Muslims in Texas Prisons (Part 1)

Imam Baquee has dedicated the past 10 years of his life to serving incarcerated Muslims across the state of Texas. 

He runs a pizza shop to help fund his work - and give employment to brothers and sisters coming out of prison.

So when a sincere Texan Christian chaplain reached out to Tayba about Islamic resources for the Muslims in his care (there was no Muslim chaplain available), we were happy to connect him with Imam Baquee.

But what started as a simple introduction has turned into a collaboration that we’re really excited to share with you.

Big things happening in TX

Nobody likes to live near a prison. That’s why they’re often built far away from society.

But what happens to Muslims in prison when the closest masjid is several hours away by car?

While city prisons may get visiting imams and volunteer-run programs, remote prisons usually get nothing. Some go for years without a Muslim chaplain stepping foot inside.

That’s why we’re delighted to announce a collaboration between Tayba, ICNA’s MABL (Muslim Alliance for Black Lives) program and Imam Baquee’s Huma-Faith to reach these underserved prison communities. 

This collaboration will enable Imam Baquee to regularly visit Texas prisons and provide in-person basic Islamic education, addiction recovery programs, and one-on-one counseling.

Tayba’s a trendsetter

Imam Baquee has extensive experience with substance abuse counseling. So we were thrilled when he came across our new “Overcoming Addiction” textbook and found it to be extremely valuable.

So much so that he incorporated its contents into his programming for Muslim prisoners.

In fact, he will also be leaning on Tayba’s Islamic curriculum for his Islamic education programs.

The reason for this is simple: Tayba is the only American Muslim organization producing Islamic materials specifically for prisoners while leaning on extensive hands-on experience.

We hope that this is a step towards making Tayba’s curriculum the national standard for Islamic programming in prison, insha’Allah.

There are incredible Muslims in these remote prisons

No books, no teachers, no programs. No access to a Muslim community.

Yet despite that, there are people coming to Islam and holding on to their deen in these remote communities.

How does it happen? We’ll be sharing some of their stories with you in future articles. Stay tuned.

Want to support programs like these? Your donations to Tayba Foundation help us continue and expand our programming, including our work in Texas.

You can give your zakat and sadaqa here.

Thank you for remembering your brothers and sisters behind bars.