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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 6, 2003 SCHUMER URGES STATE TO REMOVE MILITANT CLERICS RIGHT AWAY; NY PRISON CHAPLAINS SPREADING AL QAEDA- TYPE EXTREMISM TO INMATES Only militant clerics have been allowed in prison system; Moderates have been barred for years by the Administrative Chaplain of the NY State Dept of Correctional Services Wahhabi chaplains are spreading militant Islam to NY's 13,000 Muslim inmates, including those at correctional facilities in Wyoming, Auburn, Elmira, Great Meadow, Sing Sing, Arthur Kill, Fishkill, Schawangunk With almost all of NY's clerics recruited by the same Wahhabi extremist, Schumer says State needs to ensure that prison system doesn't become a recruiting ground for Al Qaeda Amid new reports that New York's prisons are being saturated with militant Islam, US Senator Chuck Schumer today urged the State's Department of Corrections (DOC) to immediately replace the system's Islamic clerics with moderate Muslim leaders. Yesterday, the State banned the DOC's former top Muslim cleric, Warith Deen Umar, from ever setting foot again in a state prison for saying that the 9/11 hijackers should be remembered as martyrs. As Administrative Chaplain of the NY State Dept of Correctional Services, Umar had sole responsibility for recruiting the prison system's clerics until his retirement two years ago. Many of these clerics have reportedly echoed sentiments similar to Umar's comments in their preaching to the State's 13,000 Muslim inmates. "The point of prison is to rehabilitate violent prisoners, not ingrain them with the same kind of militant ideas that drove the 9/11 hijackers to do what they did," Schumer said. "So I am befuddled as to why the State is allowing the same kind of Islam that led to the World Trade Center tragedy to be taught to the most violent members of our society, some of whom may get paroled or released back into everyday life in the near future. We've already seen that convicts act on what they pick up in prison with the case of the dirty bomb suspect. If these teachings are allowed to continue, we're going to see even more cases like that." Umar has wielded tremendous influence over the 45 or so clerics or imams that currently preach within New York's prison system, almost all of whom subscribe to his brand of Wahhabi extremism. These clerics wield a monopoly over the kind of Islam that is preached to the prison system's Muslim inmates, spreading the same extremist Wahhabism responsible for spawning terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and Hezbollah. After the attacks, prison officials at the Cape Vincent corrections facility, for example, asked its religious chaplains to minister to the inmates to help soothe the inmates, including the prison's Muslim cleric. The cleric however, was reported to have said that the attacks were punishments on the wicked and that the victims deserved what they got. At the prison in Watertown, the same cleric led what seemed to be a pro-Al Qaeda rally. At the Albion Correctional Facility for Women, a similar incident occurred when the cleric there praised Osama Bin Laden as a soldier of Allah. Shia or Sufi Islamic prisoners who do not believe in Wahhabism are unable to practice because Umar's clerics refuse to lead them in prayer services and do not recognize their religious holy days. Umar's chaplains have distributed anti-Semitic literature and delivered sermons advancing messages of hate and intolerance that lavish praise on the 9/11 hijackers. Hundreds of prisoners have written letters to the Imam Al Khoei Islamic Center in Queens complaining that Umar's clerics identify all non-Wahhabis as heretics and deviants who are part of a Jewish conspiracy to undermine their religion. "Given the well-documented connection between Mr. Umar and his selected preachers, and the violence that has ensued against non-Wahhabi Muslims inside New York State's Correctional Facilities, these imams represent a clear and present danger to safety and security of New York State's prison system and indeed our entire country," Schumer wrote in a letter to the head of the State Department of Corrections. "Non-Wahhabi prisoners are put in immediate harm's way and prisoners are exposed to a brand of hateful speech that is likely to inspire them to intolerance and potentially violent acts once their prison terms end. I urge you to dismiss all imams hired under Mr. Umar's supervision and to reconstitute the Muslim leadership inside New York State's prisons to ensure that it reflects a more moderate brand of Islam that represents the diversity of belief within the Sunni, Shia and Sufi sects that make up the Muslim community," Schumer's letter continued. Non-Wahhabi Muslim prisoners have complained that they are often the subject of brutal attacks by Wahhabi inmates. Antwan Dennis, an inmate at the Great Meadow Correctional Facility, has filed a sworn statement describing attacks on Islamic prisoners who did not follow the Wahhabi faith by Wahhabi followers inspired by the preaching of Umar's imams. Mr. Dennis also reports incidents of stabbings perpetrated by gang members against non-Wahhabi Muslims at the behest of Wahhabi adherents. In addition, moderate Islamic chaplains have complained that Umar's discretion over recruiting has led to them being excluded from the New York prison system. As a result, the only Muslim chaplains working in the prison system are these militant Wahhabis. Mr. Agha Jafri, spokesman for the Universal Mission of Muslims in America, based in NYC said the following: "We tried 10 times to get into the Fishkill Prison, the Mt. McGregor Prison, and the Ottisville Prison and we were completely black balled and cut out by this very guy Umar. We have 15 chaplains available around NY State at any time to preach to Muslim prisoners. I can give you 15 names right now of chaplains who are ready to enter the prison system today. If we had Shi'a preachers inside the prisons, they would preach a type of Islam that is against persecution of any individual and promotes interfaith dialogue between Muslims, Christians, and Jews. A Shia chaplain would first and foremost preach Islam and the direct interpretation of the Koran which teaches peace and understanding between people and the importance of eliminating hate speech against any person in your own religion and in other religions." For more info on where State prisons are located, please go to: |
