahmad serve as Superior Court judges in Essex and Hudson counties, respectively. Three Muslim men also are state judges, Sohail Mohammed in Passaic County, Rahat Babar in Mercer County, and Hany Mawla in the Appellate Division.

But the images of Kahf, wearing a hijab, swearing her oath on the Quran and getting a standing ovation, struck a chord with the public and were widely shared on social media. The swearing-in was in front of her children, parents and husband and a crowd of supporters so large some were in overflow rooms. For her oath, she used a vintage Quran that had been handwritten by her great-grandmother in the 1880s.