As a long-time resident of West Windsor, I am writing in support of the proposed new Muslim house of worship that is seeking a Zoning Board variance to build on a seven-acre parcel of long vacant land on Old Trenton Road and Dorchester Road (across from the Princeton Arms Shopping Center).
The mosque would be the religious home to some 150 congregants from the area that have been housed for 10 plus years in an office building located about a mile away at 379 Princeton Hightstown Road in East Windsor.
One of the reasons I find West Windsor to be such an appealing place to live is the diversity and openness of the community. As a result of the community’s cultural mix, our children have the opportunity to interact with youngsters of all backgrounds in their neighborhoods and in the school system.
Adding a mosque to our community’s rich religious tapestry would be inherently beneficial to the community and should be supported.
Concerns have been raised regarding the project’s impact on ratables. As I understand it, denying a use variance based on a loss of tax basis is not valid under the Municipal Land Use Law.
With regard to other concerns, it will be incumbent on the mosque to present expert testimony from its experts regarding compliance with West Windsor Township zoning and building requirements including traffic, water and sewer, design, landscape etc. as required for other houses of worship in the town.
I truly hope that the Zoning Board will approve the variance for Institute for Islamic Studies and welcome them to our community with open arms.
Irwin S. Stoolmacher
Village Road West
Princeton Junction
Editor’s note: A letter voicing similar opinions was also submitted by Hassan R. Syed of West Windsor.
I understand that certain complaints have been raised by the community regarding the need for a larger house of worship for the Muslim residents of West Windsor. But for a moment, I wish to put the politics of taxes and the concerns of traffic flow aside, because the need for this building and the values that it embodies is much greater than questions that will be answered by the township authorities in the upcoming meeting.
I write to you not as a board member or religious scholar, but as a daughter who is struggling to preserve the well-being of a mosque that has raised her. For 15 years, the Institute of Islamic Studies has been a constant in my life and in the lives of many others, manifesting itself into teacher, community organizer, and guardian. Through the shared bond of a love for God, the IIS has given its children a sense of community and brotherhood that surpasses the bounds of gender, race, or even religion. Rather, it has developed within us an awareness of how to be a human being, one who feels compassionately, thinks reasonably, and reacts accordingly.
This house of worship has reaffirmed that familial sanctity that can so easily be lost in an era of stressful careers, technological distractions, and horribly addictive reality TV shows. For no matter how hectic a work week can get, any individual, parent, or child can come together for a short time in this community center to pray, converse, and reflect. By building such a resilient bond, a daughter can develop a confidence in her own faith and use it towards the betterment of a community much larger than the confines of her small town.
The Islamic community of West Windsor has grown, and we need this establishment to remain the rock it has been to produce more individuals who are aware of their duties as human beings and as American Muslims. The problem lies in that this can no longer be done in the space that is currently available to us, and it is only with the support of local residents that we can hope to expand. It is my hope that the Zoning Board will approve our plea and give the Muslims of West Windsor the chance to give back to a community that has supported us for so long.
Alina Zafar
West Windsor
Editor’s note: Alina graduated with honors from a Noor -Ul-Iman high school, a private Islamic school in Monmouth Junction. She is currently a student at New York University.
West Windsor is a town of great diversity in ethnicity and religion. I’m writing this letter to highlight how the Islamic Center plays a role in my life. I have been fighting cancer for the last several years. Cancer is one of those diseases that you wouldn’t wish for your worst enemy. Anyone who has suffered from this disease or seen the affliction it causes can only understand what pain it brings along with it.
For me the worst part is every few months I have to go to the hospital to get an MRI to see if the cancer has come back. The anxiety associated with the lead up to the MRI and waiting for the results is a traumatic experience that can drain even the strongest individual.
I have great neighbors of all faiths who comfort me during this time. But for me the spiritual connection I make when I go to the mosque is what ultimately gets me through this difficult period. When a person is faced with a situation where there is no one to turn to, people of all faiths reach out for divine help. Some seek comfort at a synagogue, others at a church or temple. To deprive anyone the opportunity to make a connection with God is beyond any norm of human decency.
