University of Houston Law Center student Mohammad Ullah.
May 3, 2019 — Mohammad Ullah, a University of Houston Law Center 3L, has been named the 2018-2019 Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Writing Competition second-place winner.
The article Ullah submitted, "Estate Planning Issues for the Muslim Community,” discusses Islamic rules of inheritance and how the legal world addresses such traditions.
“I found that there was contemporary Islamic scholarship and Western legal academia that touched on the issue, but nothing that really synthesized the two fields in a straightforward manner for practitioners to use,” Ullah said.
His paper will be published in the quarterly publication of the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. Ullah drew inspiration for his paper from his interest in juxtaposing the values he holds and the legal work he aspires to do.
“I have always looked for the intersections between the things I am or love, and being of the Muslim faith, this was the perfect way to take advantage of an opportunity that would allow me to be proud of my faith and my area of law,” he said.
Ullah took Trusts & Wills and Estate Planning courses at the time three family members died in the Spring of 2018, and he felt that his enrollment in classes pertaining to death and the passing of family members was no coincidence.
“I felt I really had to learn why and how Islam dictates our estates are to be distributed, because quite frankly most Muslims today do not know when in fact they should,” he said.
After graduating and taking the bar exam, Ullah will return to the Law Center to complete his LL.M. in Health Law, even though his primary interest is in the field of Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law.
“In addition to probate, I am strongly interested in working as in-house or general counsel at hospitals or pharmaceutical companies, or as a consultant for health care providers,” Ullah said. “However, most likely I will start out working for a firm that handles probate and estate planning issues.”
