Faisal Kutty
Encyclopedia
Faisal Kutty is a Canadian lawyer, writer and human rights activist. He is a law professor and widely quoted commentator and public intellectual. He is the son of Islamic scholar Shaikh Ahmad Kutty
.
and entered law school at the University of Ottawa
in 1991. He graduated with an LL.B. (cum laude) and during his studies served terms as book reviews and articles editor of the Ottawa Law Review
. He went on to obtain an LL.M. from Osgoode Hall Law School
of York University in 2006 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in law at Osgoode.
and a visiting professor at Valparaiso University School of Law
. He previously taught in the Skills and Professional Responsibility course in the Licensing Program administered by the Law Society of Upper Canada
. He has also taught corporate/commercial law in the Bar Admissions Courses and legal research and writing at Osgoode Hall Law School
.
Kutty has been a vocal spokesperson and advocate on human rights
and the excesses of anti-terror legislation and policies. He co-founded the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association in 1994, for which he currently serves as general counsel. He is also a former vice chair of the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-CAN), a Muslim advocacy organization in Canada
. He is an opponent of Canada’s no-fly list known as Passenger Protect. He filed submissions against the initiative on behalf of more than two dozen groups titled "Too Guilty to Fly, Too Innocent to Charge?"
Kutty along with his partner Akbar Sayed Mohamed act for the CMCLA and CAIR-CAN in their intervention in the Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182
. In December 2004, Marion Boyd
released a study that recommended that the Ontario government permit the adoption of sharia
tribunals for Muslims
who wished to have family arbitration disputes settled in that manner. Kutty commented on this report on behalf of various Muslim groups.
Kutty wrote that the purported banning of faith-based arbitration was a delayed opportunity for the indigenization of Islamic law in the North American context
He has written on the topics related to Islamist thought
. He was the defence lawyer for 19-year-old girl named Saima Mohamed, sister in law of Fahim Ahmed. Some observers claim that he defends those who espouse causes supportive of Islamic fundamentalists and extremists. Others extend this to link him to Islamists.
He is included in the list of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World. published by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, an independent research entity affiliated with the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought is an international Islamic non-governmental, independent institute headquartered in Amman, the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Ahmad Kutty
-Biography:Kutty was born in the Indian state of Kerala in 1946. He arrived in Canada in the 1970s as a student and has since obtained Canadian citizenship....
.
Education
Kutty studied economics at York UniversityYork University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
and entered law school at the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
in 1991. He graduated with an LL.B. (cum laude) and during his studies served terms as book reviews and articles editor of the Ottawa Law Review
Ottawa Law Review
The Ottawa Law Review is a bilingual law review published by the students of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law common law section.It is published twice per year.-External links:*...
. He went on to obtain an LL.M. from Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School is a Canadian law school, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and affiliated with York University. Named after the first Chief Justice of Ontario, William Osgoode, the law school was established by The Law Society of Upper Canada in 1889 and was the only accredited law...
of York University in 2006 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in law at Osgoode.
Career
Kutty articled with a Toronto law firm and then started his own practice in 1996. He practices under the firm name Kutty, Syed & Mohamed. He is an adjunct professor teaching comparative law at Osgoode Hall Law SchoolOsgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School is a Canadian law school, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and affiliated with York University. Named after the first Chief Justice of Ontario, William Osgoode, the law school was established by The Law Society of Upper Canada in 1889 and was the only accredited law...
and a visiting professor at Valparaiso University School of Law
Valparaiso University School of Law
The Valparaiso University School of Law is located on the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, a community located less than an hour from Chicago...
. He previously taught in the Skills and Professional Responsibility course in the Licensing Program administered by the Law Society of Upper Canada
Law Society of Upper Canada
The Law Society of Upper Canada is responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1797, it is known in French as "Le Barreau du Haut-Canada"...
. He has also taught corporate/commercial law in the Bar Admissions Courses and legal research and writing at Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School is a Canadian law school, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and affiliated with York University. Named after the first Chief Justice of Ontario, William Osgoode, the law school was established by The Law Society of Upper Canada in 1889 and was the only accredited law...
.
Kutty has been a vocal spokesperson and advocate on human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and the excesses of anti-terror legislation and policies. He co-founded the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association in 1994, for which he currently serves as general counsel. He is also a former vice chair of the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations
Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations
The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations is a national Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization in Canada. CAIR-CAN is an Ottawa-based, nonprofit organization with a grassroots membership...
(CAIR-CAN), a Muslim advocacy organization in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He is an opponent of Canada’s no-fly list known as Passenger Protect. He filed submissions against the initiative on behalf of more than two dozen groups titled "Too Guilty to Fly, Too Innocent to Charge?"
Kutty along with his partner Akbar Sayed Mohamed act for the CMCLA and CAIR-CAN in their intervention in the Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182
Air India Flight 182
Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi route. On 23 June 1985, the airplane operating on the route a Boeing 747-237B named after Emperor Kanishka was blown up by a bomb at an altitude of , and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while in Irish airspace.A...
. In December 2004, Marion Boyd
Marion Boyd
Marion Boyd is a former Canadian politician, who represented the riding of London Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1999 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party.-Background:...
released a study that recommended that the Ontario government permit the adoption of sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
tribunals for Muslims
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
who wished to have family arbitration disputes settled in that manner. Kutty commented on this report on behalf of various Muslim groups.
Kutty wrote that the purported banning of faith-based arbitration was a delayed opportunity for the indigenization of Islamic law in the North American context
He has written on the topics related to Islamist thought
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
. He was the defence lawyer for 19-year-old girl named Saima Mohamed, sister in law of Fahim Ahmed. Some observers claim that he defends those who espouse causes supportive of Islamic fundamentalists and extremists. Others extend this to link him to Islamists.
He is included in the list of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World. published by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, an independent research entity affiliated with the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought is an international Islamic non-governmental, independent institute headquartered in Amman, the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Personal
Kutty was married for more than a decade to his Saudi wife, Bushra. They had one child together and later separated and divorced citing irreconcialable differences. He remarried in 2010 to a former Pakistani model, Sana. They live in Chicago.Works
- Book Review, The Globe and Mail, Jul 9, 2009, (Nader Hashemi, Islam, Secularism and Liberal Democracy: Toward a New Democratic Theory for the Muslim Socieites (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009)).
- Book Review, 24 Windsor Rev. Legal Soc. Issues 73 (2008) (David Dyzenhaus, The Constitution of Law: Legality in a Time of Emergency (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006)). (ssrn)
- Non-Western Societies Have Influenced Human Rights in Opposing Viewpoints: Human Rights 41 (Jacqueline Langwith ed., 2007).
- The Shari’a Factor in International Commercial Arbitration, 28 Loy. L.A. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 565 (2006). (ssrn & pdf)
- Book Review, Am. J. Islamic Soc. Sci., Volume 19, Number 2 (2001) (David Hoile, Farce Majeure: The Clinton Administration’s Sudan Policy 1993-2000