InsiderNJ’s Muslim Power and Influence List in Honor of Ramadan
The picture above for the Muslims Power List was taken on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, when Dean Obeidallah from his Sirius XM show hosted a Town Hall from ICPC Masjid for the first time ever in the nation. Seated in the first two rows – State Democratic Chairman John Currie, then Department of Health Commissioner Shereef M Elnahal, Mayor Khairullah of Prospect Park, then NJMLA President Ehsan F Chowdhry, ESQ, Freeholder Akhter, Councilman AbdelAziz, then CAIR-NJ Executive Director James R Sues, Imam Qatanani of ICPC and President MAC Sam Khan.
INSIDERNJ’s TOP 50 MOST INFLUENTIAL NEW JERSEY MUSLIMS IN ACADEMIA, BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT, LAW, LAW ENFORCEMENT, NON PROFIT, POLITICS, RELIGION & SOCIAL JUSTICE
Our inaugural list is subjective, and subject to revision in time for next year’s reckoning on the same theme.
In the meantime, and with a special thank you to Ehsan F. Chowdhry for his help, we say “Ramadan Kareem” and offer you, in alphabetical order, this year’s list…
1. Abdul-Basit Haqq, Vice President, CWA Local 1037
- Adeel A. Mangi, ESQ. Partner, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, LLP
- Agha A. Khan, former Congressional Candidate, 8TH District
- Al Abdelaziz, Ward 6 Councilman, City of Paterson (Passaic County)
- Alp Basaran, ESQ., Current Congressional Candidate, 9TH District
- Assad R. Akhter, Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholder (Passaic County)
- Azra Baig, former Member, South Brunswick Township Board of Education; Employee of New Jersey Department of Health
- Charles Williams, former Chief of Staff to Lieutenant Governor Sheila Y. Oliver
- Chief Ahmed S. Naga, Chief of Police, Long Hill Township (Morris County)
- Chief Ibrahim Baycora, Chief of Police, City of Paterson (Passaic County)
- Chief Mustafa L. Rabboh, Chief of Police, Bergenfield Township (Bergen County)
- Dean I. Obeidallah, ESQ., Sirius XM Progress’ The Dean Obeidallah Show
- Mohammad A. Chaudry, former Mayor, Township of Bernards (Somerset County)
- Muhammad A. Zubair, member of Governor Murphy’s Healthcare Transition Team
- Rizwana Khan, immediate past President, New Jersey Chapter of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America
- Shereef M. Elnahal, former Commissioner of New Jersey Department of Health; Co-Chair Governor Murphy’s Healthcare Transition Team
- Ehsan F. Chowdhry, ESQ., immediate Past President – New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association (NJMLA); Co-Chair of Governor Murphy’s Law & Justice Transition Team
- Farook Hussain, Vice President, Atlantic City Board of Education
- Ghani M. Khan, CEO, American Muslims for Hunger Relief (AMFHR)
- Hassan Abu Bakr, FBI Citizens Academy, Newark – Board of Trustees, Minority Affairs Director
- Huma Hasan, former Executive Director, Wafa House; Co-Chair Governor Murphy’s Human & Children Services Transition Team
- Imam Hamad A. Chebli, Imam of Islamic Society of Central Jersey (ISCJ)
- Imam Muhammad A. Mendes, Imam of Muslim Center of Greater Princeton (MCGP)
- Imam Wahy-ud Deen Shareef, member of Governor Murphy’s Transportation & Infrastructure Transition Team
- Intashan Chowdhury, Business Administrator, Borough of Prospect Park
- James R. Sues, former Executive Director for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ)
- Jessica Berrocal, Co-Chair, New Jersey State Democratic Committee, Muslim Caucus
- Jimmy Small, former Councilman, City of East Orange (Essex County)
- Joseph M. Champagne, Jr., ESQ., former Mayor, Borough of South Toms River (Ocean County)
- Mohammad Ahmad Hasan Qatanani, Imam, Islamic Center of Passaic County
- Mohamed T. Khairullah, Mayor of Borough of Prospect Park (Passaic County)
- Mohammed Hameeduddin, Mayor of Township of Teaneck (Bergen County)
- Muhammad “Anjum” Zia, Councilman, City of Atlantic City (Atlantic County)
- Muqaddas Ejaz, member, Cherry Hill Democratic Committee
