Abdurrahman

At 11am on 29 November 2019, in a prison in the south of England, a convicted murderer and once-feared gang leader, Abdurrahman, now a Muslim mosque orderly, was knocking on the doors of the prison chaplains in the multi-faith chaplaincy area of Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Cherwell (Category C Prison) asking if anyone would like a cup of tea.

As he prepared the tea, Abdurrahman reflected on the prospect of his upcoming marriage to a Muslim woman whom he had befriended on prison visits, authorised exceptionally by the managing chaplain. He ran through the short guest list of family and friends and was amazed at the quantum shift in his attitude to women since his conviction, inspired by the example of the Prophet Muhammad’s (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him) respectful marriage to Khadija (may God be pleased with her).

Although Abdurrahman knew that he and his wife would not be able to consummate their marriage for years, he wanted to ensure that they could chat at close quarters and hold hands during prison visits in a religiously permitted (halal) way. After attending to the needs of the Muslim, Anglican, Catholic, Jewish and Hindu prison chaplains, Abdurrahman moved onto the purpose-designed prison mosque to vacuum clean it for the Friday Congregational Prayer.

That afternoon, Abdurrahman was scheduled to attend a Qur’an recitation class with the Muslim prison chaplain. Abdurrahman was a designated Learning Mentor for a beginner reading The Qur’an (the Holy Book of Islam). He knew that he would need his wits about him since his young mentee was prone to lapses in concentration and was apt to lark around, distracting himself and others from the tricky task of recitation. After spending much of his life causing violence and chaos, it made Abdurrahman feel calm and grateful that he was bringing his own faith and experience of life to bear to improve someone else’s.

Usman

At 1:45pm on 29 November 2019, Usman, a convicted terrorist out on licence and with an electronic tag, sat unobtrusively in a celebration event at Fishmongers’ Hall, London Bridge.