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British Muslim Prisoners Decry "Second Class" Status
LONDON, June 25 (IslamOnline) - Muslim inmates in London's jails are complaining that they receive second-class treatment compared to Christians, a report on the BBC online service said Monday.
The report, which ran with a picture of Muslims performing prayer, said that the number of Muslim prisoners in the city's main jails has risen by more than 20% in the past two years.
The prison service has been accused of failing to respond to the rise by not catering to Muslim inmates' needs. Anjum Choudary, from the Society of Muslim Lawyers, said their "fundamental right to worship" was being violated, the BBC said.
When receiving religious instruction Muslims should have facilities for washing, meat must be prepared in the Halal manner and prayers are to take place five times a day.
Hussain, who spent a month inside Brixton Prison, said his devotions were not respected by the regime, the BBC said.
"When the time came for me to take a shower before my general prayer, I wasn't allowed to… Brixton is a classic example of discrimination against Muslims and we're running a campaign against it," he said.
Like many jails, the Christian chapel at Brixton has been converted into a multi-faith area, but the society says this is unacceptable as a prayer area for Muslims because there are Christian icons.
Brixton Governor, Stephen Twinn, has met the Prison Service Muslim Adviser, Maqsood Ahmed, the Imam and representatives of the Muslim prisoner population to discuss the complaints.
"From these meetings the times of Friday prayers have been agreed and the Prison Service is content with the facilities available for prisoners to practice their religion," said Mr Twinn.
He and his management team were in "regular dialogue" with Muslim prisoners and "actively pursued" any legitimate complaints that were made. The Prison Service is currently undertaking a program of work to ensure that the interests of religious minorities are recognized and protected.
The service said there were several locations where facilities were not satisfactory but it was considering how best to ensure that all faiths had a suitable place of worship.
There are currently almost 4,500 Muslim prisoners in jails in England and Wales.
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