On May 5, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice issued a report entitled “ A Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Selection of Muslim Religious Services Providers.” The report was issued at the culmination of an investigation requested by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), who, on March 10, 2003, wrote a letter to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) requesting that Department of Justice to examine the process for selecting Muslim chaplains.

Senator Schumer expressed concerns that the BOP relies solely on two Islamic groups to endorse its Muslim chaplains, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences (GSISS). He further noted in his letter that the ISNA and the GSISS allegedly are connected to terrorism and promote Wahhabism. The same concerns were expressed by Senators Jon Kyl and Dianne Feinstein who also asked the OIG to examine these issues as they relate to the BOP.

The testimonies of key members who were interviewed underscores the positive impact ISNA has made in selecting Muslim chaplains. The Senior Deputy Assistant Director (SDAD) of the Correctional Programs Division said that he “does not believe there is widespread terrorist radicalization or recruiting occurring in BOP facilities,” but he recognized “that many inmates are vulnerable to radicalization and terrorist recruitment.”

The ten Muslim chaplains currently serving in the federal prison system, interviewed by the OIG, asserted that they have not witnessed inmates being radicalized by contractors or volunteers. The BOP staff and managers interviewed as part of the investigation also asserted “that staff chaplains, contractors, and volunteers were not the cause of inmate radicalization.” The BOP staff said they were “confident that if a chaplain, contractor, or volunteer was delivering inappropriate messages, the prison would soon learn about it and the individual would be removed from his or her position.”

The BOP Muslim chaplains stated that some inmates are radicalized in prison by other inmates. Numerous other BOP staff members also told us that the real threat of radicalization comes from inmates, not chaplains, contractors, or volunteers.

The Chief of the Chaplaincy Services Branch told the OIG that “Muslim chaplains, contractors, and volunteers all are responsible for presenting the basic, mainstream principles of Islam and correcting misinformed or misled Muslim inmates. She also asserted that Muslim chaplains are responsible for ensuring the security of the institution, which includes addressing and countering inmates’ radicalization efforts. One of the BOP Muslim chaplains interviewed by the OIG asserted that “contractors and volunteers have a stabilizing effect on Muslim inmates because they bring fresh opinions and societal experiences into the institutions, and inmates do not see them as part of the “police” like they see the chaplains.” He further stated that “fewer contractors and volunteers in the prisons make inmates feel more isolated and alienated, and leads to the germination of unsophisticated Islam, including radicalization and Prison Islam.” His statement was, according to OIG report, collaborated by other chaplains who said that “volunteers and contractors help to control radicalization, prevent misconceptions about Islam, and keep inmates from delivering their own sermons, taking their own interpretations of Islam, and controlling religious activities.”

The Chief of the Chaplaincy Services Branch said that she has “worked with the ISNA since the 1980s when the BOP hired its first Muslim chaplains.” She stated that “originally the federal government sought the ISNA’s assistance with locating qualified, trustworthy Muslim chaplains; the ISNA did not approach the federal government to performthis role.”

The Chief of the Chaplaincy Services Branch asserted that “the ISNA is a moderate, mainstream, non-Wahhabist, Islamic organization that encompasses Muslims from several Islamic sects.” She said that “ISNA is funded by its member mosques and does not receive Saudi funding.” She recounted a time when “the BOP approached the ISNA with concerns about a particular Muslim contractor, and the ISNA informed the BOP that the individual was not teaching Islam appropriately and that he did not represent the organization’s views.”

The BOP Muslim chaplains said “their experience indicates that the ISNA is a moderate group and it was surprising that the ISNA was suspected of being radical and having ties to terrorist organizations.” They expressed concern that “if the ISNA has fallen into disrepute, then Muslims have to start all over and build another national Islamic organization.” The BOP Muslim chaplains also expressed concern “that other Islamic organizations would suffer the same fate that the ISNA has, mostly because, they said, the hospitable, familial nature of Islam means that radical Muslims can easily become part of such organizations, unbeknownst to the organizations, and mainstream Muslims can innocently become affiliated with the wrong people or groups.”

The Report reveals that the BOP has not hired a Muslim chaplain since 2001. The Chief of the Chaplaincy Services Branch stated “that around the summer of 2003 the BOP stopped accepting ISNA-endorsed chaplain candidates.” She said that “the BOP would not accept ISNA-endorsed candidates until the FBI determined that the organization was not radical and does not have ties to terrorism.

The Report points out that “the BOP’s non-acceptance of ISNA-endorsed candidates effectively has resulted in a freeze on hiring Muslim chaplains.” As an example, the Report points out that “one qualified Muslim chaplain has submitted his application to the BOP, but because he was endorsed by the ISNA the BOP will not hire him at this time.”

“This freeze on hiring Muslim chaplains implicates prison security and presents counter-terrorism concerns,” the Report reveals. “Without a sufficient number of Muslim chaplains on staff, inmates are, according to the Chief of the Chaplaincy Services Branch and the ten BOP Muslim chaplains, much more likely to lead their own religious services, distort Islam, advocate Prison Islam, and espouse extremist beliefs.”