Essex County board honors Muslim community at Muslim Heritage Month celebration

ESSEX COUNTY — The Essex County Board of Commissioners hosted its second annual Muslim Heritage Month celebration, honoring Deborah Jean Chandler, Saba Laique and Cynthia Brown and featuring music, prayers and remarks from county leaders.

Board President Carlos Pomeras opened the program, calling the evening “our second annual Muslim heritage month celebration” and thanking attendees and the honorees. “We look forward to this event every year as it gives us an opportunity to recognize one of the many communities that contribute to our country's greatest strength — our diversity,” Pomeras said.

Commissioners introduced each honoree and read biographical highlights. Commissioner Adoree Marie Thomas presented Deborah Jean Chandler of East Orange, noting Chandler’s 33-year municipal career and long civic involvement. Pat Seibold introduced Saba Laique of Livingston, praising her interfaith work and organizing a Muslim Heritage Month proclamation in Livingston. Vice President Tashami Cooper presented Cynthia Brown, who has served in East Orange municipal government since 1974 and as city clerk since 1998.

Each honoree spoke briefly. Chandler thanked the commissioners and dedicated the recognition to service and faith; Laique said she organized a local Muslim community from scratch and called the honor a tribute to collective work; Brown thanked city colleagues and invited officials and residents to learn more about local Muslim communities. Brown also cited broad religious demographics during her remarks: “Islam is the world's second-largest religious [group] with 1,900,000,000 followers and more than 300,000 Muslims in New Jersey,” she said.

Imam Antar Matin led the opening and closing prayers in Arabic and English and used his remarks to memorialize Imam Hassan Sharif, saying the imam “was murdered on sacred grounds at our masjid in our parking lot as he was entering the masjid for prayer” on Jan. 3, 2024. Imam Matin urged anyone with information to come forward and said the community is “seeking justice.” The statement about the killing was presented as the imam’s account to the audience and was not accompanied by additional details or an onstage official response during the program.

The program also included two musical selections by vocalist Zakiyah Zaima and concluded with refreshments and a closing prayer. Organizers said the board would present certificates from Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill’s office to the honorees and noted a CAIR–New Jersey-hosted program on Jan. 26 at 570 Broad Street in Newark.

The event emphasized community recognition and interfaith outreach; no formal motions or votes were taken during the program. The program concluded with a short Quranic recitation and the greeting “Assalamu alaikum.”