August 1997: Page 1, 2, 3, 4

Submitters Perspective

Page 3

Letters From the Incarcerated

To whom it may concern,

I’ve been receiving your monthly newsletter (Submitters Perspective) and I would like to congratulate you on such fine work, not to mention the best translation of the Quran I’ve ever read. My address has been changed and I would like to continue receiving my newsletters, so please acknowledge this change of address so I won’t lose out on anything. A month without your newsletter is a loss to me. Keep up your fine work, and thank you for everything you’ve sent me. Insha-Allah, upon my release from this institution, I shall be able to return a favor to you.

Shannan J. Roy

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As-salamu Alaikum!

I’m writing this letter in earnest prayer and hope that the brothers and sisters at ICS can help a brother who has been misguided in his faith. Recently (about a year ago), I converted over to Islam because of my beliefs. Since then, I have discovered that I have been misled by my so-called teachers. I have been misled to believe that Allah is a different God than Jesus and Abraham prayed to.

My reason for writing is because I need the following things; 1) a spiritual advisor, 2) a Quran, and any and all true teachings of Islam. I don’t have the funds to pay for the Quran by Rashad Khalifa, prayer rugs and any other material.

Could you send me anything to help me learn about true Islam!

Thanks!

Lester Taylor

P.S. I’m requesting a Quran like yours because I get a better understanding from the scriptures printed in the Submitters Perspective! So please, send one, if it’s not asking too much!

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As-salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah

Greetings to you all my brothers and sisters at Masjid Tucson and ICS. I come to you in a humble state of peace and love. I write this letter for many reasons. But

first let me say thanks to you all for the Submitters Perspective monthly newsletters that you have sent to me. They are a big help to me and all of the brothers here at Parchman prison. Also thank you for the Quran you sent to me. I use them in my class here every week. I am now the assistant secretary of education. Allah has blessed me to become a part of the Ummah council here for our community at Masjid Al-Shakoor. We also now have a part time free world imam, bro. James S. Muhammad from Masjid Al-Bayyinah in Clarkdale, Miss. The ummah here is growing each week with new brothers coming over to Islam as their way of life (Al-hamdulillah). La-ilahe-illa-Allah (there is truly no deity worthy of worship but Allah). But there is still much work to be done here in the name of Allah.

There is still a battle to win between prison administrators and the establishment of Islam here. With several court battles behind us, we are at the juncture of maintaining an Islamic class action complaint in federal court. The court appointed a counsel to represent us in this case; however, this counsel does not have Islam’s best interest in his deliberations. We tried to dismiss him from the case but the court refuses all of our requests. We are now at the point of where the establishment of Islam may be deterred because of the efforts of the courts and our counsel. We are at an impasse. We have mailed literally hundreds of letters to national and local Islamic organizations seeking assistance in securing Islamic legal representation and barring that, religious material for dawah study and spiritual advancement. Out of these hundreds of requests, we may have received three replies and no concrete assistance. I must applaud the sincerity and integrity of those striving to please Allah (swt) in fulfilling their obligation of brotherhood.

The rest did not bother to even acknowledge receipt of our requests.... Perhaps it is the case, as in general society, of negative attitude of people toward those incarcerated....

Some may think that people behind prison bars are not real Muslims. However, if a person in prison hears the words of Islam, accepts it, and

makes the declaration, then at that time he is considered a Muslim, and should be regarded and treated as such by Muslims all over the world....

I would like to thank you for any and all help you may give me on any of the issues I have written to you about in this letter.

I leave as I have come.

As-salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah

Abdul Al-Aziz Muhammad

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Dear Mumeens,

As-salamu Alaikum! I hope that each and every one of you are in the best of spirits. May Allah, the Most High, the Most Gracious, continue to shower His blessings on you all and make the wonderful work you are doing fruitful.

First I really and truly want to thank you for the package you sent me, with the beautiful Quran that was enclosed in it. I have been reading it ever since I got the package, and haven’t been able to put it down as yet. The truth stands out from falsehood. Because Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, has put it in each and every human being to recognize the truth. Reading the Quran you’ve sent me has lit my whole inside up,. because I recognize the truth. In here we say it blows my wig back. Meaning it hits home, there is no more doubt.

... I’m asking again humbly if you all have any kind of literature that will help me with the concept of the Almighty, please send it to me. I hope that I didn’t ask too much, but I’m eager to learn the truth, and Allah guides whom He pleases to a way that is straight. All praise is only for Allah, the Owner of everything, but He grants honor to His true servants. So praise be to Allah for you Muslims who are trying to propagate Islam the way it should be presented. I ask Allah for His forgiveness if I have written anything flagrant.

Allahu Akbar

As-salamu Alaikum

Yours truly

York Hay