Conversion to Islam in prisons#Australia

In some regions, a significant proportion of the growth of the Muslim population through conversion,has been attributed to prison conversions specifically, rather than conversions of persons from the general non-incarcerated population. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the country's total Muslim population exceeded over 3 million in 2016,{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/2016-uk-muslim-population-more-3m-expected-rise-more-asylum-seekers-2288027|title=In 2016, UK Muslim Population Is More Than 3M, Expected To Rise With More Asylum-Seekers|date=1 February 2016|website=Ibtimes.com|access-date=25 March 2017|archive-date=26 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326050514/http://www.ibtimes.com/2016-uk-muslim-population-more-3m-expected-rise-more-asylum-seekers-2288027|url-status=live}} though that constituted only around 4.8% of the general UK population. Nevertheless, the proportion of UK prisoners who were Muslims in 2016 was 15%.{{cite web |url=http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04334/SN04334.pdf |title=Prison Population Statistics |website=Researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk |access-date=2017-03-25 |archive-date=2017-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329021406/http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04334/SN04334.pdf |url-status=live }} Some of this can be explained by the increasing number of foreign national prisoners in UK jails. In 2013, a Ministry of Justice analysis suggested that a significant number of Muslim prisoners weren't British, but were from overseas countries that were predominately Muslim such as Pakistan and Somalia.{{Cite news |last=Shaw |first=Danny |date=11 March 2015 |title=Why the surge in Muslim prisoners? |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31794599 |access-date=22 April 2022 |archive-date=22 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422185643/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31794599 |url-status=live }} As of 2021, Albanians, who are mostly Muslims, form the largest group of foreign nationals in UK prisons.{{Cite web |date=26 July 2021 |title=Government strikes deal to remove more Albanian prisoners |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-strikes-deal-to-remove-more-albanian-prisoners |access-date=22 April 2022 |website=GOV.UK |language=en |archive-date=31 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331182453/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-strikes-deal-to-remove-more-albanian-prisoners |url-status=live }}

Of the millions of Muslims in the general UK population in 2011, only 5,000 were persons who converted to Islam that year. Yet in that same year "[a]round 30% of Muslim inmates are converts [to Islam...] and many of those are, according to previous Home Office research, from black" ethnic backgrounds. In 1999, it was found that in the United Kingdom "37% of Muslim male prisoners were black Muslims compared with 7% [Black Muslims] in the wider (British Muslim) population," with most Black Muslim inmates being converts to Islam. Meanwhile, "less than 1% of [British] Black Caribbeans are Muslims generally, in jail the figure is almost 19%."{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2010/06/islam_prison_1.html|title=Mark Easton's UK: Islam prison conversions|first=Mark|last=Easton|website=Bbc.co.uk|publisher=BBC|access-date=2019-12-20|archive-date=2019-07-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710115542/https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2010/06/islam_prison_1.html|url-status=live}} However, the majority of Muslim prisoners in UK jails are immigrants from Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, an increasing number of Muslim inmates are converts to Islam.{{Cite web |last=Kern |first=Soeren |date=2 August 2013 |title=Britain: Muslim Prison Population Up 200% |url=http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3913/uk-muslim-prison-population |access-date=23 April 2022 |website=Gatestone Institute |language=en |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526072403/https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3913/uk-muslim-prison-population |url-status=live }}

Muslims are over-represented in Australian prisons, with increasing numbers of inmates undergoing jailhouse conversions.{{cite news|title=Muslim jailhouse converts on the rise|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/community-under-siege/muslim-jailhouse-converts-on-the-rise/news-story/641a2d8372fb45383fd7de4a8a97d879|access-date=24 March 2017|newspaper=The Australian|date=19 June 2015|archive-date=28 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728154142/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fin-depth%2Fcommunity-under-siege%2Fmuslim-jailhouse-converts-on-the-rise%2Fnews-story%2F641a2d8372fb45383fd7de4a8a97d879&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&nk=e0246ad0cf3926ab993396099d20f1e0-1595950902|url-status=live}}

In 2015, within Victoria and NSW, 8 per cent and 9 per cent of the respective prison populations identify as Muslim, compared with 2.2 per cent and 3 per cent of the general populations. Prison employees, who spoke confidentially to The Weekend Australian, say they are seeing increasing numbers of white and Aboriginal prisoners converting to Islam in jail.

