Mental health no longer taboo in Muslim communities, say UK specialists 

There has been a significant increase in the number of people accessing mental health services in the last year, according to the UK National Health Service. (Shutterstock)
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Updated 11 March 2022
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Mental health no longer taboo in Muslim communities, say UK specialists 

  • The pandemic has made mental health more visible, while mental health issues have increased as a result of COVID and its implications, experts say
  • Supporting Humanity charity says they have seen a sharp increase in calls to their helpline in the last 3 months

LONDON: Discussing mental health is becoming more acceptable among Muslim communities in Britain and misconceptions are being properly addressed, experts have claimed.
“Mental health has been around for a long time, but we have not accepted it or actually sought help, and now we need to get minority communities in the UK, and globally, to understand that mental health is not a stigma, it’s not black magic or jinn possession, it is actually an illness,” Mohammed Kothia, an emotional support specialist, told Arab News.
“There’s a realization now that it’s ok to not be ok, it’s better to speak and address the problems one has, rather than suffer in silence or brush it under the carpet,” he said.
Another common misconception is that non-religious mental health professionals will impose their views on you and undermine your Islamic beliefs, Kothia added.
Muslim communities tend to go spiritual healers who may have no mental health background, rather than skilled, qualified professionals who have ethical obligations and a code of conduct.
“It’s important to seek help in the correct place, and I think as a community, maybe we have failed at times to do that,” he said, adding: “If Islam and your spirituality is an important factor in your life, then you should have an open discussion with your therapist or counselor.”
Kothia said that Muslims have the same issues as everyone else.
For example, the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdowns have caused stress, anxiety, depression and isolation to affect all groups. Families have struggled with death and grieving, especially when they were unable to see loved ones during the final stages of their lives or to perform normal funeral rites due to government restrictions.
Kothia said financial implications may become more severe in the months to come due to the pandemic, a rise in inflation, unemployment — especially among youth — cost of living, and a worsening energy crisis.
Personal wellbeing in the UK during the first and second wave of the pandemic was among the lowest levels in a decade, the Office for National Statistics said in its annual report earlier this month.
There has been a significant increase in the number of people accessing mental health services in the last year, according to the UK National Health Service, and as a result, a number of charities and organizations have taken a proactive focus to address the core of the problem.
Kothia, who is also heavily involved at his local mosque in east London and sees the issues in the community firsthand, said in the last five years, there had also been a massive rise in Muslim and other minority counselors and emotional support volunteers that are “breaking barriers,” and the next stage is to get more Muslim specialists in the field.
The other positive is the youth are now being taught about mental health, with hopes that it will not be stigmatized.
This comes down to education, Kothia said, which is why “awareness in the Muslim community and the wider society, will lead to more of us working in the field, and the more awareness we can bring to our communities, then naturally, that collective work will lead to a positive outcome.”




Muslim communities tend to go spiritual healers who may have no mental health background, rather than skilled, qualified professionals who have ethical obligations and a code of conduct. (Shutterstock)

The London-based mental health and bereavement charity Supporting Humanity runs a free emotional support helpline, and said in the last three months they have seen a sharp increase in calls.
Many people feel they are not heard and are worried of being judged, so the key is active listening, anonymity and confidentiality, Kothia, who also volunteers at the helpline, said. “We underestimate the power of lending an ear and listening.”
Supporting Humanity, which was set up at the start of the pandemic and has trained nearly 30 people to be mental health advisers, said the elderly were among their top callers.
“The pandemic has left a lasting impact on our elderly, and their anxiety and depression levels, and I think the government hasn’t addressed this issue that ‘shielding’ has had a massive impact on our society,” Kothia said.
Levels of loneliness in Britain have increased since last spring, and 5 percent of people (about 2.6 million adults) said that they felt lonely “often” or “always,” and that proportion increased to 7.2 percent of the adult population (about 3.7 million) by February, the ONS said in April.
“Some of them have been struggling for years and they talk about how they thought about committing suicide numerous times, how they trap themselves in a room because they’re embarrassed or scared to go and talk to other people, there’s so many people out there with various different mental health issues,” said Idris Patel, the charity’s CEO.
He also said more marketing campaigns and outreach programs are needed in community centers, schools and universities, businesses, GP surgeries as well as religious centers and mosques as they are “catchment areas” for people who are suffering or contemplating suicide.
The charity also regularly trains imams to explain the differences between black magic and mental health, directing people to professionals and charities, and highlighting free services.
Suicide and attempted suicide rates in the Muslim community have increased, particularly among youth, which account for half of the British Muslim population. A report released in July by the Better Community Business Network, a Muslim-led organization supporting mental health and positive wellbeing of Muslim communities across the UK, in partnership with the University of East London, found that 64 percent of Muslim youth said they experience suicidal thoughts and nearly one-fifth said they had turned to no one when undergoing difficulties.
Addiction is another major issue, Patel said, as parents are not tackling the root of the problem, are embarrassed to admit their child has a drug or alcohol problem, and do not seek professional help. So is domestic violence, he added.




