Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind alim, incarcerated in the Springfield Centre (Missouri), sent out the following letter from prison.  Its contents are shocking and humiliating for all Muslims.  We reproduce it below so that the world would know what the Americans are doing to a respected Muslim alim.

'In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.'

'All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessing be upon the master of the messengers, Prophet Muhammad.  Blessing and peace be upon his family, his companions and those who follow him faithfully until the Day of Judgement....'
'The conditions in the prison (where I am kept) are very bad and extremely poor.  This can be seen from the following:
'1.  What they claim about freedom of religion and freedom of worship is all-false.  I have not been allowed to pray Juma (Friday) prayers, or even pray in congregation since I arrived at the prison in October 1995.
'2.  There is prejudice and discrimination in the their treatment in prison.  When other prisoners call for the guards, they hurry to respond.  I keep knocking on my cell door for hours but nobody responds to my needs.
'3.  I go for months without my hair and nails cut; similarly I have to wash my underwear myself.
'4.  I am kept in solitary confinement, in my situation (sheikh Omar is blind, suffers from diabetes and is advanced in age) without anyone to help me arrange my belongings.  I have no one to converse with day or night, nor am I allowed to socialise with others since there is no one close to my cell, neither Muslim nor anyone else who can speak Arabic (Remember, Sheikh Omar can only speak Arabic).  I stay like that day and night.  What loneliness, what cruelty? By doing this they want to make me terminally ill to exact revenge because I am a Muslim.  Are these the human rights they boast about so much and fill the airwaves and new media while persecuting us so that we are unable to speak or raise our voice?
5) Have you heard of the strip searches and exposure of the private parts, and stripping people of all their outer and inner garments so that they are naked as the day they were born?  By Allah, this occurs to me every time a friend or family member visits me (Although I have no relative in America, all Muslims are my family).  Every visit means I have to strip twice.  They order me to remove all my clothes, and I swish this was the end of it.  Instead, the chief prison guard, named Curling, with another man named Dayand several other guards, order me to open my thighs and bend forward.  And then, like beasts- I can not really say it out of shyness and shame, but I will say it to relieve the pressure on myself and to let the Muslim Ummah live up to its duties and responsibilities towards its religion-they search my private parts intimately while they stand around watching and laughing. Groups of guards race around to take turns in looking inside my private parts while I am in this bent position.  The one who spends the longest time looking and inspecting is considered to have done the best job.  They humiliate and degrade me in this manner because I am Muslim and what they do is expressly forbidden by Allah.

And shy should they not do this?  They have found their prey and achieved their goal.  What are they looking for in my private parts? Are they looking for weapons, explosives or drugs that I have taken from the prison cell to my visitor or from my visitor to my cell? They do this twice to me on each visit so that I melt from shame and embarrassment and wish that the earth would open up and swallow me rather than they do this to me.  Does this please those who protect their religion and honour?

"O People of manliness and brotherhood.  O People that save and fulfil. O People of sacrifice and dignity.  O Men of Allah! Rise from your deep slumber.  Rise up with your resounding voices be heard in every place., loudly without rear.  Rise up, O Men of Allah and like one body, show the truth and negate the evil.  'And don't give in to those who aggress lest the fire take hold of you.'
'Prisoners are for Scholars or criminals to sleep in?  Death has surrounded my Ummah.  Say Allahu Akbar and tell death to live!
'Who will wake up a nation that builds its nest on the winds, its feelings numbed and shows no reaction to plots? It is lost if its scholars fill up the cells like sheep.  Aren't there courageous men who fear Allah?  Aren't there strong words to throw the evil and shrink it?

ALLAHU AKBAR

Write letter of protest to:

Mr Marty Anderson
MCFP-P.O.Box 4000
Springfield, MO, 65801-4000, USA
Phone (417) 862-7041
Fax:( 417) 837-1777