So on the one hand, there are Muslims
that are vulnerable. On the other hand, there is a large number
– an increasing number – of inmates converting to Islam. I
feel that the prison service wants to put a stop to that and
one way of doing that is having Muslim-only prisons. In such
a prison, Muslim prisoners would be isolated thus more easily
abused in secret. With everyone mixed together…yes there will
be attacks, there will be some hostility, but I feel that
it is better than isolating the Muslims. Also, how would non-Muslim
inmates get to learn about Islam? I think that the alternatives
that they are proposing are not really proper alternatives.
More needs to be done about what the media
gets away with. Prisoners, like the rest of the population,
are indoctrinated by the media, yet prisoners are still converting
to Islam. One brother said that he was in Belmarsh for nine
months and there were five conversions every month.
Al-Istiqamah: Would
you concur that the media seeks to attribute the conversions
to “charismatic militants” radicalising inmates?
Abu Abdullah: Definitely.
The fact that the media does this is proof of how many conversions
there are. The situation inside prison is very different from
the outside world. When inmates see that someone has converted,
they immediately see the change that comes over their character.
The person stops lying, or blasting their music in the middle
of the night, they stop bullying people, they start giving
their fellow inmates free food.. When the inmates see these
changes and compare it to what they read on the news, many
do realize that something’s going on. With the public, they
don’t always see things with the same perspective as prisoners,
so they can be easily misled. They start worrying that the
prisons are turning into Muslim hubs instead of realizing
that these inmates are changing for the better.
The media needs to be taken to account by
Muslims. The more we let the media get away with portraying
Islam and the Muslims in a negative light, the more they will
cross the boundaries. You would think that the UK is Baghdad
with bombs dropping constantly from the way they portray things!
How many Muslims have actually carried out attacks here? I
do believe it’s a political drive. This is what the government
wants.
Al-Istiqamah: The
IRA, they did carry out a bombing campaign in the UK, yet
they were given special wings when the abuse got to a high
level, weren’t they?
Abu Abdullah: Yes
but that is because they were regarded as “political prisoners”
and Muslim prisoners are not given that title. Muslims are
refused that title because then it gives them a cause. The
IRA suffered a lot in the UK prisons, far more than the Muslims
have suffered. They were members of an organisation. You have
Muslims who are not members of an organisation, but they are
members of a religion. Anyone can become a member of that
religion, regardless of their skin colour.
Al-Istiqamah: Do
you think that the Terrorism Laws are geared towards arresting
Muslims?
Abu Abdullah: Definitely. A Muslim
could have a chemistry book and be arrested for being supposedly
being a bomb-maker. His non-Muslim neighbour could have the
same book, yet would not be prosecuted.
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