Idris Patel, CEO of Supporting Humanity, was awarded the British Citizen Awards and the British Empire Medal by Queen Elizabeth II in October for his work in the community. (Supplied/Supporting Humanity)

Shamam Chowdhury was introduced to the charity after her 22 year-old son was murdered and needed funeral services, and was also introduced to mental health and emotional support.
British-Bangladeshi Mohammed Aqil Mahdi, an accounting and finance student at Greenwich University, was found stabbed to death in east London on Nov. 6. An online fund has been set up in his memory to raise money for a mosque in Egypt.
“I was very overwhelmed because I’ve never been in this kind of situation and one, I’ve just lost my son, which was shocking itself, and second, not knowing or understanding anything,” she said.
With police inspectors contacting her for statements, and then finding out she would not be able to see her son until after the postmortem examination, the 45 year-old single mother felt lost and alone.
The charity stepped in and handled all the paperwork, logistics, postmortem, the ghusl (the washing process Muslims have to undertake before burial), the burial and the funeral (janazah) prayer, as part of the end-to-end bereavement services its offers to help people focus on grieving.
“When you are in that kind of situation where you’ve just lost, I would say, your most valuable thing in this world, and then being in a situation where you have no clue how to go about these things,” she said, describing the torment of her experiences, but added that an emotional support adviser made her feel “like there was a light at the end of the tunnel.” 
She continued: “(The counselor) would take his time in the conversation to give me that emotional support, just simply by listening, asking simple questions like ‘how are you feeling today?’ And then from the Islamic side, he would give examples of hadith or Qur’anic verses that gave me comfort and content, it made a huge difference and it gave me confidence,” Chowdhury said.




British-Bangladeshi Mohammed Aqil Mahdi, an accounting and finance student at Greenwich University, was found stabbed to death in east London on Nov. 6. (Supplied/Shamam Chowdhury)

Describing herself as a strong woman, and the family sharing a tight-knit, unique bond, his sudden death hit them quite hard, having never experienced mental health issues before, the whole situation was unfamiliar to them.
Chowdhury also received emotional support for her two daughters, Anjuman, 25, and Hidayah, 10, and the eldest also became involved in some of the charity’s work, “because helping others meant that would help her to overcome it as well.”
She added that she has no problem paying for mental health services, but thinks the majority of services give “false hope,” charge extremely high prices, and in most cases don’t produce qualitative results.
Chowdhury, who is self-employed and has been teaching the Qur’an for 18 years, said talking, sharing and getting that support is so important, and urged people not to be afraid and not to let society take over.
“Our Muslim society plays a big role in people seeking help, because they make them feel it’s something that you should just get on with (and) we all feel sometimes that seeking help, or seeking support, or sharing is a sign of weakness, but it’s not, it’s is actually a sign of strength.”


US Supreme Court says Trump administration must work to bring back mistakenly deported Maryland man

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US Supreme Court says Trump administration must work to bring back mistakenly deported Maryland man

  • District Judge Paula Xinis had earlier ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia, now being held in a notorious Salvadoran prison, returned to the US urgently
  • The administration has conceded that it made a mistake in sending the man to El Salvador, but argued that it no longer could do anything about it

WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Trump administration must work to bring back a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to prison in El Salvador, rejecting the administration’s emergency appeal.
The court acted in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who had an immigration court order preventing his deportation to his native country over fears he would face persecution from local gangs.
US District Judge Paula Xinis had ordered Abrego Garcia, now being held in a notorious Salvadoran prison, returned to the United States by midnight Monday.
“The order properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” the court said in an unsigned order with no noted dissents.
It comes after a string of rulings on the court’s emergency docket where the conservative majority has at least partially sided with Trump amid a wave of lower court orders slowing the president’s sweeping agenda.
In Thursday’s case, Chief Justice John Roberts had already pushed back Xinis’ deadline. The justices also said that her order must now be clarified to make sure it doesn’t intrude into executive branch power over foreign affairs, since Abrego Garcia is being held abroad. The court said the Trump administration should also be prepared to share what steps it has taken to try to get him back — and what more it could potentially do.
The administration claims Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, though he has never been charged with or convicted of a crime. His attorneys said there is no evidence he was in MS-13.
The administration has conceded that it made a mistake in sending him to El Salvador, but argued that it no longer could do anything about it.
The court’s liberal justices said the administration should have hastened to correct “its egregious error” and was “plainly wrong” to suggest it could not bring him home.
“The Government’s argument, moreover, implies that it could deport and incarcerate any person, including U. S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, joined by her two colleagues.
Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, said the ordeal has been an “emotional rollercoaster” for their family and the entire community.
“I am anxiously waiting for Kilmar to be here in my arms, and in our home putting our children to bed, knowing this nightmare is almost at its end. I will continue fighting until my husband is home,” she said.
One of his lawyers, Simon Sandoval-Moshenburg, said “tonight, the rule of law prevailed,” and he encouraged the government to “stop wasting time and get moving.”
In the district court, Xinis wrote that the decision to arrest Abrego Garcia and send him to El Salvador appears to be “wholly lawless.” There is little to no evidence to support a “vague, uncorroborated” allegation that Abrego Garcia was once in the MS-13 street gang, Xinis wrote.
The 29-year-old was detained by immigration agents and deported last month.
He had a permit from the Homeland Security Department to legally work in the US and was a sheet metal apprentice pursuing a journeyman license, his attorney said. His wife is a US citizen.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant DHS secretary for public affairs, said Thursday that the justices’ order for clarification from the lower court was a win for the administration. “We look forward to continuing to advance our position in this case,” she said.
An immigration judge had previously barred the US from deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador in 2019, finding that he faced likely persecution by local gangs.
A Justice Department lawyer conceded in a court hearing that Abrego Garcia should not have been deported. Attorney General Pam Bondi later removed the lawyer, Erez Reuveni, from the case and placed him on leave.
 


