Faisal Kutty

Expert Overview

Faisal Kutty is an expert on issues of Islamic law, Islamophobia, national security, human rights, legal pluralism, and the Middle East.

Faisal is a Muslim lawyer, law professor, writer and public speaker. His unique background, experience, and education provide a fresh approach in understanding the basics of Islam and its relevance to the world.

Faisal was born in India and grew up in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. He attended French Catholic grade schools, public middle and high school, and studied at three different institutions of higher learning. He practiced law in Toronto servicing the unique needs of the growing Muslim population, and he currently teaches law at Valparaiso University Law School in Indiana (a Lutheran affiliated institution) and at Canada’s largest law school, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University.

He has extensive experience in interfaith and intercultural dialogue and is an expert on the Muslim community, Islamic law, Islamic culture, national security and their intersections.

During undergraduate years, he was the president of the Muslim student group on campus and he founded the Muslim Law Students’ Association while in law school.  After graduating from law school, he co-founded the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association (CMCLA) and went on to serve as its general counsel for more than a decade.  He also co-founded and served as vice chair and legal counsel to CAIR-CAN (Council on American Islamic Relations Canadian Chapter).

Faisal also served as the first Islamic culture content consultant to the Little Mosque on the Prairie, an award winning internationally acclaimed sitcom produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Faisal has set up dozens of non-profits/charities in the Muslim community, and he has served on a number of their boards including Human Concern International and the Bosnian Canadian Relief Association.  He served as co-chair of the Islamic Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). He is currently an executive member of both the International Human Rights Law Section and the Islamic Law Sections of the AALS. He is also a Director of the American Society of Comparative Law.

Faisal has published more than 250 articles in newspapers, magazines and academic publications on Islam, Muslims, Islamophobia, human rights, national security, multiculturalism, constitutional law, international affairs, etc.  Faisal has also delivered more than 300 lectures around the world on the same subjects. He has also been quoted or featured in hundreds of media stories around the world.