- Mussab Ali, Member, Jersey City Board of Education (Hudson County)
- Mustafa Abdi, Director, Muslims for Peace
- Nadia Kahf, ESQ., Chair, Wayne Democratic Committee
- Nadia S. Bandukda, ESQ., Alumni of New Jersey New Leader Council’s First Class; Member of Governor Murphy’s Transition Counsel
- Omar Boraie, Boraie Development, LLC
- Rizwan Malik, former Councilman, City of Atlantic City (Atlantic County)
- Nadia Hussain, Board of Directors, American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU NJ)
- Sadaf Jaffer, Mayor of Township of Montgomery (Somerset County)
- Sahar F. Aziz, ESQ. Professor & Director, Rutgers Law School Center for Security, Race & Rights
- Salahuddin N. Mustafa, Member, New Jersey State Democratic Committee; Member of Governor Murphy’s Budget Transition Team
- Salim Patel, Councilman, City of Passaic (Passaic County)
- Shahin Khalique, Councilman, City of Paterson (Passaic County)
- Shariq Ahmad, Edison Township Democratic Committee Chairman
- Sikandar Khan, Co-Chair, New Jersey State Democratic Committee, Muslim Caucus
- Tahsina Ahmed, Councilwoman, Borough of Haledon (Passaic County)
- Ted R. Green, Mayor of City of East Orange (Essex County)
- Yousef Saleh, Councilman, Jersey City
HONORABLE MENTION
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- Abdur Rahman Muhammad, Newark-based historian and Malcolm X scholar
Abed A. Awad, ESQ., Sharia Wiz
Abid Islam, Islamic Center of Jersey City
Adil S. Ahmed, ESQ., Make the Road
Afsheen Shamsi, Rutgers University, South Asian Caucus, NJ Democratic State Committee
Al Barlas, Essex County GOP Chairman
Alan D. Bowman, ESQ., Civil Rights Activist
Asma J. Warsi, ESQ., Governor Murphy’s Law & Justice Team, Member
Atif Nazir, Central Jersey Progressive Democrats
Atiya Aftab, ESQ., Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University (CILRU) 
Red Bank Councilman Hazim M. Yassin 
Councilman MD Hossain Morshed 
Former Councilman Mohammed Akhtaruzzaman-
Asghar Kharazi, Sadiq School, Somerset, member of the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council -
Mahmood Alam, MD, founding President of the American Muslims for Democracy -
Sophia Chadda, former candidate for Bernards Twp. Committee 
Faria Abedin, Muslim Advocates
Freeholder Tayfun Selen, Morris County
Freshta Taeb, veteran activist with ties to Wafa House
Ibrahim Small, City of East Orange
Imam Sohaib N. Sultan, chaplain at Princeton University 
Rajeh A. Saadeh, ESQ., Past President, New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association (NJMLA)
Salma T. Chand, ESQ., Department of Education
Sam Khan, President, American Muslim Council
Wasseem Boraie, ARJ Civic Leadership
26. Ahmed Shehata, Linden Board of Education
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Greetings! This list is at the least GROSSLY INCOMPLETE & R______! Where are the African American women representation? Let me introduce you to Wafiyyah Muhammad. She is an educator, advocate and philanthropist. She successfully spearheaded the effort to close THE LARGEST SCHOOL DISTRICT IN NEW JERSEY-Newark Public Schools for EID, the Islamic holiday. Wafiyyah recently retired after teaching Special Needs children for 33 years in Newark, NJ.
New Jersey Autism Awareness Ambassador responsible for spreading autism awareness in the USA and abroad. She was the 1st person to advocate & petition the city of Newark to declare April as Autism Awareness Month in the city of Newark over a decade ago. She hold almost a dozen proclamations.
Co-founder of Masjid Ibrahim Islamic Teaching & Dev. Center , Newark NJ. (Year 2007).
CEO of Building Great Minds, Llc, Independent contractor for NJ Early Intervention System (2007 to present)
Several times a year she participates in relief efforts for refugees, the homeless, catastrophic victims of natural disasters both home & abroad. Hopefully, the updated list will include her or any one of hundreds of African-American women of impact.