Warith Deen Unar- Former NYC Corrections Department Chaplain
Brothers, be prepared to fight, be prepared to die, be prepared to kill...
It's a part of the faith, and it ain't your brother just sayin' this,
This is history,
This is Koran,
and nobody can deny it...
in a talk given to a "captive audience" of inmates...
Islamberg, NY- perhaps a haven for many newly released, newly "converted" Islamic convicts?
Islamberg got its start about 20 years ago, when — inspired by the words of the Sufi cleric Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani — a group of
primarily black Muslims from Brooklyn left New York City to escape crime, poverty and racism. Aiming to lead what they believed was a peaceful and
holy Muslim life, they built a community of some 40 family houses, their own grocery store and a bookstore.
Or is it??
Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, the Pakistani Sufi cleric whom the Islamberg residents call their spiritual leader, has long been suspected
of being one of the founders of a group called Jamaat al-Fuqra, a group that the U.S. and Pakistan say is responsible for a long list of terrorist
activities around the world, including murders of rival religious figures in the U.S.
Gilani also was the man American reporter Daniel Pearl was going to see when he was abducted and murdered.
Is teaching a skewed view of faith to an already disillusioned captively held audience in any way morally right?
Should this be allowed in any way?
And those who want to jump on the religious aspect of this,
I ask you-
when was the last time you visited a prisoner at a jail in any act of charity?
Are there groups of secular people who visit prisoners out of just charity in their hearts?
I would love to join one, seriously.
The desperate loneliness and need for any kind of connection is the fundamental reason why
these people are such "easy prey".
The are abandoned by everyone, even their families in most cases, and the only ones they talk to are other prisoners, and the "nice, preacher" who
comes a callin'.
The "radical" approach of this faith gives them everything they could ever ask for in a religion to believe in.
They get to believe in a God that will love them IF:
-they follow a certain set of rules that are geared toward males
-they are merciful toward others who also follow those same rules
-they are allowed to lie to those who DO NOT follow those same rules, as long as it is in the name of God
-they are allowed to be savage to the point of death to others who do not follow those same rules, as long as it is for the glory of God. In fact,
they will be rewarded for such.
-Pride is not an issue.
- They will be accepted into a community of believers upon their release from jail that will give them further training in how to accomplish these
goals.
-They are superior to all those who do not believe as they do.
How can they lose??
After being forgotten by society, "thrown away", unforgiven, so to speak, here is their "savior".
All the other ideologies pale in comparison to this.
And truth be told, most live in glass towers.
I know of some Christian groups that do convict outreach,
but they do not actively try to recruit.
They just bring in treats and visit the convicts.
edit on 6-1-2011 by thegoodearth because: (no reason given)