In keeping with the spiritual needs of people like me, I truly hope that the Zoning Board will approve the variance for the Institute of Islamic Studies and welcome them to our community.
Saad Abbasi
Rosewood Court, West Windsor
We are writing in response to the letter “Study the Costs of Mosque Approval” (The News, March 18).
When houses of worship receive a variance and are constructed towns decide to forego a ratable for the sake of its residents’ quality of life.
As for traffic, any new buildings, regardless of purpose, will increase traffic. Any new construction, whether for a ratable or not, might cause water runoffs. Old Trenton Road is wide, and there are traffic lights already in place.
After having participated in three inter-faith dialogues with Muslims from West Windsor, we’ve seen how much the Muslim community is willing to serve the needs of its neighbors, Muslim and non-Muslim.
We have lived in East Windsor for 43 years. East and West Windsor have changed and grown in many ways, especially in diversity. We live close to Old Trenton Road, travel the road often, and frequent businesses along the road. We would be happy to see a mosque constructed there. As Catholics who believe in interfaith dialogue, we would be eager to visit the mosque, use the library, and engage in interfaith programs.
Leigh and Lenore Isleib
East Windsor
With reference to the letter “Study the Costs of Mosque Approval” in the March 18 edition, I would like to point out that other than tax and traffic implications, the township must consider the historical criteria used to zone existing churches and synagogues in West Windsor.
If, in fact, these institutions were given a zoning variance in the past, these exact criteria should also be considered for the new mosque.
To this end, I urge the township to summarize the zoning criteria and variations considered for all existing West Windsor religious establishments during the April 7 hearing. Ensuring fairness and parity for the mosque zoning question is of paramount importance.
Sabbir Rangwala
West Windsor
I write to you as a concerned member of the community. I am not a resident of West Windsor, but the conversation about the zoning variance appeal of the Institute of Islamic Studies is very near to my heart. Every since I can remember, IIS has played a huge role in my life. Whether it was going to weekend school to learn about Islam or preparing for quiz competitions or just having community gatherings and playing with my friends, IIS was always a second home of sorts. The office space we rented out was small but enough to fulfill the needs of our small community.
Over the years, however, our community has grown, and the need for space has grown accordingly. While I understand that part of the Zoning Board’s job is to promote the general welfare of the community and prevent plans that will have a negative impact on the character of nearby areas, the reality is that IIS is an important staple within the West Windsor community. While I do not know very much about the specifics of how a new community center will affect the surrounding area, I do know that the Institute of Islamic Studies has been indispensible to the development and education of a whole faith community within West Windsor.
To deny IIS’s application would deny a minority religious group the ability to meet the demands of its growing constituency. In addition to weekend school and picnics, IIS has worked to educate its members and especially its children about what it means to be a Muslim in the American context.
Over the past year there has been a great deal of public debate about the construction of new mosques in this country. People tend to cite the first amendment right to the freedom of religion, but that all seems abstract. Yes, we are Muslim, and we would like to be free to practice our faith, but I do not think any rational West Windsor resident would suggest that we should not be allowed to do so.
The question is whether the Institute of Islamic Studies should be allowed to proceed with its plans to construct a new facility. The question is whether we, as Americans, will practice what we preach.
Will we come up with excuses to prevent this plan from going forth and allow our democratic ideals of individual and religious freedom to remain abstract? Or will we take those core values and put them into practice by supporting the Institute of Islamic Studies’ construction of a new cultural center and house of worship? The right to religious freedom is an abstract concept, but the right to build or expand a house of worship is that abstraction put into practice and made real.
It is my hope –– as a member of the IIS community and as an American –– that the Zoning Board will support the effort to realize our patriotic ideals and approve the Institute of Islamic Studies’ variance application.
Sheeba Arif
Princeton University ’14
