In 1982 a handy book titled Islamic Correspondence Course was published by IIFSO. It contained brief introductory material prepared by Muslim Students Association of America & Canada (MSA). These lessons were successfully used during ’70s and ’80s under corrective programme in jails. It was noticed that the effort succeeded in transforming many rogues into well-behaved and cultured citizens. This ultimately opened the doors of freedom on many convicts as their terms were commuted on the ground of ‘good behaviour’. Some of them came out as practising Muslims. Nobody raised eye brows on their conversion to Islam. (This book was translated into many languages. I was fortunate to translate it into Hindi and Urdu under the title Islam ka Aasan Course and was published by HP India)
I remember Dr. Ahmadullah Siddiqui, an American national of Indian origin, having affirmed the information and said religious conversion is common in the American society and nobody bothers about it. Peoples are open-minded and fully respect the freedom of faith without any bias. Rao Irfan Ahmad Khan, another American of Indian origin, was more enthused in explaining the phenomenon. He expressed his firm belief that next Islamic surge may originate from the States. Only little effort is needed to reach out to the minds and souls.
This was during 1970-80s and true for European countries, too. In the last few decades the perception has radically changed. Minarets of Mosques, call for Salat, women wearing headscarf, men sporting beard and caps and offering Salat at public places have since become suspicious objects of fear and fraught. So is the impact that many governments have banned hijab to win popularity. Liberalism of European societies has evaporated in the heat of ‘war against terrorism.’
I toured Europe in 1997 and at some occasions also offered prayers in parks, motels and on airports. Nobody felt uncomfortable and no security man was alarmed seeing a bearded man clad in Shervani. Recently a clean-shaven and well-dressed dignitary from India, Mr. Navaid Hamid, had to face embarrassment at Frankfurt Airport. His offering Salat was enough reason for security staff to suspect him and search his person and luggage thoroughly, though he was on his way to the States on official invitation.
Some three decades ago corrective programme of Muslims and its impact on convicts made the American officials relieved and relaxed. Now in 2010 transformation of scoundrel jail inmates under the influence of Islamic teachings is making officials and media jittery in the U.K. A recent report on conversions of jail mates in Britain speaks aloud of ‘anxiety’ in officials and disquiet in western populace against the spread of faith. The report titled, “Muslim Prisoners’ Experiences” is authored by the Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales Dame Ann Owers. It was published on June 10, 2010 and reported in media next day with misleading headlines.
The report, based on the data study of 85 jails in Britain and Wales, says: “The Muslim population in British jails has gone up from 5% in 1994 to 12% today.” Almost two and a half time increase made Owers so apprehensive that she herself visited jails and made in-depth interviews of 165 Muslims in eight jails. Though she noticed welcome behavioural change in converted convicts yet she attributed the conversions to some ‘perks’ and ‘Muslim Gangs’ active in jails.
Her cause of anxiety stemmed from ‘YouGov poll’ survey, which has reportedly ‘found’ that ‘Islam is linked to violent extremism in the minds of most Britons.’ It also underlines ‘widespread concern about the impact of the faith on British values.’
In the poll it is found that “nearly 60 per cent of people in Britain associate Islam with radical views, and two-thirds believe it encourages the repression of women. Behind Muhammad (SAW), the founder of Islam, the person Britons thought best represented Islam was Osama bin Laden.” The huge sway in public opinion against Islam, especially after 9/11, is handiwork of relentless anti-Islam blitzkrieg of media, mostly controlled by Zionists and unethical military campaigns against Muslims under neo-colonist ambitions of America, Israel and their allies in the disguise of ‘war against terror.’
Owers reported (without citing formidable evidence) that ‘inmates in British prisons are converting to Islam because of the ‘perks’ they can receive from ‘Muslim gangs’. She says: “Up to a third of Muslim prisoners adopted the religion while serving their sentence, in order to win benefits and gain the protection of widespread ‘Muslim gangs’ inside jails.” The report further says: “They will receive ‘material benefits’ such as more time out of their cell on Fridays for prayer and better food during the fasting month of Ramadan.”
