Aligarh: An international webinar on the topic “Contemporary Challenges and Importance of Legal Education” was organized by Indian Forum for Education (IFE), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Importance of legal education
The Chief Speaker of the webinar, Prof. Shakeel Ahmed Samdani, Dean, Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh said that legal education is among the top 5 professions of the world and its demand is increasing with each passing day. He said that it is a very important field of education as it deals with all the rules and regulations in day to day life. All matters from household disputes to international disputes and conflicts are resolved through the laws.
While delivering his address, Prof. Shakeel Samdani explained in detail the Islamic concept of justice. Prof. Samdani said that it is the duty of every Muslim to provide justice on land and he quoted the verse 135 of Surah An Nisa which says “O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is more worthy of both. So follow not [personal] inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort [your testimony] or refuse [to give it], then indeed Allah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted.” He also quoted various other verses from the Holy Quran and the Hadith to justify his claims.
Prof. Shakeel Samdani said that the founder of Aligarh Muslim University, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan had a legal background and this background helped him a lot in fulfilling his dream of establishing an educational institution. Due to his legal knowledge, Sir Syed convinced the British to change the eligibility criteria in Indian Civil Services (ICS) exam and to increase the age limit which helped the Indian students a lot. Sir Syed was instrumental in passing the Qazi Act.
Number of lawyers in the country
Explaining the importance of legal education, Prof. Samdani stated that there are approximately 20 lakh lawyers in India. But this population of lawyers is insufficient to fulfill the needs of the entire country. He further said that there is a need for good lawyers throughout the country.
Prof. Shakeel Samdani further said that legal education is very essential for minorities, backward classes, weaker sections of society and marginalized people, if they want to protect their lives and live with dignity.
Prof. Samdani also highlighted the contributions of Prof. Madhav Menon, an Alumni of AMU for giving and implementing the concept of 5 year integrated BA LLB (Hons.) course and for his efforts in establishing the National Law Universities throughout the country. He said that the efforts of Prof. Madhav Menon increased the scope of legal profession throughout the country.
Prof. Samdani further said that the demand of law is increasing throughout the globe and new fields of law are coming into picture. He discussed in detail about the evolving fields in the legal system. He also discussed the contributions of various judges like Justice Mehmood, Justice Sir Sulaiman Shah, Justice Balakrishnan, Justice Ahmadi, etc and how their judgements benefited millions of people. He also gave the examples of various freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and how their legal background helped them in the freedom struggle.
At last Prof. Shakeel Samdani explained in detail about the entrance examination of AMU and CLAT and other important details of getting admission into law colleges in the country and also cleared many doubts of students during the question answer session.
Webinar
This webinar was moderated by Mr. Faisal Zaidi and Prof. (Dr.) Dilshad Ahmad, President, IFE, Riyadh introduced the guest. The webinar was made a grand success with the efforts of Mr. Abdul Ghafoor Danish, Salman Khalid and Abdullah Samdani.
Participants from Saudi Arabia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, UK, Australia, South Africa, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Iran, Mauritius, etc were present in this international webinar.