// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Sahar Aziz a lawyer? Aziz-ing attorney?
Sahar Aziz | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Sahar Aziz | |
| Born | Sahar F. Aziz 1974 or 1975 (age 50–51)[1] |
| Education | University of Texas |
| Occupation | Distinguished Professor of Law |
| Website | saharazizlaw |
Sahar F. Aziz is the Distinguished Professor of Law and Chancellor's Social Justice Scholar at Rutgers Law School, where she founded and directs the Center for Security, Race and Rights.[2][3] Her book The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom explains why Muslims experience discrimination that mirrors racism against racial minorities rather than religious freedom.
Aziz argued that following the 9/11 attacks, the Muslim community living in the U.S. was deprived of full legal protection and of the full benefit of their civil rights.[4]
Biography
[edit]Sahar F. Aziz was born in Cairo, Egypt and raised in the U.S.[5] She earned a J.D. and an M.A. in Middle East Studies from the University of Texas, where she served as an associate editor of the Texas Law Review. After law school she clerked for Judge Andre M. Davis on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.[6]
Aziz began her legal career as a litigation associate at WilmerHale, and subsequently practiced at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll in Washington, D.C. She then served as a senior policy advisor in the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the United States Department of Homeland Security, working on the intersection of national security and civil liberties, before entering legal academia.[6]
In addition to her position at Rutgers, Aziz is a faculty affiliate of the African American Studies Department at Rutgers University–Newark and serves on the editorial board of Arab Law Quarterly and the International Journal of Middle East Studies. She previously served on the board of the ACLU of Texas and as a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution in Doha.[6]
Research and views
[edit]Aziz believes that in the Western world, Muslims as a group are assigned negative traits such as being violent and untrustworthy.[4] Aziz described this attribution of negative traits to Muslims as a process of racialization, which took place in the U.S. after 9/11 terrorist attacks. One manifestation is that immigrants to the U.S. originally from Middle East and North Africa are perceived as forever foreign, according to Aziz.[7] In the U.S., Aziz pointed out that the presidency of Donald Trump led to a backsliding of the rights of the Muslim community and to discrimination, such as for example bullying of Muslim children at schools.[8]
In Europe, the situation of the Muslim community is worse in comparative terms according to Aziz because fewer people practice religion in Europe compared to the U.S. Therefore pointing to religion as an excuse for unwelcome behavior is less available to Muslims, because it is less central to the European legal tradition to start with.[9]
In 2024, Aziz co-edited Global Islamophobia and the Rise of Populism with John Esposito, published by Oxford University Press. It examines the relationship between rising right-wing populist movements and anti-Muslim discrimination across multiple national contexts.[10]
Awards and recognition
[edit]Aziz received the Derrick A. Bell Award from the Association of American Law Schools. She was named a Middle Eastern and North African American National Security and Foreign Policy Next Generation Leader by New America in 2020, and a Soros Equality Fellow in 2021.[2]
2024 congressional investigation
[edit]In 2024, Aziz and the Center for Security, Race and Rights were the subject of two congressional inquiries. In February, ten Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Rutgers University announcing an investigation into the Center. The letter alleged that the Center had sponsored events featuring speakers the senators characterized as antisemitic and as sympathetic to terrorism, and made similar allegations regarding Aziz.[11][12][13] In March, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Virginia Foxx, announced a parallel investigation into Rutgers, citing the Center.[14][15][16] The Middle East Studies Association's Committee on Academic Freedom condemned the Senate investigation as a threat to academic freedom,[17] and 505 law professors signed a separate letter to the House committee describing its investigation as politically motivated and a threat to free speech.[18][19]
Published works
[edit]- Aziz, Sahar (2021). The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom. UC Press. ISBN 9780520382299.
- Aziz, Sahar (ed.) and Esposito, John (ed.) (2024). Global Islamophobia and the Rise of Populism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780197648995
References
[edit]- ↑ "Meet Sahar Aziz, Candidate for Westfield Board of Education". TAPintoWestfield. October 8, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- 1 2 "Sahar Aziz". Rutgers Law School. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ↑ Aguilera, Jasmine (April 13, 2022). "Where Migrants Suffered Matters at the U.S.-Mexico Border". TIME. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- 1 2 Mansoor, Sanya (December 13, 2021). "The Troubling Consequences of Seeing Muslims as a Racial Group". TIME. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ↑ Ahmet Tekelioglu (September 8, 2021). "Sahar Aziz on Race, Security, and the Racial Muslim" (Podcast). The Maydan Podcast. Event occurs at 1:00. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- 1 2 3 "Sahar Aziz". Rutgers Law School. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- ↑ Wang, Hansi Lo (February 17, 2022). "The U.S. census sees Middle Eastern and North African people as white. Many don't". NPR. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ↑ Burke, Daniel (November 11, 2016). "For American Muslims: Shock, fear and resolve". CNN. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ↑ "The curious case of the racial Muslim". EU Scream for EU Observer. July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ↑ Aziz, Sahar; Esposito, John, eds. (2024). Global Islamophobia and the Rise of Populism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780197648995.
- ↑ "US House Committee Announces Investigation Into Antisemitism at Rutgers University". The Algemeiner. March 28, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- ↑ Weiss, Benjamin S. (February 7, 2024). "Senate Republicans take aim at Rutgers research program amid antisemitism allegations". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- ↑ "Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans Probe Rutgers University Center that Promotes Terrorist Sympathizers and Anti-Semitism" (Press release). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Republican Members. February 7, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- ↑ "House Education committee to investigate Rutgers as part of expanding antisemitism probe". Jewish Insider. March 27, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- ↑ "Antisemitism Investigation Continues with Letter to Rutgers University" (Press release). United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce. March 27, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- ↑ Lavin, Talia (March 27, 2024). "Rutgers joins growing list of schools under GOP House investigation for antisemitism". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- ↑ "Letter to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the Center for Security, Race and Rights at Rutgers University-Newark Law School". Middle East Studies Association, Committee on Academic Freedom. February 29, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- ↑ "505 law professors sign letter condemning US House committee investigation into Rutgers University". JURIST. April 19, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- ↑ "Defending Rutgers' Center for Security, Race and Rights from Senate Judiciary Committee". Middle East Studies Association Committee on Academic Freedom. March 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- Living people
- 1970s births
- American women legal scholars
- 21st-century American legal scholars
- Rutgers School of Law–Newark faculty
- 21st-century American women lawyers
- American people of Egyptian descent
- Rutgers Law School faculty
- American Muslims
- University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni
- University of Texas School of Law alumni