Islamic Society of Central Jersey

The Islamic Society of Central Jersey (ISCL) is located in Monmouth Junction, an unincorporated community within South Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Its roots date to 1970, when four Rutgers University students and four families from the surrounding community founded the Islamic Society and Friends of Rutgers University. From this group the ISCL was formed in 1973 and officially incorporated in 1975.In April 1979, a 6.4 acre plot of land at the intersection of Promenade Boulevard and Route 1 South in Monmouth Junction was purchased to build a mosque, school, and community center. Due to funding and other considerations, the ISCJ was built in stages. The first phase to construct the school, multipurpose hall, and other facilities began in 1982 and the Center officially opened on October 9, 1983. The second phase to expand the building began in 1988 and was completed in December 1990. According to Omar Khalidi, the architect of the Center was Leo H. Mahony.In 1993, the Center opened the full-time Noor-Ul-Iman Islamic School on its grounds, and after a 2009-2012 expansion the school is now a 36,000 sq. ft. facility on 17 acres adjacent to the mosque. Future expansions would renovate and expand the mosque and add an office building.The original ISCJ building is a long, one-story building with a brown and buff concrete facade. A large gold dome sits over the prayer hall. A minaret at the front of the mosque has a gold conical topper. Inside, the prayer hall features an elaborately-tiled mihrab.Sources:"ISCJ Expansion - April 2012 Update, New School Building Construction," YouTube video posted by "iscjtv," June 10, 2012. Accessed April 28, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfm67guzoBg.Islamic Society of Central Jersey. "ISCJ History." Accessed April 28, 2015 via the Wayback Machine. http://web.archive.org/web/20060620001226/http://iscj.org/details.aspx?id=50.James, Davy. "New School Begins New Chapter for ISCJ." South Brunswick Patch, September 18, 2012. Accessed April 28, 2015. http://patch.com/new-jersey/southbrunswick/new-school-begins-new-chapter-for-iscj.