Atiya beige background

Atiya Aftab
Chair Emerita

Atiya Aftab, Esq. is an attorney, educator and activist.  She currently maintains her own practice providing representation to non-profit corporations.   Atiya is also an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University, Department of Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies Program and teaches “Islamic Law and Jurisprudence”.  She is Chair of the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University, convener of the first full-time Muslim Chaplaincy on campus. She is an emerita member of the Rutgers University Foundation Board of Directors.

Atiya is the co-founder and chair emerita of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, an international women’s interfaith organization. She has been a member of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey’s Board of Trustees and Overseers for 25 years and was the first woman chair of the board.  She co-found the New Jersey Muslim Lawyer’s Association and has been its Vice-President and Treasurer.  She was an active member and chair of the Islamic Society of North America’s Masjid Development Committee and is also a co-founder of the Shia Sunni Alliance of NJ.  Atiya is a Fellow with the Arianne de Rothschild Fellowship and completed a certificate program with KARAMAH, Muslim women’s human rights organization.

Atiya was a member of Attorney General Peter Harvey’s Arab and Muslim Advisory Committee (Chair, Education and Training for Law Enforcement Subcommittee) and was a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Minority Concerns for 10 years. She was also chair of the South Brunswick Women’s Commission and was responsible for organizing its yearly leadership conference for 10 years.

Atiya has received numerous awards including:  2011 Ansar Award, Majlis Ash-Shura of Essex and Union County; 2012 Award of Excellence, Al-Shifa Foundation; 2018 Professional Lawyer of the Year Award, NJ Commission of Professionalism in the Law, NJMLA; 2019 EVZ Foundation Jewish-Muslim Solidarity Award; 2023 Pacem in Terris Award, Catholic Diocese of Davenport; 2023 Tannenbaum Award for the Advancement of Interreligious Understanding; 2024 Women 2 Women Forum International Women’s Day Award for Leadership in Peace Keeping Efforts and Developing a Faith Based Initiative.

Atiya has spoken at numerous forums nationally and internationally on topics related to Islam including academic institutions, conferences, police training centers, places of worship, universities, hospital, community forums conventions and newsprint, social media and television and radio addresses.

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