Albanian Associated Fund (Albanian Mosque of Paterson)

The Albanian Associated Fund, also known as the Albanian Mosque of Paterson, is an Albanian-Muslim religious entity incorporated to establish and maintain a mosque in Paterson, New Jersey. Federal court records describe it as a corporate religious organization serving a community of Muslims of Albanian ancestry, and the U.S. Department of Justice has identified it in those same terms in filings related to its land-use litigation.

The congregation numbers roughly 200 member families. It operates its mosque in Paterson and draws worshippers from Paterson, Wayne, and surrounding communities in northern New Jersey, where the Albanian-Muslim population has grown over recent decades. A business directory entry lists Albanian Associated Fund – Sherbime Funerale at 56 River St, Paterson, NJ 07502, reachable at 973-523-9203, indicating that funeral services are associated with the same name and city.

The organization is best known publicly as the plaintiff in Albanian Associated Fund v. Township of Wayne, a federal case in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. After the Fund purchased property in Wayne to build a mosque complex of two buildings, the Township moved to take the land by eminent domain. The Fund sued under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and the Constitution, arguing discrimination against a religious assembly under RLUIPA §2(b)(2).

A federal judge blocked Wayne's attempted seizure and protected the congregation's right to build. The Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest supporting the RLUIPA claim, and the Becket Fund represented the congregation. That litigation remains the most substantial public record of the organization's role in the Albanian-American community of northern New Jersey.