Prison Libraries and Radicalization

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has tallied all the Islamic books and videos available to inmates and chaplains in federal penitentiaries and the list is worrisome.

Stephen Schwartz, a convert to Islam who directs the Center for Islamic Pluralism, requested a copy of the government's 399-page inventory through the Freedom of Information Act. He found far more examples of radical texts and videos from extremists, including Wahhabi and Muslim Brotherhood scholars, than those advocating pluralism or moderation.

You can find 280 copies of work from American-born South African imam Abdullah Hakim Quick, including what Schwartz calls "hateful attacks on Baha'is, as well as Ahmadis, a heterodox Muslim group, and titles like Muslims Under Siege and The Importance of Da'wa in Times of Crisis." The list includes 33 entries by Muslim Brotherhood spiritual guide Yusuf al-Qaradawi, another 30 entries covering writings by Brotherhood luminary Sayyid Qutb and 200 volumes by the Pakistani jihadist Abul Ala Mawdudi.

This matters for two reasons, Schwartz writes:

"Muslim extremists' openly stated intent to spread their ideology in prisons, and the Bureau of Prisons' own past reliance on Muslim chaplains trained in Wahhabi Islam. While no major acts of terror have been traced to recruitment in U.S. prisons, the tools necessary for extremist indoctrination remain, unaccountably, in place."

Schwartz notes that the inventory grew out of concerns generated by past discoveries about the way Muslim prison chaplains were trained.

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