In April 2017, it was reported that most inmates in NSW's Supermax Prison (High Risk Management Correctional Centre) were Muslim, with only a handful of non-Muslims. Located 195 km southwest of Sydney, the prison is often referred to as "Super mosque". Of the Muslim inmates in Supermax, those serving sentences for non-terrorism related violent criminal offences (including murder, etc) are largely inmates "who converted to Islam behind bars". The Australian reported that "Islam has become an obsession for the violent inmates [...] inside Supermax".{{Cite web|url=https://www.news.com.au/news/inside-australias-supermosque-prison-where-guards-fear-radical-muslims-are-plotting-terrorist-acts/news-story/a83bbc4be2840f735ec212f2978b307d|title=Inside Australia's 'Super mosque' where radical Muslim terrorists share extremist beliefs|date=April 1, 2017|website=NewsComAu|access-date=July 13, 2021|archive-date=July 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713073828/https://www.news.com.au/news/inside-australias-supermosque-prison-where-guards-fear-radical-muslims-are-plotting-terrorist-acts/news-story/a83bbc4be2840f735ec212f2978b307d|url-status=live}} In 2017, ABC News reported that some inmates in NSW's jails were forcing other prisoners to convert to Islam against their will.{{Cite web |last=Sutton |first=Candace |date=30 June 2017 |title=Jailhouse jihad: Violent inmates forcing prison conversions to Islam |url=https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/jailhouse-jihad-violent-inmates-forcing-prison-conversions-to-islam/news-story/96abb164fea7b4a180186a09b13ec74d |access-date=23 April 2022 |archive-date=24 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724122811/https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/jailhouse-jihad-violent-inmates-forcing-prison-conversions-to-islam/news-story/96abb164fea7b4a180186a09b13ec74d |url-status=live }}

In 2018, various Australian academics and experts claimed that prison conversions can have a positive influence, giving inmates structure, hope and a path to rehabilitation.{{Cite web |last=Christopher Knaus |first=Noor Gillani |date=5 January 2018 |title='There's a lot of repenting': why Australian prisoners are converting to Islam |url=http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/06/theres-a-lot-of-repenting-why-australian-prisoners-are-converting-to-islam |access-date=23 April 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=23 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423095856/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/06/theres-a-lot-of-repenting-why-australian-prisoners-are-converting-to-islam |url-status=live }}

In France, where ethnic and religious statistics are forbidden, prison administration confirmed that 25.8% of all prisoners asked for "special measures" during Ramadan in 2017. According to estimates, based on country of origin of migrants in France, around 9% of the general population is from an Islamic background.{{Cite web|date=2019-10-26|url=https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2019/10/26/y-a-t-il-25-ou-70-de-prisonniers-musulmans-en-france_1759687/|title=Y a-t-il 25 % ou 70 % de prisonniers musulmans en France ?|first=Jacques|last=Pezet|website=Libération|access-date=2021-04-08|archive-date=2021-05-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507180659/https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2019/10/26/y-a-t-il-25-ou-70-de-prisonniers-musulmans-en-france_1759687/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2018/06/15/bill-clinton-a-declare-qu-en-france-10-de-la-population-etait-musulmane-et-nee-dans-un-autre-pays-es_1659309/|title=Bill Clinton a déclaré qu'en France 10% de la population était musulmane et née dans un autre pays. Est-ce vrai ?|first=Fabien|last=Leboucq|website=Libération|date=2018-06-15|access-date=2021-04-08|archive-date=2021-05-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512124923/https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2018/06/15/bill-clinton-a-declare-qu-en-france-10-de-la-population-etait-musulmane-et-nee-dans-un-autre-pays-es_1659309/|url-status=live}}

