Muslim Prisoners

Rajeev Syal, Guardian, Muslim prisoners in England more likely to be subjected to force, charity finds, 16 Apr 2025

"Freedom of information requests found that in eight out of nine prisons with high Muslim populations, Muslim men were more likely than the average inmate to be confronted with batons, made to wear rigid bar handcuffs, or deliberately held in a painful position."

Prisoner attack

Standard, Prisoner accused of trying to murder jail guards because they were not Muslim, 13 Jan 2025 "A suspected Islamic extremist tried to kill five prison officers with homemade weapons including a sharpened plastic spoon because they are not Muslims, the Old Bailey has heard."

Prisons

Nicky Harley, The National, UK urged to separate extremist inmates after Manchester Arena terrorist formed gang, 23 Feb 2022

"The UK’s independent adviser on terrorism has urged the authorities to look at separation centres to prevent extremists from forming gangs in prison."

Ideological Transmission - report

Ideological Transmission II: Peers, education and prisons (Full Report) "This CREST report, by Professor Kim Knott and Dr Benjamin Lee, is the second in a series of synthetic research reports on ideological transmission produced by the Ideas, Beliefs And Values In Social Context programme."

Lee Rigby's killer has converted inmates to Islam, court told

Guardian, Lee Rigby's killer has converted inmates to Islam, court told, 31 Oct 2017

Anjem Choudary

Anjem Choudary and prison radicalisation issues - selected links on my Virtually Islamic blog

Number of Muslims in prison doubles in decade to 12,000

Number of Muslims in prison doubles in decade to 12,000 - UK Politics - UK - The Independent

"Britain’s jails facing ‘growing problem’ of forced conversion to Islam, officers warn"

Independent, Britain’s jails facing ‘growing problem’ of forced conversion to Islam, officers warn, 20 Oct 2013

Prison issues for Muslims

Asian Age, 'Imams out of touch with young Muslims', 11 Jan 2012,

"Young Muslim men are turning away from religion in their droves because of the old-fashion attitudes in Britain’s mosques, according to the Prison Service’s Muslim advisor."

See this related story:

Guardian, Prisons inspector condemns Long Lartin's 'cages' and slopping out, 10 Jan 2012

"Hardwick [Nick Hardwick, chief inspector of prisons] [also] says Long Lartin needs much more help from the national prison service to work successfully with the 25% of its prisoners who are Muslim.

"He discloses that those held in the detainee unit – mostly those facing deportation on national security grounds – had been denied permission to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, with other Muslim prisoners."

'Briton in Kenya radicalised in shoe bomber’s prison'

AFP/capitalfm Kenya, Briton in Kenya radicalised in shoe bomber’s prison, 9 Jan 2012 "An extremist accused of heading a wave of British recruits to an Al-Qaeda group plotting attacks in Kenya was radicalised in the same prison as shoe bomber Richard Reid, a report said on Sunday."

Prisons

Asharq Al-Awsat, Islamist Denounce UK Prison Insistence on Inmate's Wife Removing Niqab, 22 June 2010, "A number of London-based Islamists have expressed their anger at the insistence of British prison that the wife of leading fundamentalist Omar Mahmoud Abu-Omar, alias Abu-Qatada, who is known as Bin Laden's ambassador, and the spiritual guide of the Al-Qaeda Organization in Europe, remove her Niqab before being allowed to visit him, despite the existence of fatwas that say it is Islamically permissible to do so."

Prisons

Alan Travis, Guardian, Muslim prisoners 'treated as potential terrorists', 8 June 2010 "The report, published today, is based on interviews with 164 Muslim prisoners in eight prisons and young offender institutions, combined with prisoner surveys and inspection reports over the past three years. The number of Muslims in prison in England and Wales has soared in recent years from 2,513, or 5% of the prison population, in 1994 to 6,571 or 8% in 2004 and to 10,300, more than 12%, on the latest figures."

Also see:

Observer, Belmarsh inmates plotted to behead guard on video, 6 June 2010

Footballer's 'conversion'

Daily Mail, Shamed former Wigan star Marlon King converts to Islam in prison and names himself after 'hero' Abu Hamza, 12 Apr 2010

Prison gangs allegations

Andrew Gilligan, Telegraph, Muslim gangs imposing sharia law in British prisons, 15 Mar 2010 "Non-Muslim inmates at the high-security Long Lartin jail have been forced by the gangs to stop playing "Western" music and take down pictures of women from their cells, according to one former prison officer there. Prisoners at the jail, although allowed to cook their own food, are not allowed to prepare pork for fear of offending the Muslim inmates, the officer said."

Research on prisons

Gabriele Maraanci, New book: Faith, Ideology and Fear-Muslim Identities Within and Beyond Prisons, 5 Jan 2010 "My research has highlighted serious problems of discrimination based mainly upon religious and political victimisation. Adopting visibly religious behavior or converting to Islam can mean an increase in distrust from some sectors of the prison and especially from fellow inmates. This has, as we have seen, a serious impact on how Islam, as religion, is understood and practiced within prison and this increases the risk of certain radical groups exploiting former Muslim prisoners’ resentment." New from co-editor of Contemporary Islam journal.

Prisons and 'fatwas'

David Leppard, Times Online, Terrorists smuggle fatwas out of secure prisons, 15 Nov 09 "Some of Britain’s most dangerous Al-Qaeda leaders are promoting jihad from inside high-security prisons by smuggling out propaganda for the internet and finding recruits."

The report is published by the Quilliam Foundation