The Trials and tribulations of Muslim inmates in South African prisons - Part 2

A few weeks ago I posted a letter from a prisoner and the contents of that letter was undoubtedly thought provoking. There were many people who agreed with what was stated and of course for some it struck a nerve. Subsequently, Salaamedia ran a program hosted by Mr. Ashraf Garda . He was in conversation with Ml Namatumba from the Muslim prison board. As I did not agree with what was being stated on air, I called in to voice my opinion based on my observations and interactions with prisoners and their families over a 2 year period? I want to state on record that following my on air discussion on Salaamedia, my details were given to Ml Namatumba who stated that he will contact me and perhaps even meet at the prison to discuss the way forward. I am yet to hear from him. In today’s post I will prove to you, that the majority of Muslim inmates inside the Johannesburg prison are disappointed with the lack of dedication on the part of the Muslim prison board as stated in a letter that was sent to me a few days ago by the Muslim inmates residing at Medium B. This letter was forwarded to the jamiat at the following email address info@jamiatsa.org a few days ago and was resent again yesterday morning. I am yet to receive a response or an acknowledgement of receipt of the email. Ml. Namatuba stated on air, that Al Tawheed (they were doing a great job) withdrew their services from the Johannesburg prison as one of their members was attacked by a prisoner. This is absolute hogwash in my opinion. Why would an entire organization simply withdraw their services over one isolated incident? Did this incident even occur as no one inside the prison is able to confirm if this is what transpired? I find it strange that the prisoner or prisoners only attacked members of the Al Tawheed organization and spared the lives of the Christian Pastors. As a woman visiting the prison alone regularly I can state on record that I have not once felt intimidated in any way by any prisoner. I have chatted to convicted rapists, murderers and fraudsters face to face not separated by any burglar bars and I did not feel threatened at all. The responsibility of the Muslim Prison board is to rehabilitate Muslim inmates so that when they do come out of prison they are productive members of society. How are they doing this? What systems do they have in place? What syllabus do they have in place regarding Islam and Islamic studies? Sending an aalim for an hour once a week to meet some inmates, performing Juma prayers once a month or occasionally is NOT helping the rehabilitation process at all. I am also aware of the fact that there are individuals who are trying their best to support and assist the prisoners where they can in their own personal capacities and may Allah reward them in abundance for their noble actions but they need help. They need assistance. They cannot carry out this mammoth task alone. There isn’t a proper system or program that’s in place unlike Christian organizations like Kairos that have an excellent system in place with regards to rehabilitation. If the Muslim prison board is being run inefficiently due to a lack of funding, then the question we should be asking ourselves is this, why are we pledging millions of rand to other countries when we cannot attend to the rights of fellow Muslims and other human beings right at our doorstep? Charity begins at home first. A proper organization needs to be set up where aalims are employed and paid to carry out dawah wok inside the prisons. Social workers and lawyers need to be a part of this team as well. There are many inmates who want to study through online correspondence universities to improve themselves but they are unable to as they do not have access to the internet. Some are studying through Unisa but the lack of internet access to acquire information makes the entire study process quite a tedious task. This is where the lawyers would step in asking the court to grant the prisoners limited access to the internet for study purposes only. There are inmates convicted of crimes they have not committed and hence they too require the assistance of a lawyer to overturn their sentences. If the board is being run inefficiently due to poor leadership then the powers that be need to step in to bring about positive changes. Sitting on a board comes with responsibilities and if you are unable to do justice to the position you are in then you need to step down and make way for people who can implement changes. My colleague had quite an insightful discussion with a senior member of the Kairos organization and this is what we have established. “Kairos volunteers go into prisons in teams of 30 to 40 to pray, share the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, share meals, and fellowship with the incarcerated on a one-to-one basis. The first visit is a three-day event ( like an ijtima- prisoners reside in tents), during which time the team teaches a short introductory course on Christianity. Subsequent visits are monthly half-day reunions with the prisoners over a twelve-month period in addition to weekend programs for all Christian inmates. The inmates also have access to one on one counseling sessions. Kairos Outside provides spiritual healing to families of the incarcerated, who often feel that they too are “doing time”. Spouses, parents and other relatives of prisoners meet with the teams of Kairos volunteers to share their faith and gain strength from Christian community. Families are counseled to re accept the offender after the full term of sentencing has been served. Kairos Torch provides a ministry to youthful offenders, the most rapidly growing segment of the prison system. Once an offender is released from prison, the organization assists in finding a suitable job for the person so that they can be reintegrated into society as productive human beings putting their pasts behind them. Volunteers many of whom are students assist with baking cookies and making food which is distributed during the retreat program that usually occurs a few times during the year. Some prisoners start their own ministries, pastor churches, whilst others run re-entry programs, and become mentors.” This entire system is lacking when it comes to the Muslim Prison Board. But why is it lacking? Every year we have so many aalims graduating from the various Islamic institutes across the country. These aalims should be made to do an internship or a community service for a year inside South African prisons rehabilitating and teaching prisoners not only about Islam but how to read and write. The Muslim Prison Board can implement the exact same model as Kairos, but the question is why isn’t it being done? With regards to the letter below, the one point that totally shocked me and saddened me was the fact that last week a Muslim inmate passed away. The Muslim Prison Board was contacted to assist with the burial process. They promised to send someone. No one went. According to the prisoners at Medium B, when they called again they were told that Sheikh Nasif has bronchitis and is hospitalized and so no one can come out to assist. The body was eventually taken away by the government mortuary and then handed over to the deceased’s family. They were well aware that the prisoner was a Muslim following the Islamic faith and didn’t mind him being buried as a Muslim. The dilemma they faced was not knowing how to do a Muslim burial. Eventually they managed to get assistance and the person was buried 4 days later. To be honest I had sleepless nights thinking about this situation. It is bothering me. Why is this happening? Why are we allowing it to happen? Why aren’t these issues being addressed? In closing, I humbly request the Jamiat and the Muslim Prisons Board to respond to the grievances stipulated by the prisoners at Johannesburg prison. Upholding the rights of prisoners is a very important aspect of the Islamic faith as pointed out by the Prophet Muhammed (saw) and I hope and pray that a positive stance will come out of this post in the interest of the community at large. Remember ,these prisoners will one day be a part of society once again and if we don’t rehabilitate them properly inside prison by teaching them skills and molding them into kind, caring and productive members of society, we only have ourselves to blame if they default and commit more crimes once they are out of prison. There needs to be a support structure put into place for prisoners who are out on parole. They need to be in a stable job etc etc etc and all of this forms part of the duties of the Muslim prisons board. Everything that I have stated in this post pertains to Johannesburg correctional services also known as Sun city. What is happening in other prisons, I am not aware of and cannot comment until I conclude my investigations in other prison facilities. I will leave you with a few comments that were made in my previous post that concurs with what is mentioned in the letter below. I trust and hope that a positive outcome will be reached. 

