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Many people in prison would like the services of a chaplain, and if you're Muslim, you find that chaplains are in short supply in prison. So a new program in Maine offers classes to inmates. Ari Snider with Maine Public reports.
ARI SNIDER, BYLINE: In a classroom at the Maine State Prison, a recent debate over deep moral questions got a little heated.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: That's why you would have to lie to him. Like, oh, he's everyone. He's everything. He's the man in the sky.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Why's that a lie?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: 'Cause he's not the man in the sky. The sky - we can see the sky. So there would be a man in the sky.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: No, you're being literal.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Your kid is like this (laughter).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: You're being literal.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Yeah, you're being literal. Come on, bro.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: It's a kid.
SNIDER: The discussion session is part of a new program called Prison-based Interventions for Muslim Offenders - or PRIMO for short. It aims to reduce conflict and help Muslim inmates develop a healthy and productive relationship with faith. The man who asked about lying to kids - we're withholding his name in accordance with the prison's victim service review policy - says he enrolled in part to try to answer some big spiritual questions.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Is Islam the only true path towards God? And do they believe in - do anybody else have the path 'cause I don't believe it's just Islam 'cause God wouldn't do that - because everybody is different, so why would you create one for everything? I don't understand that.
SNIDER: The questions don't settle on easy answers. But he says these debates and conversations have offered him new tools to manage his emotions and diffuse conflict.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: So it gives me the chance to help understand others. Like, if someone says something foul to me, I can stop and be like why did you say - you know what I mean? Like, it's not just always aggression anymore. Now it's like, if you understand that person, y'all will never have a issue.
SNIDER: At its core, the premise of PRIMO is simple.
MATTHEW WILKINSON: To understand what Islam is, what Islam isn't and how the values and practices of Islam can feed into helping incarcerated individuals make a productive sentence.
SNIDER: Matthew Wilkinson, a professor of religion and public life at Cardiff University in Wales, spearheads the program. The curriculum for inmates revolves around the idea of the Muslim steward, a sort of aspirational figure who approaches others with respect, thoughtfulness and care.
WILKINSON: The innermost core of stewardship is reflecting on life, being able to take a step back, reflecting on one's core values, reflecting on what one's done right and what one's done wrong.
SNIDER: Key to Wilkinson's vision of stewardship is building healthy relationships. He says that's a critical skill in navigating the tight quarters and sometimes high tensions of prison life and in gaining a foothold in society post release. In Maine, the population of incarcerated Muslims is relatively small, about 140 people across eight facilities, according to Department of Corrections Commissioner Randy Liberty. But Liberty says he wants staff to be familiar with the religion.
RANDY LIBERTY: So they have a good understanding of how important these practices are to individuals and there'll be no misunderstanding or disrespect of their practices.
SNIDER: Liberty says the department is still evaluating the impact of the program but is already looking at how to expand it to other facilities. Abdi Awad is one of two inmates serving as teaching assistants in the PRIMO program. He's also the unofficial prison imam, leading prayers and serving as a liaison between Muslim inmates and prison administration.
ABDI AWAD: A responsibility for me, I have a responsibility for my religion and responsibility for my community. So it's almost like if I don't do it, who will?
SNIDER: And he hopes PRIMO participants can take the model of the Muslim steward to heart.
AWAD: That will help you not return to prison or even change your behavior while you're incarcerated.
SNIDER: Awad says during his incarceration, he's reconnected with the core Islamic principles of kindness and community service, while also pursuing secular higher education. He says he'll be leaning on both to help guide him when he's released in a few years.
For NPR News, I'm Ari Snider in Warren, Maine.
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