Food, objects and work days for Oklahoma inmates often are dictated by religious preference

Offenders who subscribe to some faiths are allowed certain days without work.

Muslims are not required to work for about an hour between 1 and 3 p.m. Fridays for their Jumah prayers, for about an hour a day at sunset during the month of Ramadan, and for about an hour at sunset the day before the Eid-al-Adha.

Buddhists are not required to work during midnight practice on New Year's and on three religious holidays: Buddha's birthday (April 15), Honoring the Dead (July 15), and Buddha's Enlightenment Day (Dec. 8).

Hebrew Israelites get off work on the weekly Sabbath, during Passover, and during several other holidays. House of Yahweh and Messianic Jews get similar days off, but the day and title of each individual holiday is different.

Seventh-day Adventists also get off work weekly for Sabbath.

The department's policies for religious objects and symbols include two long lists: one for objects allowed at the facility, and another for objects actually allowed in cells.

Specific rules regarding size, color, style, and usage dictate which objects are approved.

Religious neckwear and literature is allowable in individual cells by members of all faiths.

Communal objects allowed during certain religious ceremonies include:

Up to nine wax candles (Christianity, Judaism, Left-hand Path, Paganism).

A six-ounce bundle of cedar (Native American).

Ceremonial bowls, pipes, drums and tobacco (Native American, Paganism).

Fez (Moorish Science).

Perfumes and oils (Christianity, Islam, Paganism).

Objects allowed in individual cells for religious purposes include:

Prayer beads (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Krishna, Sikhism).

Dream catcher (Native American).

Meditation cushion (Buddhism).

Religious undergarments (Judaism, Mormonism).

Tarot cards (Paganism).