Pro-Palestinian protesters at Stanford charged with felonies

Updated 42 min 37 sec ago
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Pro-Palestinian protesters at Stanford charged with felonies

  • Those charged were arrested in June 2024 during a protest action that turned violent, with a police officer injured and school building suffering “extensive” damage

WASHINGTON: Twelve protesters were charged on Thursday with felony vandalism for their actions during a June 2024 pro-Palestinian protest at Stanford University in which demonstrators barricaded themselves inside the office of the school president.
Those charged, ranging in age from 19 to 32, entered the building and demonstrated a “conspiracy to occupy” it, prosecutors said, adding that at least one suspect entered the building by breaking a window. All suspects wore masks, they said. Dozens of other protesters surrounded the building and chanted: “Palestine will be free.” At the time, the university said 13 people were arrested during the protest, one police officer was injured and the building suffered “extensive” damage.
Protesters renamed the building “Dr. Adnan’s Office” in honor of Adnan Al-Bursh, a Palestinian doctor who died in an Israeli prison after months of detention.
Those charged could not immediately be reached and it was not clear if they retained legal representation.
President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to withhold federal funding from universities, including Stanford, over allegations that they failed to stop antisemitism and intimidation of Jewish students.
Protesters say their criticism of Israel’s military assault on Gaza has been wrongly conflated with antisemitism.


Beijing bites back at US tariffs by curbing Hollywood film imports

Updated 11 April 2025
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Beijing bites back at US tariffs by curbing Hollywood film imports

  • Hollywood’s share in China’s box office drops to 5 percent
  • Domestic films dominate China’s box office, accounting for 80 percent of revenue

BEIJING: China said on Thursday it would immediately restrict imports of Hollywood films in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s escalation of US tariffs on imported Chinese goods, targeting one of the most high-profile American exports.
Industry analysts said the financial impact was likely to be minimal, however, because Hollywood’s box office returns in China have declined significantly in recent years.
After three decades during which China imported 10 Hollywood movies per year, Beijing’s National Film Administration said Trump’s tariff actions would further sour domestic demand for US cinema in China.
“We will follow market rules, respect the audience’s choices, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported,” the NFA said on its website.
Hollywood studios once looked to China, the world’s second-largest film market, to help boost box office performance of movies. But domestic movies increasingly have outperformed Hollywood’s fare in China, with “Ne Zha 2” this year eclipsing Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
Chris Fenton, author of “Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, and American Business,” said limiting US-made films was a “super high-profile way to make a statement of retaliation with almost zero downside for China.”
Hollywood films account for only 5 percent of overall box office receipts in China’s market. And Hollywood studios receive only 25 percent of ticket sales in China, compared with double that in other markets, Fenton said.
“Such a high-profile punishment of Hollywood is an all-win motion of strength by Beijing that will surely be noticed by Washington,” Fenton added.
Trump did not jump to Hollywood’s defense. “I think I’ve heard of worse things,” the president said when asked about China’s restrictions.
Many Hollywood celebrities supported Trump’s Democratic opponent in last year’s election.
One entertainment industry source predicted that big Hollywood blockbusters, which continue to attract moviegoers in China, may still reach the big screen. Walt Disney’s Marvel superhero movie “Thunderbolts,” which kicks off the summer blockbuster season, recently received permission to debut in China on April 30.
It was not clear if China would approve the entry of other major releases this summer, such as Paramount’s “Mission Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” which may mark Tom Cruise’s last appearance in the long-running franchise, Warner Bros’ new “Superman” movie from “Guardians of the Galaxy” filmmaker James Gunn, and Marvel’s new take on “The Fantastic Four.