According to "Muslim Prisoners' Experiences" report by Chief Inspector of Prisons, Dame Anne Owers, conversion to Islam in prisons in the United Kingdom is attributed to converts seeking "support and protection in a group with a powerful identity" and "perceptions of material advantages of identifying as Muslim" in prison, including perks or "material benefits" available only to Muslims "such as more time out of their cell and better food during Ramadan if they become Muslim".{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/7808783/Prisoners-converting-to-Islam-for-perks.html|title=Prisoners converting to Islam for 'perks'|website=Telegraph.co.uk|date=8 June 2010 |access-date=2017-03-25|archive-date=2022-01-12|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/7808783/Prisoners-converting-to-Islam-for-perks.html|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Conversion to Islam in U.S. prisons}}

Conversion to Islam in US prisons started with Black supremacy organizations such as the Nation of Islam and 5 Percenters.{{cite journal |last1=Spearlt|date=2013-01-25 |title=Facts and Fictions about Islam in Prison: Assessing Prisoner Radicalization in Post-9/11 America |url=https://nicic.gov/facts-and-fictions-about-islam-prison-assessing-prisoner-radicalization-post-911-america |journal=Institute for Social Policy and Understanding |access-date=2020-07-08}} In the years between 2001 and 2014 a study estimated that a quarter of a million U.S. convicts converted to Islam in the U.S. prison system, making prison converts to Islam from those years account for a significant proportion of all Muslims in the United States overall.

In 2011, Pew Research Center data estimated that Muslims made up 9% of the 1,598,780 United States inmates in state and federal prisons despite Muslims being only 0.8% of the general U.S. population in the year prior.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11352268/What-is-going-wrong-in-Frances-prisons.html|title=What is going wrong in France's prisons?|website=www.telegraph.co.uk|date=17 January 2015 |access-date=2018-04-05|archive-date=2018-02-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224222742/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11352268/What-is-going-wrong-in-Frances-prisons.html|url-status=live}}

Muslims prisoners have been characterized as a danger or threat for radicalization in the media.{{cite journal |last1=Spearlt |date=2013-01-25 |title=Facts and Fictions about Islam in Prison: Assessing Prisoner Radicalization in Post-9/11 America |url=https://nicic.gov/facts-and-fictions-about-islam-prison-assessing-prisoner-radicalization-post-911-america |journal=Institute for Social Policy and Understanding |access-date=2020-07-08 |archive-date=2020-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710032944/https://nicic.gov/facts-and-fictions-about-islam-prison-assessing-prisoner-radicalization-post-911-america |url-status=live }} For example, Indiana State University professor Mark Hamm stated in an interview with Fox News, "it is not the sheer number of prisoners following extremist interpretations of religious doctrines that poses a threat, rather, it is the potential for the single individual to become radicalized."{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/ripe-for-radicalization-federal-prisons-breeding-ground-for-terrorists-say-experts|title=Ripe for radicalization: Federal prisons 'breeding ground' for terrorists, say experts|website=Foxnews.com|date=5 January 2016|access-date=24 March 2017|archive-date=24 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324183321/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/01/05/ripe-for-radicalization-federal-prisons-breeding-ground-for-terrorists-say-experts.html|url-status=live}} Conversely, according to the National Institute of Corrections, despite the fact of there being over 350,000 Muslim inmates in the United States, there is little evidence indicating widespread radicalization or foreign recruitment. In addition, the positive aspects of conversion are often overlooked, such as supporting inmate rehabilitation.{{Better source needed|date=October 2024}}

• Christian Identity interpretations of Christianity among some prison gangs in Western countries.
• Prison gang
• Islamist radicalization in European prisons

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Category:Conversion to Islam

Category:Prison religion