Meet Our Jersey Muslim of the Month: Imam John Starling

By: Amatullah Shaw

Imam John Starling

Imam John Starling comes to us by way of Wilmington, North Carolina where he had an active childhood growing up on the water surfing, wakeboarding, fishing, and swimming competitively. 

He found Islam at the age of 19 while attending North Carolina State University (NCSU), in Raleigh. After graduating from their College of Management, he traveled to Madinah, KSA, where he studied at the Islamic University of Madinah for eight years. Once his time in Saudi Arabia came to an end, he was eager to serve the American community, so he took a job teaching Arabic and Islamic studies in NYC. 

After a year of living in the city, he was invited to serve a new and growing community in the much more serene town of Cherry Hill, NJ, where he’s been for the last 11 years. During that time, he’s gone back to school and earned both a Master’s Degree in Islamic Studies from the Islamic University of Minnesota and a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy from Bay Path University. He’s also been awarded numerous traditional ijazah in the areas of Islamic doctrine, Islamic law, and Seerah.

Although his official title at The Gracious Center of Learning and Enrichment Activities (GCLEA) is Imam and Executive Director, he thinks of himself as more than just that. He says, “I think of myself as the chief caretaker. With the trust and support of the community, I take care of the mosque and all who visit it.”

Over the past 11 years, alongside his dedicated team at the center, they’ve introduced numerous programs and services including adult study circles, both youth and adult book clubs, a Sunday school, a food pantry, and so much more. Imam Starling adds, “To bring the community together and strengthen the bonds of brotherhood/sisterhood, we hold regular social events and youth activities at the masjid including an annual three-week summer camp. We also take a regular whitewater rafting trip in the summers and head to the slopes for skiing, snowboarding, and tubing in the winters.”

He continues, “Any project that engages the community and helps them embrace their Muslim identity and develop their spiritual capacity is a win in my book” and names an annual health bazaar as one of his most impactful projects. The bazaar led to the foundation of the Cherry Hill Free Clinic, which is based in the masjid building, open on a full-time basis, and has provided thousands of patients with free healthcare.

GCLEA’s outreach efforts have led them to partner with a number of amazing organizations in the South Jersey region. In the past, they’ve worked with Philabundance and Cathedral Kitchen to prepare and distribute food to the needy and homeless. They’re also Muhsen certified and have also worked with Faith in Camden County to address local issues pertaining to racial justice and policing. But their work doesn’t stop there.

Additionally, they’re heavily involved in environmental efforts with the NJ Tree Foundation to plant trees in urban areas, and with the Cherry Hill Environmental Board to create one of the largest privately owned monarch waystations/pollinator gardens in the township (which are located on the masjid grounds,) and to maintain the local trail system. The masjid is even registered as a wildlife habitat with the National Wildlife Federation! 

But another initiative that Imam Starling is equally proud of is a series of sermons he’s led, entitled Life Lesson from the Prophet’s Biography, in which he started to increase his community’s awareness and love of our Prophet (peace be upon him). Imam Starling says, “I do my best to touch on some of the most fundamental and fascinating events in his life and then extract the life lessons from those stories that we can apply today.” His hope for the series is that “it will not only lead us to love Allah, but to embrace the relevancy of our faith and the great responsibility we have to contribute to our society by sharing.”

The Muslim Network focuses on five key areas of inclusion: racial, gender, disability, convert, and generational. In speaking to the latter two, Imam Starling believes that in order to better serve converts and Muslims of all generations, “community leaders [need] to be good listeners. Muslims [of all ages] and converts need to have a stake in defining the mission of the masjid. Without their input and direct involvement, which may require active and continuous recruitment, their needs are likely to go unmet.” 

As a pillar in the Cherry Hill community, Imam John Starling is setting the example of what all masjids should look like: people-centered and accessible to all. All changemakers and community leaders should embody Imam Starling’s drive to break down the barriers to entry in Islamic spaces and to make them a place for all Muslims.

You can learn more about GCLEA and Imam John Starling’s work over on their website here.