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Alexander Crichlow, a latest convert, has been denied lodging together with breakfast earlier than daybreak, double serving of dinner at sundown and permission to wish with different Muslims, alleges Council on American-Islamic Relations.
(AA Archive)
The Council on American-Islamic Relations [CAIR] has sued the Virginia Department of Corrections and officers at a correctional facility for his or her refusal to offer Ramadan lodging to a Muslim inmate.
The Green Rock Correctional Center in Chatham has denied lodging to Alexander Crichlow in the course of the month-long non secular observance, CAIR mentioned on Monday.
Crichlow, a Muslim who transformed to Islam in January, fasts from earlier than daybreak till sundown throughout Ramadan.
Since January, he has repeatedly requested jail officers to offer him with the identical Ramadan lodging as dozens of Muslims at Green Rock, together with receiving breakfast earlier than daybreak, a double serving of dinner at sundown and permission to collect each day for night prayers with different Muslims.
“But prison officials reportedly refuse to accommodate Critchlow because he converted to Islam after their arbitrary deadline to sign up for Ramadan accommodations, which fell on November 18, 2022 — over four months before Ramadan,” CAIR mentioned in a press release.
“According to them, an exception-free statewide policy refuses Ramadan accommodation to any incarceree who converted to Islam after November 18, 2022.”
The group mentioned that “there is nothing difficult about prison officials providing Crichlow exactly what they already provide to dozens of other Muslims.”
“Virginia’s inflexible policy barring recent converts to Islam from receiving Ramadan accommodations is ridiculous and unlawful,” mentioned CAIR senior litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas.
Source: AA
Source: www.trtworld.com
