Al-Istiqamah: Your treatment would depend on the mood of the individual guard?

Abu Abdullah: Yes, there were two in particular. It never went beyond verbal intimidation. I’m the kind of person who keeps themselves to themselves. I try not to argue back unless absolutely necessary. I just keep my head down. I heard of abuse to other prisoners, Muslim and non-Muslim, but this was from guards who were hostile to every prisoner. I heard a prisoner in the cell next to mine being badly beaten. I gave him my number – [laughs] my prisoner number, not my telephone number – with my details, so that I could be a witness for him if needed. He wasn’t a Muslim and it wasn’t a racial attack. Someone just didn’t like him.

Al-Istiqamah: The chief inspector of prisons, Ms Owers commented that in Belmarsh there was "insufficient staff understanding of (Muslims') interactions and needs". Would you agree with her estimation?

Abu Abdullah: The prison system as a whole is ill-prepared to handle the Muslims who are being detained. For example, food arrangements. We have to have halal meat, and there are certain conditions for halal meat but the prison staff were quite clueless about our dietary requirements. That’s not their fault; it’s the prison system as a whole that is uneducated. When they would serve the food, the same spoon would be used for the halal – or supposedly halal meat, for the pork and for the vegetarian option. Food from one section would drip over into another. Yet there was a Jewish prisoner on our block who would be given sealed kosher meals. They didn’t have such a system for halal food.

Al-Istiqamah: Could you request to be given the kosher option?

Abu Abdullah: It was very difficult. It had to be requested through the chapel. Only one brother managed it. The problem is, whenever we would try to investigate the matter of the food, they would make the excuse that it is compromising security. As a prisoner, you don’t have access to much information. Eventually though, one of the prison staff did confirm that when they would run out of halal chicken, they would use the non-halal chicken donated by Tescos’ and mix it in. In the end, all the brothers stopped eating meat and only ate fish. I don’t know if the situation has improved, but to be fair, I did hear that this Ramadhan, things were starting to improve. A friend in Belmarsh told me that they were able to obtain someone to monitor the food cooked for Ramadhan, to ensure that haram meat wasn’t used.

Al-Istiqamah: What’s the worst thing about being in prison?

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