conversion to Islam in U.S. prisons

The contemporary rate of conversion to Islam is high in American prisons, for which there are a number of factors. It is the fastest growing religion in U.S. prisons, where the population is 18 percent Muslim (compared to 1 percent for the general population); 80 percent of all prison religious conversions are to Islam.{{cite news | last=Bershidsky | first=Leonid | title=How to Produce Fewer Terrorists in Prison | website=Bloomberg.com | date=2017-03-27 | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-03-27/how-to-produce-fewer-terrorists-in-prison | access-date=2018-02-04}}

History

= Early =

Black Nationalist Muslim organizations, such as The Nation of Islam and Moorish Science Temple of America, formally began prison outreach efforts in 1942.{{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}} However evidence suggests that Muslims may have comprised a small fraction of the inmate population in the United States as early as the 1910s.{{cite journal |last1=Bowen|first1=Patrick |date=Spring 2013 |title='The Colored Genius': Lucius Lehman and the Californian Roots of Modern African-American Islam |url=https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/hdsjournal/book/%E2%80%98-colored-genius%E2%80%99 |journal=The Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School |access-date=2020-08-05}} New research brought to light an African immigrant inmate at San Quentin State Prison named Lucius Lehman, who was proclaiming himself to be a Muslim religious leader while calling for Black nationalism during his incarceration from 1910–1924. Although there is no documentation that Lehman himself converted to Islam or converted others in prison, it appears that he achieved some level of influence among the prison's Black population during his incarceration. Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad himself was incarcerated in the early 1940s when he was convicted of draft evasion.{{cite book |last=Curtis |first=Edward |date=2009 |title=Black Muslim Religion in the Nation of Islam, 1960–1975 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VdcQNcJZoSgC&pg=PA2 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |page=2 |isbn=9780807877449}} Elijah Muhammad's organization would later gain its most famous convert, Malcolm X, who took interest in the Black Muslim movement while also incarcerated in the 1950s. A small but steady stream of conversions occurred in the 1950s and early 1960s. In New York, evidence of Sunni Muslims worshiping openly in the state's correctional facilities appeared in the 1960s.{{cite web|last1= CTR Vantage|date=November 20, 2009 |title=The Darul Islam Movement in the United States |url=https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2009/11/20/the-darul-islam-movement-in-the-united-states/ |website=Foundation for Defense of Democracies |access-date=2020-12-25}} These inmates reached out to a local New York Muslim community called Darul Islam for assistance, which eventually led to an active Muslim-based prison ministry and educational program forming in the state. Muslim prison outreach efforts during this era sought to instill values of honesty, hard work, individual responsibility, and mechanisms for dealing with rehabilitation as well as coping with drug and alcohol abuse.

= Modern =

The immigrant Muslim population of the United States increased dramatically after the 1960s due the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which abolished previous immigration quotas.{{cite web |title=Muslim Immigration After 1965 |url=https://religionsmn.carleton.edu/exhibits/show/history-muslims/immigration-after-1965 |access-date=March 12, 2021 |publisher=Carleton College}} This closely coincided with the transformation of the Nation of Islam into mainstream Sunni Islam ideology under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad's successor and son Warith Deen Mohammed.{{cite book |last=Barboza |first=Steven |title=American Jihad: Islam After Malcolm X |publisher=Image Books |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-385-47694-2 |location=New York |pages=95–96}} Immigrant Muslims began getting involved in the work of Muslim prison ministry and rehabilitation, established by their African American Muslims brethren decades before, during the second half of the 20th century in nearly every major American city.{{cite book |last=Hasan |first=Asma Gull |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncTEcoynNr0C |title=American Muslims: The New Generation Second Edition |date=2002 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9780826414168 |pages=75–78}} Many mosques across the country have some sort of active prison ministry for currently or formerly incarcerated Muslims, with a strong presence from predominantly African American mosques.{{cite book |last1=Mamiya |first1=Lawrence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1w5DQAAQBAJ |title=The Encyclopedia of Prisons and Correctional Facilities |date=2005 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=9780761927310 |editor-last=Bosworth |editor-first=Mary |pages=488 |chapter=Islam in Prison}} Some activities include regular prison visits, prison chaplaincy services, counseling to ex-offenders, participation in transitional or halfway homes and substance abuse programs. The vast majority of Muslims in prisons have identified with Sunni Islam or global Islam{{cite book |last1=Van Baalen |first1=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5y_cBAAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Handbook of American Islam |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199862641 |editor-last1=Haddad |editor-first1=Yvonne Y. |pages=289 |chapter=Islam in American Prisons |editor-last2=Smith |editor-first2=Jane}} through the work of these newer prison ministries by the year 2000. Presently, several Muslim-based organizations such as Link Outside{{cite web |title=Link Outside |url=https://www.linkoutside.com/ |website=www.linkoutside.com}} and Tayba Foundation{{Cite web |title=Tayba Foundation |url=https://www.taybafoundation.org/ |website=Tayba Foundation}} have emerged that specifically focus on providing both in-prison and reentry services.{{cite news |last=Bay Area News Group |first= |date=2012-06-07 |title=Prisoner found Islam — and then freedom |url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2012/06/07/prisoner-found-islam-and-then-freedom/ |access-date=2021-03-30 |work=East Bay Times}}{{cite news |last=Khan |first=Aysha |date=2019-11-27 |title=Film follows 'honest struggle' of formerly incarcerated Muslims reentering society |url=https://religionnews.com/2019/11/27/film-follows-honest-struggle-of-formerly-incarcerated-muslims-re-entering-society/ |access-date=2021-03-30 |work=Religion News Service}} Some studies have indicated the rate of recidivism among Muslims is actually lower than any other group.

