Asifa Bano Quraishi (aka Asifa Quraishi-Landes) (born July 17, 1967) is an American educator and legal scholar. She is a professor of law at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, where she teaches courses in Islamic law and U.S. constitutional law. She has served as a law clerk in United States federal courts. Her recent publications address issues of Islamic constitutionalism, in the context of separation of legal authority as well as methodologies of textual interpretation. Quraishi has also written articles for news outlets like ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' and ''

Middle East Eye Middle East Eye (MEE) is a London-based news website covering events in the Middle East and North Africa. MEE describes itself as an "independently funded online news organization that was founded in April 2014." MEE seeks to be the primary porta ...

'' addressing myths and issues associated with Islam. Quraishi is a founding board member of the

National Association of Muslim Lawyers National Association of Muslim Lawyers (NAML) is an organization of muslim lawyers founded in 1996 as 'Muslim JD'. In 2000, it was renamed to its current name. NAML conducts an annual conference with over hundred legal professionals participating ...

(NAML), its sister organisation Muslim Advocates, based in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, and American Muslims Intent on Learning and Activism (AMILA). She is also an associate of the Muslim Women’s League, and has served as President and board member of Muslim Women’s League. Quraishi received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in 2012.

Education

She earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from the

University of California-Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

in 1988 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from the University of California Davis School of Law in 1992. She also earned a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1998 and a

Doctor of Juridical Science A Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD; ), or a Doctor of Science of Law (JSD; ), is a research doctorate in law equivalent to the more commonly awarded Doctor of Philosophy degree. Australia The S.J.D. is offered by the Australian National Unive ...

degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 2006.Asifa Quraishi-Landes
profile on the University of Wisconsin-website

Legal career

From 1993 to 1994, she served as a law clerk to District Judge

Edward Dean Price Edward Dean Price (February 12, 1919 – November 3, 1997) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Education and career Born in Sanger, California, Price received an Artiu ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of California The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California (in case citations, E.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appeal ...

and from 1994 to 1997, she served as a death penalty law clerk for the Ninth Circuit of the

United States Court of Appeals United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

.Asifa's Resume
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Teaching career

She joined the faculty of

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...

in 2004. From 2004 to 2012, she was an assistant professor of law. From 2012 to 2017, she was an associate professor of law. Since 2017, she has served as a full professor of law.

Selected publications

Books and journal articles

*"No Altars: An Introduction to Islamic Family Law" in Women’s Rights and Islamic Family Law: Perspective on Reform ed. Lynn Welchman and Abdullahi an-Naim. (Zed Books, 1996). *"Her Honor: An Islamic Critique of the Rape Laws of Pakistan from a Woman-Sensitive Perspective," 18 Mich. J. Int’l L. 287 (1997).

Online articles

* Quraishi-Landes, Asifa (2016-06-24)
"Five myths about sharia"
''The'' ''Washington Post''. * Quraishi-Landes, Asifa (9 May 2017)
"How to create an Islamic government – not an Islamic state"
''Middle East Eye''. * Quraishi-Landes, Asifa (2017-06-08)
"How anti-Shariah marches mistake Muslim concepts of state and religious law"
''Religion News Service''. * Quraishi-Landes, Asifa (15 March 2019)

''The Washington Post''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quraishi, Asifa 1967 births University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Living people American academics of Pakistani descent Harvard Law School alumni Columbia Law School alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni UC Davis School of Law alumni Women scholars of Islam American Islamic studies scholars Proponents of Islamic feminism