Halim Dhanidina has proudly resumed work as the first Muslim Judge of California’s Supreme Court. Halim was never aware of the fact that he would be the first ever Muslim judge in the state of California, when he was filing an application for this position. The 42 year old judge has received praises as well as criticism from the community in California. Comments on the internet, according to the Los Angeles Times, range from ‘Jihadist judge’ to a ‘Sharia judge’.
Halim stated, ‘My peers didn’t notice it until it was mentioned in the news reports, it was meaningful to the governor’s office because they wanted to publicize it.”. His appointment was confirmed on May 2012, after which he received numerous phone calls, emails from Europe, Africa and Asia congratulating him and wishing him the best. Halim informed, ‘The appointment] was a long, stressful saga for me. Part of it is due to the fact that I had to apply under two different governors. The first governor I applied under was Arnold Schwarzenegger (in 2009) and it wasn’t until he ended his term and Governor Jerry Brown took over (in 2012) that my application gained momentum and I was appointed relatively quickly”.
Halim was born and brought up in Chicago, Illinois, where he went to school in Southern California and later studied international relations at the Claremont University’s Pomona College. Halim states that since 9/11, people naturally distrust Muslims, especially in the area of law, as they assume that a Muslim judge will bring Sharia to the court.