Muslim woman breaks records, becomes 1st hijab-wearing judge in UK
- Raffia Arshad, a lawyer, has set a new record after she was appointed as the first-ever judge with hijab in the UK
- The Muslim woman said coming from a minority group was a big challenge as she feared she may never succeed
- With a big 17-year career success, Raffia vowed to use her platform to promote voices and make them heard
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A Muslim woman, Raffia Arshad, has broken a big record in the UK after she became the first hijab-wearing judge in the country.
The 40-year-old woman got an appointment as the deputy district judge on the Midlands after a successful law career of 17 years, Independent reports.
“It’s definitely bigger than me, I know this is not about me. It’s important for all women, not just Muslim women, but it is particularly important for Muslim women,” she said.
In one of her interviews after the appointment, she said that she was once scared that coming for a minority background and her upbringing would affect professional life.
Source: UGC
Raffia said that she would use her position to make sure that everybody’s voice is heard no matter how diverse they are.
She said that she has been getting positive feedbacks, something she described as the better part of the appointment.
It should be noted that the new judge was called to bar in 2002 and became a part of the St Mary’s Family Law Chambers in 2004.
Some of the fields she has performed in are private law children, female gen*tal mutilation, Islamic law among others.
The judge said despite the experiences she has gathered, she sometimes gets mistaken in the law court as the interpreter or client.
Raffia said that in 2001, a family member advised her not to wear her hijab to a scholarship interview, that it could affect her. She said that she went ahead and wore it because it is a part of who she is.
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“Raffia has led the way for Muslim women to succeed in the law and at the Bar and has worked tirelessly to promote equality and diversity in the profession,” Vickie Hodges and Judy Claxton, heads of St Mary’s law firm said.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the request of one of the first female Muslim members of the United States Congress, Ilhan Omar, to be allowed to wear hijab when she is on the floor of the House to vote and give speeches, has been granted.
The incoming speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and incoming House rules committee chairman, Jim McGovern, backed Omar in her request and included it in the rules package they released on Tuesday, January 1, 2019.
In other news, there really is no limit to the creativity exhibited by Nigerian youths. A case in point is Joshua Egesi, a University of Benin student.
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Joshua used over 6,000 bottle cover to make a beautiful portrait of the UIBEN's vice-chancellor. The style of portrait is described as the biggest in Africa.
This kind of art is a very good way to recycle and proves that art could serve as a good means of recycling to save the environment from pollution.
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