Muslim inmates ask for special food for Ramadan

Muslim inmates in Malawi prisons have asked for special food to enable them observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the pana-African news agency PANA reported.

Muslims the world-over are currently observing Ramadan, a month in which the faithful fast and hold special prayers of supplication to Allah.

In a letter addressed to the Muslim Association of Malawi via one of its executive members, Sheikh Yusuf Kanyamula, the spokesman of the Muslim prisoners, Ismael Assah Yaseen, complains that Malawi prisons lack prayer facilities.

"We don't know whether the food we eat here is halaal (fit for consumption by Muslims) or haraam (unfit for consumption). We just eat it to sustain our lives," he says in the letter.

Yaseen, serving time at Zomba Central Prison which has 140 Muslim inmates, asks in the letter the Muslim community in Malawi to help with what he termed as "clean food," saying even though they are prisoners Muslim inmates would like to keep in touch with their faith.

Sheikh Kanyamula, whose achievements include translating the Koran into Malawi's lingua franca, Chichewa, said the Muslim inmates have a point in their complaint.

"It's hard for faithful Muslim inmates since our prisons only offer one meal and only at noon," he said.

Kanyamula visited Zomba Prison after receiving the letter on Wednesday.