By Cynthia Griffith

Mar/Apr 25

Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world, but in the United States, not all Muslims are accounted for. The U.S. Census Bureau’s religious data does not include one of the largest populations of Muslim Americans: incarcerated converts. This is indicative of a larger effort to make it appear as if the growth of Islam is due to high birth rates and immigration alone, which is a fallacy. Additionally, this accounting practice illustrates a dismissive and dehumanizing attitude toward  incarcerated people who may embrace Islam. The implication  is that incarcerated converts are somehow less representative of the general population outside of  jail. This unjust message can then be used to perpetuate additional harmful stereotypes against Muslim Americans whether converts, prisoners, or other individuals within the Muslim community.

Islamic Horizons reached out to the U.S. Census Bureau to discuss this matter, and a representative confirmed the Bureau does not collect data on religious affiliations. They directed Horizons to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Horizons found that while the BOP collects data for categories such as age, race, ethnicity, and citizenship status, it does not account for the religious identity of inmates. 

This practice of not counting converts to Islam as Muslims dates to the early 20th century, and has prevented federal courts from interfering with inmate rights cases for many decades.

Some states are accommodating to the incarcerated Muslims’ religious needs, while others are not. For example, only 17 states allow inmates the right to religious head coverings, and some states make it difficult or impossible for Muslims to access alternative meals.

According to the Pew Research Center, “The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics routinely reports on several characteristics of the U.S. prison population, such as age, gender, and racial/ethnic composition, but it does not usually report on the religious affiliation of inmates, and independent surveys of inmates rarely are permitted.”

Uttering the Shahada in Jail

Philadelphia native Faheem took his shahada in 1979 after he was sentenced to 10 years in the notorious Graterford Prison, about 31 miles northwest of Philadelphia. His story is emblematic of the decades-long pattern of embracing the Islamic faith in U.S. correctional institutions. Faheem described his time served as an awe-inspiring experience and proclaimed that even as far back as 45 years ago, the Muslim prison population was so abundant that they “pretty much ran the whole jail.”

“When entering prison, I was immediately greeted by the Muslims,” Faheem fondly recalled. “They had a huge community and were respected by everyone from all other religions. . . not to mention they had a massive impact on the guards.”

Faheem said it was the character of his Muslim brothers that drew him to Islam. “They were the intellectuals, the scholarly, community men, and they had developed a reputation for their cleanliness, unity, and leadership roles throughout the jail,” he said. “They pretty much ran everything – the cafeteria, the library, and the mechanical and academic departments. They did so in a just and orderly fashion, to the point where even non-Muslims referred to them for advice. The local guards were so impressed and influenced that many of them took their shahadas too, and you could see the dawah spreading far beyond the towering concrete walls.”

This Population Could Potentially Represent Millions of Uncounted Muslims

Excluding Muslim prisoners from the U.S. census when counting Muslim Americans is part of a broader effort to make Islam appear as if it is spread by immigration only and as if conversion plays little to no role in the astronomical growth of Islam. Census numbers in the contemporary United States tell a vastly different story.  

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration per capita in the world (World Prison Brief, October 2021). According to the Prison Policy Initiative , there are approximately 7 million prison admissions annually. While some people cycle in and out of the U.S. prison industrial complex more than once per year, many others are new to the system. These offenders are frequently jailed for nonviolent crimes. The Prison Policy Initiative also found that many who get arrested are innocent but find themselves imprisoned for days, months, and even years, simply because they are too poor to make bail.

Policies and legislation play a pivotal role in the criminal justice system. There are laws in place that target specific demographics of people and push them into the prison system for minor infractions. For example, it is illegal for a homeless person to sleep, stand, walk, or otherwise engage in life-sustaining activities in public. Doing so can result in a fine or even in an arrest. Recently, a homeless woman was issued a citation while giving birth on a sidewalk.

Faheem recalled a time in the not-so-distant past when unjust policies were used to target people like him – African American males in their late teens. Faheem was convicted on the count of possessing an illegal weapon at just 19 years old. Despite the fact that he never used the alleged weapon to incite violence, he was still given a lengthy sentence that would last well into adulthood. 

“Really, I got off easy doing ten years,” he said. “I can’t even count how many 18 and 19-year-olds who looked like me were given life sentences for petty crimes, and how many of them were innocent.”

Many Americans are aware of the vast injustices taking place in the prison industrial complex, but without hard data, we cannot even begin to imagine how many Muslims, converts, and born Muslims alike, have filtered through the system. If seven million arrests are made each year, how many millions of Muslims have, for decades, been uncounted and left out of the data? Untold stories of Muslim resilience move like modern folklore over city streets, anonymous sources of inspiration. How impactful would these tales be if they were told to the masses?

 The Need for Resources for Incarcerated Muslim Americans 

A former volunteer prison chaplain who wishes to remain anonymous and who used to visit an upstate New York maximum security prison once mused that the imprisoned convert’s journey is “akin to Hijrah, moving to a world of enlightenment.” He said, “We need more resources for people who take the shahada in jail to access upon release.” He also believes that care is needed for the families of the converts, a service which would make them closer to the family of Islam. 

Through the onslaught of mass incarceration, Muslim men and women behind bars are too often counted out – out of the data, out of employment opportunities, out of their families, and out of society altogether. Their stories are relegated to oral traditions spoken in small inner-city circles, and occasional mainstream media coverage. According to Oxford Research Encyclopedias, most mainstream media coverage of North American Muslims casts them in a negative light through techniques like othering and Orientalism. But their numbers are not few, and if they were accounted for, the ever-growing and sizable sum of Muslims in America would be made much clearer to the news consuming public at large. 

Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world and it grows in some of the most formidable places on Earth. No 6 by 8 foot concrete cage can contain it. No barred metal door can hold it back. No amount of darkness can cover the light it shines on open hearts and yearning souls.

“I never committed another crime after becoming a Muslim in prison,” Faheem concludes.

May God continue to bless him and the countless other converts who share a similar story. 

Cynthia C. Griffith, a social justice journalist focusing on environmental and civil rights issues. She’s a regular contributor at Invisible People where she muses regarding the earth, space, faith, science, politics, and literature have appeared on several popular websites.

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