Elham Asaad Buaras

A Syrian American attorney has become the first hijab-wearing judge in New Jersey after being appointed to the New Jersey Superior Court, becoming on the bench.

Nadia Kahf, 50, a family, immigration and real estate attorney from Wayne, Passaic County took the oath of office on March 21 using a copy of the Qur’an.

She was sworn-in by fellow Arab American judge Hany Mawla of the New Jersey Superior Court. Mohammad Qatanani, Imam of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, where Kahf is chair, gave the invocation during a ceremony. Also present for the ceremony is Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah.

She will serve as a Passaic County Superior Court judge after New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy nominated her a year ago.

Many media reports mistakenly 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.

“I am proud to represent the Muslim and Arab communities in New Jersey in the United States,” she said during her swearing-in ceremony. “I want the younger generation to see that they can practice their religion without fear that they can be who they are.”

Since 2003, she has sat on the board of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, America’s largest Muslim advocacy group, where Kahf now serves as chair.
She is also the legal adviser to Wafa House, a non-profit domestic violence and social services agency based in the city of Clifton.

Kahf received her BA in 1994 from Montclair State University, New Jersey’s second-largest public university by enrolment. Seton Hall University in New Jersey awarded her a law degree (Juris Doctorate or JD). In the US, a JD degree is the highest level of education available in the legal profession.

Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley founded Seton Hall, a private Catholic research university, in 1856. It is the United States’ oldest diocesan university.

She has been practising law in New Jersey since 2002.