Institutionalized Muslims and those that try to help them
Umar has a post about the prison system that prompted me to write what started out as a comment, but became too long…
There are many “institutionalized” Muslims. Those that have worked with brothers inside and/or outside the jail (after they get out) know what exactly I’m talking about.
The most prominent example that I know was a brother who entered the system jail at the age of 15 and was about to get out in a few weeks at the age of 33. So, other than a brief period of a few months, he had spent his entire adult life in the prison system.
This brother came to me after our services and informed me that he was about to get out in a few weeks. I was like “masha Allah”, but he started crying and said that he was afraid…VERY AFRAID. He did not know how to survive in the outside world, had no skills, no family support, and frankly no idea how the world works. And he knew this from his brief previous period outside the system (as a Muslim by the way). He told me that he intentionally committed a crime to get arrested so that he could return to his familiar environment…prison. And, by the way, he commited a crime inside the prison when he had a few days to go and his time was extended. He was transferred and I lost contact with him.
This is an “institutionalized” Muslim. They are in and out of the system so many times that you can not count.
As Umar mentioned, many prisoners in general are “institutionalized”, but being Muslim, it becomes much harder to survive because there is no support system for prisoners. There is not much of one for non-Muslim prisoners. Much less for those that are Muslim.
What many people do not know is that many of these brothers see Islam is their great hope in the outside world. “THIS will be the way I will make it. My brothers will help me.” They are reading books about the nobility of the early Muslims and how they helped each other etc, and they look forward to receiving this type of help on the outside. Then receive a rude awakening once they get out.
It usually worked like this:
The brother gets out of jail and calls the person that was working inside the prison. The person who was working in the prisons comes tries (usually with the help of one or two other brothers) to help this brother as much as he can by giving him a ride to and from the masjid, getting him some food, trying to help him get some employment, etc. However, the brother from prison notices that he is not receiving the treatment from the rest of the community. In fact, some are quite hostile to him and do not trust him. “Why is he hanging around the masjid?! Let him go home to his family like the rest of us!”, one brother said forcefully to me about one of these brothers.
One of the brothers I knew was told to “go home” because he was hanging around the masjid too much. He told me that he had no place to go. He was trying to escape his old life of drugs and partying. His Father was a drug addict. His Mother a drug addict. His sister was a drug addicted prostitute. I can confirm this as I met his family later.
“If I go home, then drugs are flowing in and out of the house and throughout the neighborhood. My Father will invite me to come get high, and I am weak to that! I don’t want to be around that! So I hang around the masjid.”, he said.
Problem is that there is only so long he can hang out at the masjid. He must get a job and begin to fend for himself. So the one or two volunteers try to help a brother like this for as long as he can, before he disappears seemingly into thin air. Then, after a few weeks, you see him in the Muslim services in the prison again.
Me: “What happened? I was wondering what happened to you.”
Him: “I’ve been here for three weeks. I did not want to come to the Islamic services because I was embarassed. But I wanted to let you know that I am safe”
And sadly, the entire cycle repeats itself. (Simply add in “things are going to be different this time”)
The only thing that changes over time is that the “workers”/volunteers get more scarce because of the combination of burn out and growing family responsibilities. One person, spending his own time -not only the time actually there, but also preparing lessons, khutbahs, and driving there - and money (gas, buying books to give away) and putting so much energy into trying to get people to change their lives can burn one out, especially after seeing so few make it. And know that some brothers volunteer in multiple prisons. And there is almost no support from the Muslim community for these volunteers.
Some veterans of prison volunteer work have put in so much time and effort that their family at home fell apart. So they became cynical and disenchanted.
Now, there are some - a relative very few in my experience - that come out, stay out, get a steady job, and go on to have families and contribute to the Muslim community in a positive way. There are others that may manage to stay out, but they stop practicing Islam or even leave Islam completely.
So this is one of the questions that I have been stumped on. Besides going in and giving classes what can the Muslim community really DO to help these brothers? One thing is for sure…this is a lot of work for just a handful of volunteers.