{{Quote box

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| quote = "Guys are able to utilize the Islamic teachings to deal with some of their personal issues at a higher level, such as post-traumatic stress...emotions or with some of the traumas they have from their childhood."

| source = -Muslim prison instructor and program coordinator with Link Outside{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/orangecounty/tn-dpt-me-me-mosque-prison-lancaster-orange-county-20190415-story.html|title=Inspired in part by the teachings of Malcolm X, Orange County Muslims travel to distant prisons to minister to inmates|last=YOSHIKO KANDIL|first=CAITLIN|work=Los Angeles Times|date=2019-04-15|access-date=2021-03-30}}

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Prisoner rights

The Hands-off Doctrine, the approach where federal courts refrained from interfering on inmate rights cases for many decades,{{Cite journal|last=Barry|first=Fox M.|date=1972|title=First Amendment Rights of Prisoners|url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5783&context=jclc|journal=Criminal Law Criminology and Police Science|volume=63|issue=2|pages=162–184|doi=10.2307/1142297|jstor=1142297}} was a practice that dated back to the early 20th century and was still practiced by 1960. Despite the growth of conversions to Islam within prisons, states such as California, New York and Texas{{cite book |last=Chase|first=Robert|date=2019 |title=We Are Not Slaves: State Violence, Coerced Labor, and Prisoners' Rights in Postwar America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zNa_DwAAQBAJ |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |page=191 |isbn=9781469653587}} still had not yet recognized or accommodated the religious activity of Muslim inmates by the start of the 1960s. As the number of incarcerated Muslims began to reach a critical mass, prisoners petitioned courts to advance their religious rights. The Hands-off Doctrine began to diminish during the 1960s as courts started to look into specific violations regarding prisoners.{{Cite journal|last=Giles|first=Cheryl Dunn|date=1993|title=Turner v. Safely and its Progeny: A Gradual Retreat to the Hands- Off Doctrine|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/arz35&div=20&g_sent=1&casa_token=&collection=journals|journal=Arizona Law Review|volume=35|pages=219–236}} Cases involving Muslim prisoners began succeeding in gaining recognition for a variety of rights over the next several years, such as freedom from punishment due to religion, the right to hold religious services, the right to possess and wear religious medals, and the right to proselytize. New York's State Department of Correctional Services offered to hire Muslim chaplains as department employees by 1975, with the Texas Department of Corrections hiring its first Muslim chaplain two years later.{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/07/17/892393065/coronavirus-victims-1st-muslim-prison-chaplain-in-texas-akbar-nurid-din-shabazz|title=Coronavirus Victims: 1st Muslim Prison Chaplain In Texas, Akbar Nurid-Din Shabazz |last=Chang |first=Ailsa |author-link=Ailsa Chang |work=NPR|date=2020-07-17|access-date=2021-07-28}} Muslims later won the legal right to obtain religious (halal) diets in prison, with federal prisons attempting to accommodate halal diets beginning in 1983.{{cite book |last1=Van Baalen|first1=Susan|editor-last1=Haddad |editor-first1=Yvonne Y.|editor-last2=Smith |editor-first2=Jane |title=The Oxford Handbook of American Islam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5y_cBAAAQBAJ|publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2014 |pages=295 |chapter=Islam in American Prisons |isbn=9780199862641}} Some argue that Islam's growth in prisons was made possible through these court cases.{{cite book |last1=Mamiya|first1=Lawrence|editor-last=Bosworth|editor-first=Mary|title=The Encyclopedia of Prisons and Correctional Facilities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1w5DQAAQBAJ|publisher=SAGE Publications |date=2005|pages=487|chapter=Islam in Prison|isbn=9780761927310}} These legal victories not only solidified Islam as a legitimate religion among corrections staff and prisoners, but also placed Muslim groups at the center of the prisoners' rights movement for obtaining constitutional rights on behalf of the incarcerated.

