Mussab Ali

As a twenty-year-old student at Rutgers-Newark, Mussab Ali became the nation’s youngest Muslim elected official after winning a seat on the Jersey City school board in 2017.

At the time, Ali, who immigrated to Jersey City from Pakistan as a child, was a pre-med student with no political aspirations and little knowledge of municipal government. But he was so angered by Donald Trump’s bogus claim that “thousands” of Muslims in Jersey City were cheering as the Twin Towers fell, he felt driven to act. 

It evoked memories of the discrimination faced by his parents in the aftermath of 9/11, when his father was laid off from his job, and his mother, a teacher, was subjected to verbal abuse and threats because she wore a hijab.

“As a loyal son of Jersey City and a Muslim American, I felt I had to stand up for my hometown and all Americans who lived there,’’ said Ali.

Although he lost his first school board race in 2016, Ali was victorious the following year and in 2021, he was elected board president.

Ali credits Rutgers-Newark with nurturing his pursuit of local office and passion for civil rights. “I was surrounded by classmates who had a desire for change. I think the campus attracts that,’’ he said. “There are a lot of students that come out with this vision and this eye toward making the world a better place. The courses I took informed the way I was thinking about politics and policy.

His education at RU-N helped him realize that the Jersey City school board needed a student’s voice. Many were not receptive. “I remember facing Islamophobia and a lot of comments about my religion,’’ said Ali. “In 2015, when I went to the board asking for Eid to be a district holiday, I heard, ‘you should move somewhere where Eid is a holiday.’’’ 

But after he was elected, Ali successfully lobbied to get Eid declared a school holiday and gained approval for halal school lunches, along with votes for dress code reforms and increased recycling efforts. He also helped balance a budget deficit of over $70 million. 

His fellow officials, and the public, quickly began to view him as an effective leader.  “I was probably the most prepared person in the room in terms of doing the research and showed that I was someone who was willing to work with people. At the end of the day, I was able to get things done,’’ said Ali.

While in office, he co-founded the Leadership Institute, a non-profit that aims to train the next generation of urban-based youth leaders and increase civic engagement. His co-founder is youth activist Abeera Saeed.

After graduating with a degree from the School of Arts and Sciences-Newark in 2019, Ali was accepted into Harvard Law School and has since stepped down from the school board to continue his studies at Harvard, where he was co-president of the law school’s student body and served on the board of governors for the American Bar Association. After graduating in May of this year, he plans to provide legal aid for tenants in Jersey City.

In 2022, he was awarded a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship which honors immigrants and children of immigrants by recognizing those who are poised to make significant contribution to U.S. society, culture, or their academic field.

 Ali said the support is a meaningful validation of his work. “The thing about the Soros award is it’s about this idea that immigrants can come here and chase their version of the American dream,’’ said Ali. “One of the things I’ve realized is how lucky I am to be an American and how American my story really is.’’