Restrictions on religious practice at Guantánamo

Restrictions on religious practice at Guantánamo shaped Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s daily life through prohibitions on prayer and recitation, the withholding of Islamic books, and uncertain enforcement. His account records both direct suppression and small, provisional changes: after praying secretly and being stopped repeatedly, he eventually prayed under guards’ observation without comment, though he continued to be denied Islamic books.

Rules and enforcement

Slahi describes religious practice as expressly forbidden during his detention. One interrogator, whom Slahi says was openly hostile to Islam, prohibited Islamic practices including prayer and reciting or murmuring the Qur’an. Slahi also recounts repeatedly testing how much religious practice the authorities would tolerate and being stopped when he prayed. He therefore continued to pray in secret.

The restrictions extended beyond worship. Slahi reports that many Arabic and religious books were banned, alongside books for learning English. When he asked why English-learning books were prohibited, he was told that detainees learned the language quickly and could understand the guards. In his account, access to language and religious materials was thus restricted within the same environment, though the stated reason for each ban differed.

Access to books

Slahi places these restrictions amid heightened sensitivity around religion at the detention camp. He recounts that the Muslim chaplain at Guantánamo Bay detention camp had been arrested and another Muslim soldier charged with treason. He says he understood the banning of religious books, but continued to question why English-learning books were also withheld.

In July 2004, Slahi found a copy of the Qur’an found among the laundry beneath his clothes. He worried that taking it to his cell might amount to stealing it in order to save it, but carried it there; nobody asked him why, and he did not raise the matter himself. The quiet, unannounced transfer offered access to a religious text despite the formal restrictions, but did not signal that the ban had been lifted.

A limited change in tolerance

Near the end of July 2004, Slahi prayed while new guards watched and none intervened. He understood this as a new era in his detention, a marked contrast with the earlier occasions when his prayers had been stopped. The change was specific to what happened during that observed prayer; his account does not establish that religious practice had become generally permitted.

The limits remained evident afterward. Slahi says he continued asking for Islamic books but received none, while novels and animal books were available. The contrast between a prayer that went unchallenged and continued denial of religious reading captures the uneven character of the change: one practice was briefly tolerated, but access to religious materials remained restricted.