“Im a specialisee criminal law attorney . Last ramzan there was a moulana that lectured in a mosque in a certain place in north west. He told us his the head of prison board in joburg . I asked him that we there are muslims that need desperate help in some serious criminal cases where from the case dockets they are on the face of it seen to be innocent. I can as a muslim help and not charge my fee. What i need is if a council is appointed to pay them . I think it is more important to release innocent people also. He didn’t really take me serious. Disgrace even those that are sentenced we must take care of them.”

“Well I can say to you is in the time I sat in the prison I refused to partake of any of their food as being involved in the livestock trade and on the point of halaal meat being cut I can clearly say that the cut meat supplied as halaal at the kurgersdorp prison was undoubtedly not halaal as I personally know and knew the person who had the contract in bosasas time to supply the meat there were times we cut out cattle at a certain place and yes when I say place I mean backdoor cutting because sending the cattle to the abbitours doesn't work out profitable as you loose money instead of making money and the said person was a non Muslim and he had his own workers who used to slaughter the cattle when I came to know that he had the contact and I got the facts I made it a point to slaughter the cattle whilst I was there slaughtering my own cattle but unfortunately I couldn't be there all the time to slaughter all the cattle that was going to bosasa and thus why I say the halaal issue is yes indeed a serious problem in the prisons and needs serious attention I agree with you on this point”

“Slmz. Im writing regarding the prison conditions and would rather not touch on the subject of indian myslims coz thats another topic for another day. I visit the prison every month for the past 2 and a half year coz soneone very dear to me is incarcerated there. The reason for his incarceration is not important but i can comment there is no food for iftaar or sehri provided by any islamic institution during ramadaan. The lunch time food is kept by the prisoners for iftaar and the bread n tea they receive for supper is eaten at sehri. Our muslim counterparts are forgotten during these times. May Allah grant them sabr and allow us to remember all muslims in our duas. I am going again on sunday and if this brother is at sun city as it is called. I will glady pay him a visit if he wishes. Thank you for posting his letter. May Allah reward you for all your efforts. Ameen”