CAIR Chicago's Prison Project: Looking to Fair Treatment for Muslim Prisoners in Illinois

Locations of prisons throughout Illinois

"Inmates at Stateville Correctional Center always noticed how their Jewish and Christian counterparts were able to celebrate Passover and Christmas every year. Members of the Jewish community collaborated and collected food donations to distribute during Passover. The same was done by the Christian community for Christmas." CAIR Chicago worked with volunteers from the Bridgeview and Chicago Muslim communities to bring a Eid ul Fitr celebration to the inmates after fasting during the month of Ramadan.

This is just one example of the work that CAIR Chicago is doing to assure that fair treatment is provided to Muslim prisoners in Illinois and elsewhere. Assuring proper accomodations for Muslim prisoners includes things like: access for Friday prayers, meal/dietary needs, Korans and other literature, and observance of the major Muslim holidays.

Some of the groups that CAIR Chicago works with in these efforts include:

• Zakat Foundation
• Mansour International Golden Foods
• Saudi Arabian Cultural Missions
• Islamic Circle of North America

The Prison Project is seeking additional volunteers, including from the Southern Illinois Muslim community, to partner in providing a meal for the next Eid.

“There is a great need for volunteers to lead Jum’mah at prisons, to provide educational seminars, as well as donations for Qur’ans, prayer rugs, tasbeehs, and Islamic literature. We want this to be a regular occurrence for Muslim inmates across Illinois and the Chicagoland area,” said Staff Attorney Rabya Khan. (If you’d like to contribute your services, donate goods, or find out more on how to help, please contact Rabya Khan at rabya.khan@cair.com.)

More information at: "The Prison Project: Long overdue Eid ul Fitr celebration for Muslim inmates" on the CAIR Chicago website.