Start a halfway house? Good idea that is often thrown out there, but the money and logistics of it is usually more than the typical community is willing or able to put in. This is not a part time effort that ony requires buying a house, allowing the brothers from prison to live there, and a few volunteers can come by to check on them on their spare time. You need full time professional paid staff to do something like that. This is why it is rare to see a Muslim-run halfway house, but the Muslim community in Richmond, VA have opened one. I’m sure there are others, but this is the only one that I know of.
Working with/volunteering to work in the jail is a full time job. Working with brothers after they get out is a full time job. One or two brothers trying to do both is back-breaking.
And in the end, it is issues like this that make things I write about, that sometimes seem to many of you to be totally unrelated to Islam, more relevent. In light of this issue, things like America’s changing demographics, the increasing cost of living, differences in groups of people and even IQ take on much more relevence. A program that ignores these realities, while branding them as “kufr knowledge” or “not beneficial”, simply will not be effective. And Allah knows best. So any program we do, in my humble opinion, must be firmly grounded in the realities of the world, how it works and how different people respond to the same circumstances. And guess what? That is Islam.
This is why I am so opposed to the culture of sloganeering that the Muslims have adopted. Some people throw money at a problem. Muslims throw a slogan at it.
Many of the problems that are faced in this area requires the community to know that they actually exist. Then perhaps people will begin to care a little more about issues like these…When you learn about projects like this, donate and/or see what you can do to help - other than patting them on the back.
Link: Hijrah House
Filed under: Black American Muslims, Convert Issues
This issue is complicted, but two things came to my mind.
Brothers need to start supporting each other and getting more in touch with their spiritual side, people need real emotional/spiritual support instead of all the constant arguing about politics, fiqh, aqeedah etc. This will help in providing support for these brothers when they get out, because its their biggest obstacle.
Secondly why do immigrant dominated Masjids always do dawah in prisons and the projects? What is the point in doing all that dawah when you dont have any support for them when they become Muslim and start coming to the masjid, (they are not even wanted around)
as-salaam alaykum,
The way I see it, in many cases, it is something to put on the resume of “things we are doing”. Take a few pictures, do a little PR and the da’wah is given. Put it on the website…
Others (and I think this is the majority) just have no idea of how daunting a challenge this really is. Few of them have even passed through the “ghetto” and even fewer have gotten out of their cars and spoken to the people on the ground and learned about the massive problems they have.
On the other hand, we can’t expect the immigrants to know the intricacies of dealing with people who often have habits they have probably never dealt with before. Sometimes immigrant brothers can be very caring, to the point of being naive, and will get taken advantage of. I’ve been “played” a few times myself, much less them.
But you are right that there is an element amongst the immigrants that do not want “bums in the masjid”. They are embarassed by them.
This is a good post Tariq. A lot of people find their comfort zone in prison and in that world they are important and respected and when they get out they are a nobody who can’t even get a low-paying job. So, in reality, some men get out long enough to have sex with a few different women, eat some home-cooked meals from their mothers, go out and drink a couple of times and party, and then go back to where they are comfortable at.
Salaam ‘Alaikum
I don’t know if they still do, but for a while, the E. Orange, NJ masjid had a halfway house / residential rehab program for brothers. That community’s willingness to actually put the money where their mouths is (job training, etc) is the thing I liked best about them.
My personal experiences in the NorthEast is that “immigrant dominated masajid” (IDM?, LOL) aren’t even aware of prisons, let alone making da’wah in them — even when their masjid is in the ghetto like some of the masajid I attended. In NYC, it’s kind of all done by WD people anyway. I’m trying to imagine the reactions of some of the people I know if I raised the idea of prison da’wah and I can’t. When I lived in NJ, we briefly had a program of da’wah and letter writing with sister convicts, but the usual things (money, time, family obligations, people drifting) got in the way, and I think another group of sisters is running that program now.
Tariq,
I work at a home for “wayward” kids, mainly native with a couple latino and white kids now and then. These kids are on average 15 or so (though we get kids as young as 8 and as old as 17). Many of these kids are already developing an institutional mentality. Most have served short terms in Juvie, but even those who have not get somewhat insitiutionalized. A huge hallmark I’ve observed is an attitude of “I’ll do whatever i can get away with, no more and no less”. Also, just a need to confront us and act tough for social reasons even if it detrimental for them to do so. Talking with a couple of the kids, as well, many talk about wanting to go to jail as adults so they’ll have some outwardly-imposed discipline and can learn and improve themselves. I’ve tried to explain that it is possible to do this outside (with myself and other friends as proof) but they cling to this mentality.