Rate of conversion to Islam

Professor Lawrence Mamiya of Religion and Africana Studies argues that Islam's appeal in prison is partially due to the spiritual and theological dimensions of the religion (such as brotherhood along with racial and social justice) as well as the social aspect (such as protection and communal life) it provides the inmate. J. Michael Waller, senior analyst for Strategy at the far-right Center for Security Policy, claims that 80% of the prisoners who find faith while in prison convert to Islam.[https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/waller_testimony_10_14_03.pdf United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary , Testimony of Dr. J. Michael Waller] October 14, 2003 He also claims that Muslim inmates comprise 17–20% of the prison population in New York, or roughly 350,000 inmates in 2003. Independent studies show similar rates within prisons in the upper Midwest (in urban areas such as Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland) and on the West Coast (in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles). These converted inmates are mostly African American, with a growing Hispanic minority.[https://ssrn.com/abstract=1652121 SpearIt, Raza Islamica: Prisons, Hip Hop & Converting Converts] August 3, 2010 (revised February 27, 2013). According to a 2003 estimate by FBI, there are 350,000 Muslims in federal, state and local prison, about 30,000 – 40,000 more being converted every year.{{cite book|title=The Ethics of Terrorism: Innovative Approaches from an International Perspective (17 Lectures).|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w5SlnZilfMMC&q=conversions+to+islam&pg=PA38|author=Thomas Albert Gilly, Yakov Gilinskiy, Vladimir Sergevnin|publisher=Charles C Thomas Publisher|year=2009|isbn = 9780398079956}}

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Muslims prisoners have been characterized as a danger or threat for radicalization in the media. Yet, in contrast to reports of such in the United Kingdom,{{cite web |last1=MacInytre |first1=Donal |title=radical Muslim gangs taking control in British prisons |url=https://www.bbc.com/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/03_march/13/donal.shtml |website=bbc.com |publisher=BBC |access-date=4 March 2025}}{{cite web |last1=Sandford |first1=Daniel |title=Prison terrorism: Warnings over failure to stop radicalisation |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61234614 |website=bbc.com |publisher=BBC |access-date=4 March 2025}} despite the fact of there being over 350,000 Muslim inmates in the United States, little evidence indicates widespread radicalization or foreign recruitment. Rather, research has shown that Islam has a long history of positive influence on prisoners, including supporting inmate rehabilitation for decades. An early example of this type of characterizations from the media is an article in The New York Times that alleged Imam Warith Deen Umar, Islamic chaplain for the New York State prison system, was reported to have praised the September 11 attacks; prompting members of Congress to call for an investigation.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/nyregion/24convert.html?ref=us|title=Imams Reject Talk That Islam Radicalizes Inmates|last=Wakin|first=Daniel J.|work=The New York Times|date=2009-05-24|access-date=2009-06-05}} The article states that in a 2004 report, the Justice Department faulted the prison system for failing to protect against "infiltration by religious extremists." However, the report made clear that the problem was not chaplains, but rather unsupervised inmates. In January 2010, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Senator John Kerry, released a report that stated as many as three dozen formerly incarcerated individuals who converted to Islam in American prisons have moved to Yemen where they could pose a "significant threat".{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/muslim-american-convicts-yemen-pose-threat/story?id=9602228|title=Report: American Ex-convicts In Yemen Pose 'Significant Threat'|last=Esposito|first=Richard|work=ABC News|date=2010-01-19|access-date=2020-07-08}}{{cite book|title=Roots of violent radicalisation: nineteenth report of session 2010–12, Vol. 1: Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence, Volume 1|author=Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee|publisher=The Stationery Office|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiCRRtnmb10C&pg=RA1-PA127|isbn=9780215041647}} However no documentation or verifiable evidence was provided to back up the committee's report (even though the report stated the individuals traveled to apparently learn Arabic)—rather it was simply accepted and invoked as evidence. Another example of such characterization comes from Annenberg Professor of International Communication J. Michael Waller, who asserted that outside Islamist groups linked to terrorism are attempting to radicalize Muslim converts in prison, but other experts suggest that when radicalization does occur, it has little to no connection with these outside interests.{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress06/vanduyn092006.htm |title=Statement of Van Duyn, Deputy Assistant Director, Counterterrorism Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, before the House Homeland Security Committee Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment |date=2006-09-20 |access-date=2009-06-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512130102/http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress06/vanduyn092006.htm |archive-date=May 12, 2009 }}{{cite web|url=http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=960&wit_id=2717 |title=Testimony of Mr. Paul Rogers, President of the American Correctional Chaplains Association |date=2003-10-12 |publisher=United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary |access-date=2009-06-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828205813/http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=960&wit_id=2717 |archive-date=August 28, 2008 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/0404/final.pdf|title=Special Report: A Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Selection of Muslim Religious Services Providers – Full Report|date=April 2004|publisher=US Department of Justice|access-date=2009-06-05}}

