Muslim Group Sues Town Of Sayreville For Rejecting 25,363-Square-Foot Mosque

SAYREVILLE, NJ — The town of Sayreville is being sued by a Muslim religious group after the Sayreville Planning Board rejected a proposal to build a mosque and Islamic community center on Ernston Road.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court Nov. 21 and it is called Masjid Sadar, Inc. and Shameer Properties, LLC vs. the borough of Sayerville, according to court filings.

There is a small existing mosque currently located at 216 Ernston Road in Sayreville, in a small, two-story brown clapboard house. An Islamic group called Masjid Sadar wants to tear down that existing building and rebuild a much larger mosque there, plus an attached Muslim community center. The proposed mosque would take up three lots: 212, 214 and 216 Ernston Road.

The owner of those lots is a man named Mohamed Shameer Sadar, under his company Shameer Properties LLC, based in Newark. The mosque would rent the land from him.

The original proposed mosque was going to be 42,687 square feet, but the Planning Board made the religious group reduce its size to 25,363 square feet. Still, the Planning Board rejected their proposal earlier this fall.

Masjid Sadar, Inc. and Shameer Properties sued, arguing they were discriminated against and also that their right to freedom of religion was being violated.

The Islamic group said they were subject to "unusual" and "burdensome, discriminatory and unreasonable" questioning from the town Planning Board about the mosque, including how much traffic the mosque would attract. The mosque said they had to show the town how they would control traffic during Friday prayer services and even explain carpet designs to the Planning Board, NJ.com reported.

The legal battle between the town of Sayreville and Sadar/Shameer Properties is not new: In 2022, the town of Sayreville sued Shameer Properties, alleging they failed to obtain various construction permits and a compliance certificate from the borough before they started work renovating the existing small mosque.

That year, the town also issued an emergency stop-work order on the mosque.

Residents in Sayreville and Old Bridge have been voicing concerns against the mosque for the past several years, including that it is too big, will be built in a residential area and will bring in too much traffic.

Prior: Large Mosque, Muslim Community Center Proposed On Ernston Road In Sayreville (April 2025)