Original subtitles

it's time for afternoon prayers

and the Muslim inmates in this California state prison

are doing what was once forbidden

having an Islamic worship service

people couldn't gather in groups

uh to teach and to practice a religion

of the 3,832 inmates at Solano prison

the chaplain estimates about 5% are practicing Muslims

the prison doesn't track religious identity

partly because it's so fluid

and religious expression is a barometer

for how Islam has evolved

within the US penitentiary system

hey guys

I'm Sreen

and today we've traveled to Solano Prison in Vacaville

California

to explore how the world's fastest growing religion

has had to fight to find a home in prison

when I became Muslim I was given a set of principles

do this don't do that

when in doubt don't

that's Jesse Burleson who people here know as Hassani

he's been in prison for 31 years

Hasani

is one of the practicing Muslims at Solano Prison

and they're part of the millions of people behind bars

in the US in fact

the United States has

the largest prison population in the world

the more than 2.3 million people

had incarcerated by the end of 2017

or more than any other developed nation

that number includes inmates at federal

state and county prisons and it's growing

in a place where your housing

meals

and recreation time is highly constrained by rules

finding a way to practice your faith can be difficult

these inmates have figured

out a way to infuse their faith

into their sentences one of the things that started me

seeking something different was

I was looking at the people that were around me

who were older than I was

who had been in prison longer than me

and who had been on that same negative

self destructive path and me

not being satisfied with what I was seeing in them

and at that time I started going to religious services

it didn't matter if it was Muslim

Christian Jewish

I went seeking a better way and I believed in god

so I I know that the only way I was gonna change

was through god

he's just one of the Muslims that Solano chaplain

Muhammad Ali interacts with on a daily basis

Ali isn't a mom who spent four years at this prison

helping people like Hassani explore their faith

he believes

it can be an important part of their rehabilitation

religion is important to inmates

because it connects them to something bigger than

their circumstance you have people who you know

or you're here in prison

and there's a lot of things you can't control

whether it's your eating

whether it's your living condition

it really helps human beings

feel a sense of connectedness

to something beyond what's

what's right in front of them

but as long as journey

and penitentiaries has been complicated by prison

culture and legal challenges

though nationally

Muslims make up 1% of the US population

that number is expected to double by 2050

some of that growth specifically

comes from inmates converting to Islam behind bars

Islam is known for having a particularly

strong presence in prisons

in fact more people convert to Islam per capita

than any other religion nationwide

Muslims make up 10 to 15% of prisoners

Ali even said

he has one to two inmates convert to Islam monthly

so that's not his goal

what makes US statistics resonate more

is knowing how difficult it was to get Islam accepted

as a recognized religion within some prisons

the prison administration

through their custody officers

wouldn't allow groups of Muslims to congregate

over three and when they did

they would break they would break them up

that's Abdul Rau Ufnisir

and he spent 30 years using his Islamic faith

to help inmates in correctional institutions

he considered it social justice work

and an active part of his faith

back when he started in the 1970s

he says the prison system

was full of subtle discrimination against Muslims

some Muslim inmates at this prison sued in 1996

for greater access to religious services

their demands included

hiring a full time Muslim chaplain

and the ability to attend Friday prayers

without penalties like demerits for leaving work

eventually they did receive a full time imam

and their other demands

prison officials dispute this account

they say Muslim inmates

were never denied access to their religion

and instead the constraints were reflective of

staffing and organizational issues that were resolved

nationwide the legal pushes continue today

a 2013 report says that

Muslims

submitted the most religious discrimination complaints

out of any other religious group in prison

Islam and Muslim organizations and prisons

for the most part are seen to be powerful

because they've been there a long time

they have challenged the status quo of the prison

system itself

legally and physically

that quality of questioning power

is easily identifiable

with one of the religion's most notable converts

Malcolm X his narrative is prominent

and so that attracts people toward Islam

and then the reformative value that they find in that

the hope that it gives that I can survive in prison

Malcolm survived in prison

Malcolm X's legacy still resonates today

more than 50 years after his death

while serving a prison sentence

then named Malcolm Little

converted to the nation of Islam in 1952

he found mainstream Islam years later

and felt

it was much more racially inclusive than the nation

but as Muslims we will be Muslims

I will try and teach the religion of Islam

among the so called Negroes

and make them Muslims aside from spiritual guidance

in the ability to change your life around

another reason Nasir says

some incarcerated people are drawn to the faith

is for another reason entirely

how prisons are organized

a central organizing principle in prison

is containing the threat of violence

inmates are housed and classified

according to the risk of violence

they pose here at Solano

inmates are housed dormitory style

those that pose a higher risk

our house in cells like this

with armed guards in their downtime

the crew that inmates spend time with matters

because they're the ones that also offer Protection

so what does

any of this have to do with practicing Islam in prison

well Nasir explains

that your brothers in the faith

can actually help protect you behind bars

and that source of support transcends race

Islam does challenge the strict rules of race in prison

because if a person of another ethnic group

besides African America becomes a Muslim

then he's embraced in Islamic community

and he's not only embrace

he's protected from outside precious

that other groups may place against them

and being in prison

isn't necessarily that type of situation

to where you know

you need to join a group to be safe

uh that's not

hasn't been my experience uh

but I would say uh

being a part of a community in prison uh

is definitely beneficial in nevergoing

what he is really describing is support

and the support that incarcerated Muslims require

is different than their free Brethren

in fact there are several things about prison

that change how Islam is practiced

there's no court on app

no call to prayer from your cell phone

and being Muslim here is about survival

in a completely different way than it is outside

it does afford some opportunity for inmates to

think about their rehabilitation

think about meaning in life

think about who they want to be as a person while here

or when leaving here

just because religion might help some people survive

prison doesn't mean they'll continue the practice

after release

Nasir seen people let go of the faith when they get out

but Hassani who's just days from release

has his site set

on making Islam's most important journey for Muslims

the pilgrimage called Hajj

so I think for me that making the Hodge as

as as one of my goals

primary goals if I keep that as a primary goal

that I will be successful

and not only stand on the path

for doing everything that I need to do

in order to get off the road

save some money and make the Hodge

I Learned so much about incarceration in this story

if you want to learn more

check out Ear Hustle

the podcast out of San Quentin Prison

in the meantime don't forget to like

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