Warith Deen Umar (born Wallace Gene Marks, 1945) is a New York-area imam and resident of Bethlehem, New York. He was formerly the head Muslim chaplain of the New York State Department of Correctional Services. He retired in August 2000, but continued to visit prisons as volunteer chaplain until The Wall Street Journal reported that he had praised the September 11 hijackers. New York Governor George Pataki banned Umar from visiting state prisons.