SOUTHFIELD — The Michigan Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, CAIR- MI, filed a lawsuit last week against the Michigan Department of Corrections for not providing adequate nutrition for Muslim inmates throughout the month of Ramadan, during which Muslims are religiously required to refrain from consuming food and beverages from sunrise to sunset. 

The case also challenges the authorities for not providing halal food to Muslim inmates. Muslims are mandated by their religion to only eat halal meat, obtained from animals slaughtered in accordance with Islamic tradition. 

Michigan law requires correctional facilities to provide inmates with a diet that contains 2600 to 2900 calories daily. But the lawsuit claims that “upon information and belief,” meals offered to Muslim inmates during Ramadan do not fill the nutritional quota required by the State. 

“The daily caloric intake on the ‘Ramadan Bagged Meal’ menu ranges, from approximately 1,100 calories to approximately 1,400 calories, depending on the day,” reads the lawsuit filed by CAIR-MI on behalf of many Muslim prisoners.

“Forcing Muslim inmates to sacrifice half of their diet amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, which is prohibited by the Constitution,” said CAIR-MI attorney Lena Masri.

She added that the case targets both policies that concern the Ramadan diet and halal meat, but the two issues are compounded during Ramadan, when Muslim prisoners are forced to eat the non-halal meat served by their facilities to maintain a somewhat healthy diet.

The lawsuit, which accuses the Michigan Department of Corrections of violating the United States Constitution, says the department has not identified any compelling government interest for denying inmates their request for halal food.

In response to accusations of enforcing sharia law by some right wing bloggers, when Muslims demand special dietary accommodation from the State, Masri said, “We are enforcing the right of freedom of religion. We want Muslim inmates not to be forced to sacrifice half of their diet.”

She said it is hard to tell what the outcome of the lawsuit would be at this point. Ramadan, which is the 9th month of the Islamic lunar calendar, is set to begin around July 8 this year.

A Muslim inmate had similarly challenged the lack of halal food in Ohio prisons in 2011. The case was settled in January 2012, but no change was made in the policy regarding food preparation in the State’s prisons. According the Associated Press, the State of Ohio argued that serving halal food “could bankrupt the State’s food service system, because thousands of inmates have declared themselves Muslim.”