“I viewed it as critically important, as a Muslim, to be standing up for every community that is under attack and whose rights are being taken away from them,” states attorney Adeel A. Mangi who, along with his litigation partner Muhammad Faridi, have worked on various legal disputes involving the denial of mosques. In March 2016, they represented the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge in a federal religious discrimination lawsuit against Bernards Township in New Jersey, accusing the township of caving to anti-Muslim animus in the community and discriminating against the society in denying its years-long bid to build a mosque. Last year, a settlement was reached for $3.25 million.
“We’re not just standing up for our own community, but these are cases that are so fundamental,” says Mr. Mangi. “They go to our national identity, they go to our national character, and they go to the protection of our most cherished and fundamental constitutional values.”
Mr. Mangi, who hails from Pakistan and went to Harvard law, says that he donated half-a million dollars in attorney’s fees from the winnings of the Basking Ridge case to create the David F. Dobbins Memorial Scholarship Fund for Muslim-American law students, named after a former partner who died in 2017. Two competitive scholarships each worth $10,000 will be awarded yearly. The fund will be administered by the Islamic Scholarship Fund, an organization that works to increase American Muslim presence in public policy, social justice and media related professions, per NBC News.
