Excerpt:
Legal discovery continues in a lawsuit filed earlier this year by prominent Newark Muslim leader Mustafa El-Amin against the Newark Board of Education and former Newark Central High Principal and current Newark Mayor Ras Baraka among other defendants. The five count lawsuit, filed by Ryan Linder, Esq., alleges that El-Amin was denied a previously granted religious accommodation and wrongfully terminated because of his religious beliefs.
El-Amin, a New Jersey native with a master's degree in public administration from Rutgers University, had been an employee of the Newark Board of Education since 1983, serving most recently as a tenured special education teacher. Outside of his employment, El-Amin is the Imam of Masjid Ibrahim, one of New Jersey's largest mosques and is regarded as a leader of New Jersey's Muslim community.
According to the lawsuit, prior to transferring to Newark Central High, El-Amin requested and was granted a religious accommodation that allowed him to attend Al Jumu'ah, a weekly Muslim religious service, every Friday afternoon. Aside from enabling him to observe his faith, as a cancer survivor, El-Amin also found the weekly services to be therapeutic.