The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ), today joined the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) and the law firm of Omar T. Mohammedi at a press conference announcing a federal lawsuit against Marlboro Township for its denial of the town’s first mosque.
Over the course of five years, members of Marlboro’s Muslim community have tried to obtain the necessary approvals to build their mosque. They were met with delayed and cancelled hearings, anti-Muslim rhetoric and ultimately a denied application. And that denial came only after a state judge ordered the township to hold the required hearings.
In June, CAIR-NJ denounced the decision by the Marlboro Zoning Board of Adjustment to deny the establishment of a Muslim community center at 449 Tennent Road in Marlboro Township.
In his statement at the press conference, CAIR-NJ Executive Director Selaedin Maksut said:
“A house of worship – a mosque, a temple, a church, a synagogue – any sanctuary, is a place where people come together to build community, to offer services, charity work, family services, help children, grow the youth, develop leaders. It is a place that inherently brings benefit to the community. Any municipality should welcome the opportunity for a house of worship to be established on their land. No minority community should be subject to this much difficulty. Muslims are asking for nothing more but fair treatment.
That is what our American values call for. That is American – to be fair and balanced for all communities. But what the Muslim community of Marlboro has experience is the most un-American thing. The difficulty that they have been subject to is unfair. We are outraged.”
In AALDEF’s press release, Omar Mohammedi, Managing Partner of OTM Law said of the denial:
“The decision raises significant concerns regarding religious freedom, equal treatment, and the protections afforded under the Constitution and New Jersey’s antidiscrimination laws.”
Ronak Patel, staff attorney at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) said:
“New Jersey has seen this exact playbook before: delay a mosque application for years, subject it to extraordinary scrutiny, invoke Islamophobic tropes to justify a denial, and force the Muslim community to go to court to vindicate its rights. From Bridgewater to Basking Ridge to Sayreville, Muslim communities have repeatedly had to turn to the courts simply to seek the same opportunity to build a house of worship that other faith communities enjoy. No faith community should have to litigate for the right to have a place of worship in their own hometown.”
Mohammed Tahir, one of the plaintiffs, and leader of the masjid said:
“The Marlboro Muslim community has never had a permanent place to gather and pray. […] All our community has ever wanted is a house of worship and to feel part of this town.”
CAIR-NJ supports the rights of New Jersey’s Muslim communities to establish houses of worship and strongly opposes the weaponization of local land use regulations to restrict the development of mosques.
CONTACT: CAIR-NJ Public Affairs Director Naureen Akhter, [email protected], 908-921-1238
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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