On China’s all-time box office list, only one imported film ranks in the top 20 — “Avengers: Endgame,” with revenue of 4.25 billion yuan ($579.83 million). (Social Media)

Limited impact
IMAX said it expects the slate for its large-format screens, which includes Hollywood, Chinese and international films, would not be materially impacted by the restrictions.
“We continue to expect a strong year for IMAX in China, coming off our highest-grossing first quarter ever in the country,” an IMAX spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.
Seth Shafer, principal analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan, predicted the restrictions would have limited impact.
“Only roughly 25 percent of domestic wide-release films are now released in China and that percentage has dropped steadily over time due to increasing competition from China’s local film production industry,” Shafer said. “For domestic films that do get a release in China, typically less than 10 percent of the film’s global gross box office revenue comes from China.”
“Captain America: Brave New World,” a Marvel film released in February, took in $14.4 million in China out of its $413 million in global receipts.
In the past, imports including “Titanic” and “Avatar” became box office smashes in the Chinese market, making actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio and directors such as James Cameron household names among Chinese film lovers across generations.
Since 2020, Chinese-made films have consistently accounted for around 80 percent of annual box office revenue, up from around 60 percent previously.
On China’s all-time box office list, only one imported film ranks in the top 20 — “Avengers: Endgame,” with revenue of 4.25 billion yuan ($579.83 million). The remaining films in the top 20 are all domestic productions.


Helicopter crashes into New York’s Hudson River, all six aboard killed

Updated 11 April 2025
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Helicopter crashes into New York’s Hudson River, all six aboard killed

A tourist helicopter crashed into New York City’s Hudson River on Thursday, killing all six aboard including three children, New York Mayor Eric Adams said.
The victims, the pilot and five passengers, were believe to include a family from Spain, Adams told a press conference.
The New York Helicopters tour aircraft departed at 2:59 p.m. and later lost control, hitting the water upside down near Lower Manhattan at around 3:15 p.m. and becoming submerged in the river, officials said.
The pilot, another two adults and three children were on board, an official told reporters.
New York City Police divers and FDNY divers helped remove the victims from the water. Four were pronounced dead at the scene, while two others were taken to area hospitals where they succumbed to their injuries. The helicopter hit the water inverted, officials said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the helicopter was a Bell 206. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, with the NTSB leading the investigation.
A New York City Police spokesperson said that police boats had assisted in the rescue efforts on the Hudson.
News video of the crash site showed several emergency and police boats circling around a patch of river where the helicopter was submerged.
The accident took place in the river off the Tribeca neighborhood. New York police said residents should expect emergency vehicles and traffic delays in the surrounding areas. 


US national intelligence head says MLK and RFK assassination records will soon be public

Updated 11 April 2025
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US national intelligence head says MLK and RFK assassination records will soon be public

WASHINGTON: Documents related to the 1968 assassinations of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy will soon be made public as more than 100 people have been working “around the clock” to scan them, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said during a Cabinet meeting Thursday.
The documents had been in boxes in storage for decades, Gabbard said.
“I’ve had over 100 people working around the clock to scan the paper around Sen. Robert F Kennedy’s assassination, as well as Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination ... They have never been scanned or seen before,” she said. “We’ll have those ready to release here within the next few days.”
When Kennedy’s son, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who also was at the meeting, was asked by President Donald Trump about the impending release of the documents, he said, “I’m very grateful to you Mr. President.”
Trump asked Gabbard if the health secretary had any concerns about releasing the documents.
“His response is, ‘Put it out. The world needs to know the truth,’” Gabbard said.
Searches were also being done of storage lockers at the FBI, CIA and other agencies to see if other documents can be found, Gabbard said.
“We want to get it all out,” Trump said.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to questions seeking information about the effort to identify records about the MLK or RFK assassinations.
Trump had signed an executive order in January after taking office calling for the release of governmental documents related to the assassinations.
King and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated within two months of each other in 1968.
King was outside a motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, when shots rang out. The civil rights leader, who had been in town to support striking sanitation workers, was set to lead marches and other nonviolent protests there.
James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to assassinating King. He later though renounced that plea and maintained his innocence up until his death.
Robert F. Kennedy, then a New York senator, was fatally shot on June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles moments after giving his victory speech for winning California’s Democratic presidential primary. His assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving life in prison.
Earlier this week Gabbard announced the creation of a task force that will consider whether the government should declassify material about several other issues of public interest, including the origins of COVID-19, federal efforts to influence online speech and investigations into mysterious health symptoms reported by some US diplomats and government employees that were once dubbed ” Havana syndrome.” Gabbard’s office did not specify how the task force would be appointed or when it expects to submit its recommendations.