It’s pretty scary.
Umar:
The point of going from being “the big man” in prison (i.e., the Imam, assistant Imam, Amir, etc) and looked up to for your (perceived) “great knowledge” to someone that is now one of the least knowledgable brothers is a tough pill to swallow. I remember dealing with a “jailhouse Imam” who had produced his own crude literature with his title and name prominently displayed. Many times, the ones who melt the fastest are the “imams”. This was the only place they ever had any type of respect, and now it is all gone.
On the other hand, I am friends today with former “jailhouse Imam” and he has done very well, Masha Allah. But his background made a huge difference in his attitude.
“Now, there are some - a relative very few in my experience - that come out, stay out, get a steady job, and go on to have families and contribute to the Muslim community in a positive way.”
As Salaamu Alaykum
Very good article Br Tariq!
I think I married the Poster Boy for ‘Best Convert Convict”. My ex husband went to jail for murder at the age of 17. He was released 15 years later at the age of 32. I married him 8 months after his release. When his mother picked him up he told her to take him to the nearest masjid and not her home (West Side of Chicago). He was takeno a Tablighee masjid, where they allowed him to live. He got a good job as a Union Construction worker. He worked and went to the masjid and was known for his good character. He and his new wifelive in Yemen and have opened a school there…masha’Allah!
On another note I use to be a Social Worker for Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago. The residents admired me and often inquired about Islam. Some even took their shahadahs. It was sad that I had no referrals for them once they ‘hit the bricks’. What’s worse is that when I first started working there I was only familiar with the NOI. One of the kids Jugde requested that I come to court. His lawyer had told the Judge that he was a Muslim now and was in FOI training (I made arrangements for some FOI to visit him…astaufirallah). The judge wanted to know what I thought about it. By the time this came to court I was Sunni and actually asked the Lawyer not to call on me because I did not want to misguide him anymore than I had. The lawyer didn’t care about what they taught he just wanted to know if I thought the FOI training would help him stay out of trouble. The Supreme Captain for the FOI actuallly came and asked that they release him to their care!
Now for the carriers of the haqq what do we have to offer?
I have said it before and I will say it again, mentorship, mentorship, mentorship. These brothers need a full time mentor not just to show them skills for living, but skills for life. Give them good reading material on how to improve their life. I would recomend anyone wishing to pursue such an endeavor to read the works of John C. Maxwell he is an excellent source of knowledge on the subject. Also Ustaadh Muhammad AlShareef has a new program http://discoveru.mfbiz.com/ get the brothers involved in these types of workshops.
Tariq,
Why dont all the American dawah groups hand over there fundings for dawah to the Nation of Islam?
I visited their website, and listened to some arguments of Louis Farakkhan. They are so much more well presented, organised and have a leader who is much more in touch with modern society. I think other Muslim bodies in America aren’t as effective. I’m not asking American dawah groups to follow N.O.I’s creed and theology, but they will do a much better job in supporting ex-prisoners etc…
Law Student:
The NOI has totally different teachings. That would not work. The best solution is for us to get our act together
this is what makes bloggin worthy, jazakAllahu khayran…..
The Prison system is so screwed up…man
the other day(a month ago actually) we were out in my old neighborhood doing “street dawah”, which is a pretty rundown apartment complex, located in a sub-urban ghetto, i basically grew up there and the masjid is across the street, and we met one of these guys who had got out of prison recently and we were telling him(calling him to) about islam, and he accepted everythign we said but didnt have the courage to take the last step and say the shahaada. But we talked about his situation and how the society treeats him knowing he was in prison before. Sadly the man sleeps under the highway and does jobs here adn there to make a couple bux, no one really wants to hire an ex-felon and homeless guy.
I would write more but its just frustrating the way the prison system is and the muslims, atleast in my area, as far as I know, are lagging behind in this field, way behind.
Allahu Alim
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