The Islamic Society of Central Jersey (ISCJ) is an Islamic nonprofit organization that primarily engages in community outreach and education. It does engage in political advocacy, having promoted environmentalism, opposed United States intervention in the Middle East, and engaged in voter registration drives in opposition to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. [1] [2] [3]
The ISCJ has also promoted the identity politics concept of intersectionality, arguing that there is a plague among Black men in America as they are allegedly targets of deadly discrimination by law enforcement. [4]
The ISCJ also operates an Islamic school with over 500 students. Additionally, it engages with the central New Jersey community to promote Islamic teachings through its website, at conferences, and at other community events. [5]
Background
The Islamic Society of Central Jersey is a left-of-center 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded in 1970 by four Rutgers University students and their families. Within the central New Jersey community, it performs outreach and education promoting Islam, engages in interfaith conversations, and engages in political advocacy. [6]
In 1993, the ISCJ started an Islamic school that today has upwards of 500 students enrolled in grades from pre-k through 12th grade. It also offers Islamic and Arabic education through a weekend school that also has about 500 members. [7]
Advocacy
In July 2011, the Islamic Society of Central Jersey started its Green Ramadan Initiative, a campaign that advocates for promoting environmentalism during the month of Ramadan. Program lead Faraz Khan stated the goal of the campaign is to eventually become a year-round initiative and that it wants to add a fourth “R” to the phrase “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle,” with the fourth “R” standing for Ramadan. [8]
In October 2014, the ISCJ held women’s rights conferences at which it discussed how Islam can be used to empower women and how Islam is incorrectly used to justify discrimination against women. The conference’s published topics state women are not equal in Muslim society and listed discussion topics on how women can achieve equality. [9]
In December 2014, the ISCJ signed a joint letter with various New Jersey Muslim organizations denouncing the actions of the terrorist group ISIS. The letter goes on to state, “The policies of failed governments, foreign intervention, reckless military operations, and political exclusion have fueled anger and resentment in Iraq, Syria and the region generally.” It then advocates for the United States and other foreign governments to allow local governments within the middle east to determine how the ISIS crisis should be handled, also arguing that United States involvement will exacerbate the issue. [10]
In June 2016, President of the ISCJ Arif Patel spoke on behalf of the ISCJ and stated that the ISCJ had been participating in voter registration drives out of fear that Donald Trump would be elected in 2016. Patel clarified that the organization does not endorse political candidates, but he found that ISCJ members were “galvanized” by the then-Republican presidential nominee. [11]
On June 1, 2020, the ISCJ published a press release denouncing the murder of George Floyd and argued that American law enforcement targets Black people, discriminatorily using lethal force against them. It described such violence as a pandemic, plague, and tyranny against Black males. [12]
Financials
In 2017, the Islamic Society of Central Jersey reported receiving $1.3 million in contributions, $600 thousand in program revenue, and a total revenue of $2.2 million. [13] Additionally, it reported total expenses of $2.0 million and owning $16 million in net assets. [14]