The New Brunswick Islamic Center (NBIC), formerly known as Masjid al-Huda, is a Muslim mosque and community center in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It maintains several community outreach programs and charitable initiatives. ¹ Its co-founder and imam, Zaid Shakir, has been accused of promoting conspiracy theories while defending the actions of terrorist organizations such as Lebanon-based Hezbollah. ²

History

The New Brunswick Islamic Center was founded in 1987 by Zaid Shakir, then a political science graduate student at Rutgers University. Its original name was Masjid al-Huda, but was changed and is named the New Brunswick Islamic Center as of 2024. ³

Initiatives

The New Brunswick Islamic Center offers traditional Muslim daily prayers as well as religious education classes and tutoring, United States citizenship preparation classes, and premarital and marital counseling services. ⁴ The center offers Arabic language and Islamic culture classes for youth, teens, and adults throughout the week, as well as other youth and family programming, including youth summer camps and religious holiday celebrations. ^{5 6}

NBIC’s main charitable initiative is the HUDA Initiative which claims to aid lower-income families through diaper and food drives among other charitable programs. ⁷

Community Engagement and Activism

The New Brunswick Islamic Center engages activism, including fundraising and interfaith development to support for Palestinians. ⁸

In 2011, members of the New Brunswick Islamic Center participated in a walk-a-thon to raise funds for Pakistan, which had been impacted by flooding that year. ⁹

In 2019, following mass shootings at Christchurch Mosque in New Zealand and the L’Simcha Congregation synagogue outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; NBIC hosted an interfaith service to honor the victims of both shootings. ¹⁰

In May 2021, the New Brunswick Islamic Center was among 42 local organizations that joined with Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-NJ in condemning what it called Israeli “injustices against Palestinians.” ¹¹

Leadership

Zaid Shakir is the co-founder, director, and imam for the New Brunswick Islamic Center. Born in Berkeley, California, Shakir converted to Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force. He has a B.A. in International Relations from American University and a M.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University. While at Rutgers, he led a successful campaign for divestment from South Africa. After a year of studying Arabic in Cairo, Egypt, he settled in Connecticut and continued his left-of-center community activism, co-founding the then-Masjid al-Huda (now New Brunswick Islamic Center), the Tri-State Muslim Education Initiative, and the Connecticut Muslim Coordinating Committee. ^{12 13}

Shakir has taught Arabic and political science at Southern Connecticut State University and was an interfaith council chaplain at Yale University. In 2001, he graduated from Abu Noor University in Syria after studying Arabic, Islamic law, and the Qur’an. He has translated several works from Arabic to English and founded Zaytuna College in 2008. He was named “one of America’s most influential Scholars” in the West by the 2009 edition of The 500 Most Influential Muslims, a yearly publication that tracks prominent Muslim intellectuals. ¹⁴

Watchdog group Investigative Project on Terrorism has accused Shakir of spreading conspiracy theories for expressing doubts about responsibility for 9/11 and other terrorist attacks. He also has expressed sympathy for Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese Islamist party and terrorist organization. Shakir has argued that the United States will one day be ruled by Islamic law and has defended terrorist attacks around the world, including the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, 9/11, and the 2005 London transit bombings. He also made comments suggesting that “Zionist” forces and the FBI were behind the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. ¹⁵

Finances

In 2016 the New Brunswick Islamic Center received $8,500 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), a large left-of-center grantmaking organization dedicated to advancing left-of-center health policies. ^{16 17}

1. “About.” New Brunswick Islamic Center. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.nbic.org/about
2. Zaid Shakir: Co-Founder, Zaytuna College. Investigative Project. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/501.pdf
3. About. New Brunswick Islamic Center. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.nbic.org/about
4. Services. New Brunswick Islamic Center. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.nbic.org/services
5. Education. New Brunswick Islamic Center. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.nbic.org/education
6. Ongoing Programs. New Brunswick Islamic Center. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.nbic.org/ongoing-programs
7. HUDA Initiative. New Brunswick Islamic Center. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.nbic.org/new-page-3
8. Hooper, Ibrahim. “CAIR-NJ Joins 42 New Jersey Muslim Organizations Condemning Injustice Against Palestinians, Calls on Elected Officials to Act.” CAIR. June 11, 2021. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-nj-joins-42-new-jersey-muslim-organizations-condemning-injustice-against-palestinians-calls-on-elected-officials-to-act/
9. Haydon, Tom. “Walkathon through Highland Park, New Brunswick to raise funds for flood-ravaged Pakistan.” NJ.com. March 27, 2011. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.nj.com/news/2011/03/walkathon_through_highland_par.html
10. Weisberger, Jed. “Jewish-Muslim bonds tighten in aftermath of mosque shootings.” New Jersey Jewish News. March 27, 2019. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://njjewishnews.timesofisrael.com/jewish-muslim-bonds-tighten-in-aftermath-of-mosque-shootings/
11. Hooper, Ibrahim. “CAIR-NJ Joins 42 New Jersey Muslim Organizations Condemning Injustice Against Palestinians, Calls on Elected Officials to Act.” CAIR. June 11, 2021. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-nj-joins-42-new-jersey-muslim-organizations-condemning-injustice-against-palestinians-calls-on-elected-officials-to-act/
12. About. New Brunswick Islamic Center. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.nbic.org/about
13. Imam Zaid Shakir. American Learning Institute for Muslims. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.alimprogram.org/imamshakir.html
14. Imam Zaid Shakir. American Learning Institute for Muslims. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.alimprogram.org/imamshakir.html
15. Zaid Shakir: Co-Founder, Zaytuna College. Investigative Project. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/501.pdf
16. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – 2016 Federal 990 Form. ProPublica. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/226029397/201733139349101558/IRS990PF
17. Horowitz, Daniel, “How the left and progressive foundations gave us ObamaCare — a law hated by so many.” Fox News. June 25, 2012. Accessed September 8, 2024. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/06/25/how-left-and-progressive-foundations-gave-us-obamacare-law-hated-by-so-many.html