He left the country’s highest security prison three months ago and, for the first time in his life, he feels he has a sense of purpose.
That’s because the 24-year-old Indigenous man converted to Islam on the inside.
“Islam was basically the only thing I had in jail,” he said. "[It] taught me to improve my temper and it gave me a sense of hope. It’s made me want to strive to be a better person.”
He was given the new name ‘Jihad’ by fellow inmates in Goulburn prison’s Indigenous wing. He claims that at least 25 of about 30 inmates in the wing have converted to Islam and their yard now operates under Shariah law.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole jail is Muslim by now, especially in the Koori yard” said Jihad Harris, who wanted to conceal his first name and face while he makes a fresh start on the outside.
Muslim conversions have become increasingly common in NSW prisons, particularly among Indigenous inmates, according to anecdotal accounts.
However, frontline workers have expressed concerns that inmates are converting for the wrong reasons, increasing the risk of extremism and reflecting the marginalisation of prisoners.
Mr Harris, who converted to Islam two years into a six-year sentence for armed robbery, carjacking and other offences, believed prison authorities in Goulburn were trying to crack down on conversions but it was having the opposite effect on his fellow inmates.
“The officers are starting to go against it, trying to stop everyone ... but the more they do that, the more people want to revert,” he said.
“People are doing it just to piss [the guards] off, they’re writing letters to other jails saying they’re going to blow the place up just to piss them off.”
About nine per cent of inmates identify as Muslim (an increase of one per cent in five years) compared to three per cent of the general population.
Corrective Services NSW said there has been no evidence of an increase in conversions, however a spokesman said they don’t have any data or research on conversions as they are regarded as “a personal matter”.
One indigenous Muslim researcher, who wanted to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity around the issue, said around 60 to 70 per cent of inmates in some Indigenous wings are Muslim.
Former prison imam Soliman Gilany, who worked for six years at Bathurst, Wellington and Lithgow prisons, warned that some inmates were developing extremist views because they were converting out of hate.
He said guards would “make life hell” for converts as well as visiting imams like him.
“They didn’t see the good in the religion, just the bad,” Dr Gilany said. "[But] the more they put pressure on, the more the kids become Muslim. This is no good because their heart is still filled with hate. If they convert for the wrong reasons, they are a threat to everybody, Muslims and non-Muslims.”
Brett Collins, co-ordinator of prisoner advocacy group Justice Action, said he has been told that there is “almost an obligation to become Muslim at the time of entry” in some wings.
He expressed concern that many inmates are converting because they are being marginalised by dwindling education and work opportunities.
“There is nothing for them to help with their own personal development,” he said. “Converting is seen as a way to feel strong and feel good about yourself.”
Dr Gilany said conversions were very common and he found the majority did it because they were searching for spirituality. Others did it for protection and some did it “because the Muslim boys were very generous – they would share everything with everybody”.
Dr Tanveer Ahmed, a forensic psychologist who assesses NSW prisoners, said authorities needed to realise that many inmates convert as a way of showing opposition to authority and to the dominant society.
“It’s a marker of social protest, a way of saying ‘screw you, I know you guys hate Muslims’,” he said. “This doesn’t just happen in jail but it happens in a more extreme way in jail.”
For many prisoners, it is simply a way of getting the tastier halaal food but for others, it offers a sense of power, identity and purpose, he said.
Aboriginal inmates are particularly drawn to Islam because of a lack of colonial or racist stigma in the religion, according to the book Islam Dreaming: Indigenous Muslims in Australia.
A Corrective Services spokesman said Mr Harris’ comments about conversions were “grossly exaggerated” and his claims about Shariah law “completely unfounded”.
He said CSNSW had redoubled efforts to prevent extremist interpretations, including hiring four more volunteer imams last month following a successful pilot with three imams attending Long Bay jail for Friday prayers.
“Apart from a small number of individuals, there has been no problem in NSW correctional centres in the past two years regarding extreme forms of Islam,” he said.
An intelligence arm is also working to identify extremist views and employ “incapacitation strategies” if required, such as “isolating any inmates found to be holding potentially dangerous views,” the spokesman said.
Former inmate Ken Casey, who finished a 15-month sentence for firearms and drug offences in January, said an inmate in his 50s was placed in segregation at Bathurst recently because he was converting inmates.
He said the man was a calming, friendly influence in the prison but authorities were wary.
“Everyone who was coming in fresh, particularly the younger guys, he would talk about Islam and he converted a few in the yard,” said Mr Casey, 41. “I didn’t see anything wrong with it. If you’re feeling isolated or missing that sense of family, it gives you something.”
Mr Harris said he believed prison authorities were becoming “scared” of the number of converts “because the Muslims become unified and then if something starts, it’s one in, all in”.
He converted after watching a DVD lecture by Sheikh Khalid Yasin, a former American gang member who converted from Christianity to Islam.
In the Koori yard, where he claims Shariah law reigns, he said inmates would be whipped if they were caught injecting drugs. “But I see that as a positive thing,” he said. “I used to take drugs and now I’m going to the gym, eating right, putting my head down. I’ve never felt better.”