Arkansas: Muslim who murdered U.S. soldier demands halal food in prison

It’s not enough that we have to accommodate this genocidal ideology, we are told we have to respect it and above all, do not dare criticize upon pain of death. I should know. I live under a fatwa for doing just that. My new book tells all – get it here, now.

Arkansas: Muslim who murdered U.S. soldier demands halal food in prison

September 26, 2017, By Robert Spencer:

“A federal judge began hearing testimony Monday on a state prisoner’s contention that the Arkansas Department of Correction is violating his right to religious freedom by refusing to provide him a “halal diet” in accordance with his Muslim religion.”

He murdered Pvt. William Long in accordance with his Muslim religion. In explaining how he came to carry out his jihad attack, Muhamma said: “So step by step I became a religiously devout Muslim, Mujahid — meaning one who participates in jihad.”

If he had murdered Long out of adherence to Nazi principles, would the Arkansas Department of Correction be obliged to accommodate his adherence to Nazism in prison?

“Muslim-meal trial underway; man who fatally shot soldier in Little Rock says prison should provide ‘halal diet,’” by Linda Satter, Arkansas Online, September 26, 2017:

A federal judge began hearing testimony Monday on a state prisoner’s contention that the Arkansas Department of Correction is violating his right to religious freedom by refusing to provide him a “halal diet” in accordance with his Muslim religion.

In Abdulhakim Muhammad’s view, meats from herbivorous animals that are slaughtered in accordance with a specific ritual are halal. Muhammad, a Sunni Muslim formerly known at Curtis [sic — actually Carlos — RS] Bledsoe, says “halal” means permitted and “haram” means prohibited. He believes haram food includes pork, meat from carnivorous animals, meat from other animals not properly slaughtered, and any food carrying haram ingredients such as gelatin, alcohol, pepsin, monoglycerides and diglycerides, and other animal byproducts.

“Mr. Muhammad sincerely believes as a practicing Muslim he must consume a halal diet,” according to his attorney, Jess Askew of Little Rock. Askew said that requires the daily eating of halal meats, which could be fish or other meats except for pork. He considers kosher meats, which meet the specific religious requirements for meat to be halal, to be an acceptable substitute.

The dietitian-developed meals the prison system provides three times a day for its 15,000 inmates in 21 units include a rotation of various meats as a daily protein source. Fish, in the form of tuna or mackerel, isn’t an everyday choice, and the other meats aren’t “halal certified.”

Muhammad has been imprisoned since 2012 for the drive-by shooting of two soldiers, one fatally, outside a military recruiting station in Little Rock in 2009. He pleaded guilty to capital murder, attempted capital murder and 10 counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle. He is serving life without parole.

Kay Skillen, the Correction Department’s food services administrator of 20 years, testified that the food being served in the rotation follows Administrative Directive 13-98, which was published Nov. 22, 2013. She said there are meal options available for medically or religiously qualified inmates. They include vegetarian meals; high-calorie, high-protein meals; low-carbohydrate meals; cardiovascular meals; and low-sodium meals. But she said no special foods are purchased to make those special meals; instead, the department’s kitchens specially prepare the ingredients supplied by low-cost vendors.

For inmates who can’t eat pork on the days it is offered, an alternative meat is provided, she said. She said the department also provides common fare, or meatless, meals for inmates who don’t eat meat for religious reasons, and those meals are prepared in separate common fare kitchens to avoid contamination by other foods. She said they may not be kosher-certified, but she believes they are generally accepted as kosher.

Muhammad complained in a 2015 lawsuit that court decisions in 2002 and 2006 led the department to begin serving kosher food for inmates whose religions required it, but that it won’t accommodate him in the same way….