==Notable converts to Islam in prison==

Muhammad Ahmad – civil rights activist, cofounder of the Revolutionary Action Movement
Jamil Al-Amin – former SNCC leader
Charles Brooks, Jr. – convicted murderer executed in 1982
Tray Deee – rapper
Dave East – rapper{{Cite web |last=Sorel |first=Vayda |title=13 rappers who are Muslim: Kevin Gates, Lil Durk & more |url=https://www.revolt.tv/article/2023-12-20/345012/13-rappers-who-are-muslim |access-date=2024-11-15 |website=REVOLT}}
Jeff Fort – former Chicago gang leader
Kevin Gates – rapper
Terry Holdbrooks – former GTMO guard, converted and became an author and public speaker
Bernard Hopkins – former middleweight and light heavyweight boxing champion
Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell – basketball player
Abdul Alim Musa – Muslim-American activist
Jalil Muntaqim – political activist, former member of Black Panther Party{{Cite web |title=Millennials Are Killing Capitalism: "We Charge Genocide, Again" - Jalil Muntaqim on The Spirit of Mandela Tribunal, Political Prisoners, and a Life in Struggle |url=https://millennialsarekillingcapitalism.libsyn.com/we-charge-genocide-again-jalil-muntaqim-on-the-spirit-of-mandela-tribunal-political-prisoners-and-a-life-in-struggle |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=millennialsarekillingcapitalism.libsyn.com |language=en}}
Montel Vontavious Porter – professional wrestler signed to the WWE
Sanyika Shakur – author, activist, former gang member
Mike Tyson – professional boxer{{Cite web |last=SpearIt |date=2013-05-07 |title=Growing Faith: Prisons, Hip-Hop and Islam |url=https://ispu.org/growing-faith-prisons-hip-hop-and-islam/ |access-date=2024-11-15 |website=ISPU |language=en-US}}
Marcellus "Khalifah" Williams – controversially executed in 2024 for murder
Malcolm X – revolutionary and human rights activist
Flesh-n-Bone – rapper, member of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
B.G. Knocc Out – rapper{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M58YDbpznN8 | title=BG Knocc Out on Becoming Muslim After Christianity "Wasn't Doing It for Him" (Part 3) | website=YouTube }}

References

External links

[https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2017/10/24/this-is-life-lisa-ling-american-muslims-clip-1.cnn Why American prisoners convert to Islam], This is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN
{{cite web | title="Homegrown: Islam In Prison" Explores the Rise and Influence of the Muslim Faith in the U.S. Penal System | website=WETA | date=2007-11-26 | url=https://weta.org/press/%E2%80%9Chomegrown-islam-prison%E2%80%9D-explores-rise-and-influence-muslim-faith-us-penal-system | access-date=2018-02-04}}
{{cite web | title=Growing Faith: Prisons, Hip-Hop And Islam | website=HuffPost | date=2013-03-07 | url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/spearit/growing-faith-prisons-hip-hop-and-islam_b_2829013.html | access-date=2018-02-04}}
[https://www.linkoutside.com/ Link Outside] Muslim-based prison outreach organization
[https://www.taybafoundation.org/ Tayba Foundation] Muslim-based prison outreach organization

Category:Conversion to Islam

Category:Penal system in the United States

Category:Islam in the United States

Category:Prison religion

Category:History of religion in the United States