However another officer of jail administration, Mr. Tom Robson, reported: “Inmates converted after learning about Islam from other inmates or their family members.” Mr. Robson, the Vice-chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association quoted one neo-Muslim inmate saying: “After conversion, I’ve got loads of close brothers here. They share with you; we look out for each other.” This statement negates the allegation of coercion and ‘gang force’. Instead acknowledges conversions at will. So far as benefits of Islamic brotherhood are concerned, they are bound to follow. It is ridiculous to term the bond of Islamic brotherhood as ‘gang force.’
However Ms Owers has a meaning full word of caution. She says: “Prison officers need to focus on individual prisoners instead of treating them all alike.” She further said: “Without that there is a real risk of a self-fulfilling prophecy: that the prison experience will create or entrench alienation and disaffection, so that prisons release into the community young men who are more likely to offend, or even embrace extremism.”
In March 2010, officers at Britain’s high-security Long Lartin Jail received reports of “Muslim inmates forcing younger inmates to convert to Islam.” However it is not clear if any inmate has complained to authorities of coercion. The report says: “While a Muslim ‘gang’ has begun to enforce Sharia law in the prison, a similar ‘gang culture’ is brewing at other high-security prisons in the UK.” Consider what Sharia laws can be enforced in jails? Nothing more is practical than inducing inmates for prayers at time, observing fast in Ramadan, avoiding prohibited articles like pork and wine, etc. and behave decently with others. And this makes jail administrations alarmed!
Enumerating benefits of conversions, the report says: “All prisons offer a halal menu, which some inmates see as better than the usual choices. Muslims are excused from work and education while attending Friday prayers. Some converts, who are known as “convenience Muslims”, admitted that they had changed faith because they got more time out of the cells to go to Friday prayers. One inmate is quoted as saying: “Food good too, initially this is what converted me.” How it could be consumed that change of faith for good life and some other benefits can be affected by some ‘gang.’ Some inmates of course might have converted for other reasons but it may hardly be a cause for anxiety. It is acknowledged by the author that inmates converted after learning about Islam from other inmates or their family, yet she says it is “to obtain support and protection in a group with a powerful identity and for material advantages.”
The report mentions: “The number of Muslim prisoners has risen dramatically since the mid-1990s – from 2,513 in 1994, or 5 per cent of the population, to 9,795 in 2008, or 11 per cent. In some of the most secure jails, the size of the Muslim population is well above average. Two years ago, Muslim inmates accounted for a third of prisoners in Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire, and a quarter of inmates in Long Lartin in Worcestershire.”
Another interesting information from Dame Anne’s report is: “Although several high-profile ‘terrorists’ have been jailed recently, fewer than 1 in 100 Muslim inmates have been convicted of terrorism.” She says, “Prison staff are suspicious about those practising or converting to the faith and warns that treating Muslim inmates as potential or actual extremists risks radicalising them.”
The report says: “Many Muslim prisoners stressed the positive and rehabilitative role that Islam played in their lives, and the calm that religious observance could induce in a stressed prison environment.” She further recorded: “this was in marked contrast to the suspicion that religious observance, and particularly conversion or reversion, tended to produce among staff.”
On the other hand it is reported that “Muslim prisoners tended to report more negatively on their prison experience and were also more likely to fear for their own safety or complain of problems in their relations with staff. In high-security prisons, three-quarters of Muslims said they felt unsafe.” This may be one reason why Muslim inmates form a group of their own. It is natural that some more active inmates take lead role and act collectively, who have been erroneously depicted as “Muslim gangs.”
Another officer, Phil Wheatley, director-general of the National Offender Management Service, said: “Our clear policy is that all prisoners are treated with respect and decency, recognising the diverse needs of a complex prison population, and that the legitimate practice of faith in prison is supported.”
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