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.”


Trump pauses tariffs on most nations for 90 days, raises taxes on Chinese imports

Updated 22 sec ago
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Trump pauses tariffs on most nations for 90 days, raises taxes on Chinese imports

WASHINGTON: Facing a global market meltdown, President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly backed down on his tariffs on most nations for 90 days, but raised his tax rate on Chinese imports to 125 percent.
It was seemingly an attempt to narrow what had been an unprecedented trade war between the US and most of the world to one between the US and China.
Global markets surged on the development, but the precise details of Trump’s plans to ease tariffs on non-China trade partners were not immediately clear.

Pressure builds on Afghans fearing arrest in Pakistan

Afghan refugees sit on a loaden vehicle at a holding centre ahead of their departure for Afghanistan.
Updated 09 April 2025
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Pressure builds on Afghans fearing arrest in Pakistan

  • According to the UN refugee agency, more than 24,665 Afghans have left Pakistan since April 1, 10,741 of whom were deported

KARACHI: Convoys of Afghans pressured to leave Pakistan are driving to the border, fearing the “humiliation” of arrest, as the government’s crackdown on migrants sees widespread public support.
Islamabad wants to deport 800,000 Afghans after canceling their residence permits — the second phase of a deportation program which has already pushed out around 800,000 undocumented Afghans since 2023.
According to the UN refugee agency, more than 24,665 Afghans have left Pakistan since April 1, 10,741 of whom were deported.
“People say the police will come and carry out raids. That is the fear. Everyone is worried about that,” Rahmat Ullah, an Afghan migrant in the megacity Karachi told AFP.
“For a man with a family, nothing is worse than seeing the police take his women from his home. Can anything be more humiliating than this? It would be better if they just killed us instead,” added Nizam Gull, as he backed his belongings and prepared to return to Afghanistan.
Abdul Shah Bukhari, a community leader in one of the largest informal Afghan settlements in the coastal city, has watched multiple buses leave daily for the Afghan border, about 700 kilometers away.
The maze of makeshift homes has grown over decades with the arrival of families fleeing successive wars in Afghanistan. But now, he said “people are leaving voluntarily.”
“What is the need to cause distress or harassment?” said Bukhari.
Ghulam Hazrat, a truck driver, said he reached the Chaman border crossing with Afghanistan after days of police harassment in Karachi.
“We had to leave behind our home. We were being harassed every day.”
In Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on the Afghan border, police climb mosque minarets to order Afghans to leave: “The stay of Afghan nationals in Pakistan has expired. They are requested to return to Afghanistan voluntarily.”
Police warnings are not only aimed at Afghans, but also at Pakistani landlords.
“Two police officers came to my house on Sunday and told me that if there are any Afghan nationals living here they should be evicted,” Farhan Ahmad told AFP.
Human Rights Watch has slammed “abusive tactics” used to pressure Afghans to return to their country, “where they risk persecution by the Taliban and face dire economic conditions.”
In September 2023, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans poured across the border into Afghanistan in the days leading up to a deadline to leave, after weeks of police raids and the demolition of homes.
After decades of hosting millions of Afghan refugees, there is widespread support among the Pakistani public for the deportations.
“They eat here, live here, but are against us. Terrorism is coming from there (Afghanistan), and they should leave; that is their country. We did a lot for them,” Pervaiz Akhtar, a university teacher, told AFP at a market in the capital Islamabad.
“Come with a valid visa, and then come and do business with us,” said Muhammad Shafiq, a 55-year-old businessman.
His views echo the Pakistani government, which for months has blamed rising violence in the border regions on “Afghan-backed perpetrators” and argued that the country can no longer support such a large migrant population.
However, analysts have said the deportation drive is political.
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have soured since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
“The timing and manner of their deportation indicates it is part of Pakistan’s policy of mounting pressure on the Taliban,” Maleeha Lodhi, the former permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN told AFP.
“This should have been done in a humane, voluntary and gradual way.”


Beijing rejects Ukraine claim ‘many’ Chinese fighting for Russia

Updated 09 April 2025
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Beijing rejects Ukraine claim ‘many’ Chinese fighting for Russia

  • Chinese foreign ministry said it was 'absolutely groundless' to suggest many Chinese citizens were fighting in Ukraine
  • Beijing was verifying relevant information with Kyiv while Moscow declined to comment on the matter

KYIV: China on Wednesday rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim that many Chinese citizens were fighting for Russia, calling it “absolutely groundless.”
Zelensky said Tuesday that Kyiv had captured two Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian forces, and that there was evidence “many more Chinese citizens” were fighting with Moscow.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference it was “absolutely groundless” to suggest many Chinese citizens were fighting in Ukraine.
“The Chinese government has always asked its citizens to stay away from areas of armed conflict (and) avoid involvement in armed conflicts in any form,” he said.
He added that Beijing was verifying relevant information with Kyiv.
The Kremlin declined to comment on the matter.
China presents itself as a neutral party in the conflict and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.
But it is a close political and economic partner of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of Moscow’s offensive, which it has never condemned.
“The Chinese side’s position on the issue of the Ukraine crisis is clear and unequivocal, and has won widespread approval from the international community,” Lin said.
“The Ukrainian side should correctly view China’s efforts and constructive role in pushing for a political resolution to the Ukraine crisis.”
Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday that Ukrainian troops had captured the two Chinese citizens fighting with Russian forces in the Donetsk region.
The media outlet Ukrainska Pravda, citing the Ukrainian army, reported that one of the captives had paid $3,480 to an intermediary in China to join the Russian army because he wanted to receive Russian citizenship.
The captive, who is now cooperating with the Ukrainian authorities, also said he was trained in the Russian-occupied Lugansk region as part of a group of Chinese nationals, some of whom had legal issues back home, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
Kyiv released a video of one of the alleged Chinese prisoners showing a man wearing military fatigues with his hands bound.
He mimicked sounds from combat and uttered several words in Mandarin during an apparent interview with a Ukrainian official not pictured.
A senior Ukrainian official told AFP they were captured “a few days ago,” adding that there might be more of them.
The official said the prisoners were likely Chinese citizens who were enticed into signing a contract with the Russian army, rather than being sent by Beijing.


India says PM Modi invited for Russia’s Victory Day parade

Indian PM Narendra Modi has been invited to attend Russia’s annual Victory Day parade in Moscow. (File/AFP)
Updated 09 April 2025
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India says PM Modi invited for Russia’s Victory Day parade

  • Historically close to Russia, India has resisted Western pressure to distance itself from Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine
  • Russia sells India critical military hardware, and has also increasingly emerged as a key energy supplier

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to attend Russia’s annual Victory Day parade in Moscow, India’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday, without confirming the premier’s attendance.
Russia has promised to hold its biggest World War II commemorations “in history” to mark 80 years since the Soviet Union and allied powers defeated Nazi Germany.
The annual Victory Day celebration on May 9 has emerged as Russia’s most important public holiday, one marked with a massive parade of military equipment and soldiers through the Red Square, and culminating in an address from President Vladimir Putin.
Historically close to Russia, India has resisted Western pressure to distance itself from Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia sells India critical military hardware, and has also increasingly emerged as a key energy supplier as New Delhi seeks a pipeline of cheap imports to fuel its economic expansion.
“Our prime minister has received an invitation for participation in the Victory Day celebrations,” foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi.
“We will be announcing our participation in victory day celebrations at the appropriate time.”
Modi visited Russia last October for a multilateral summit and Putin is expected to arrive in India for a bilateral later this year.


Never take peace for granted, King Charles tells Italy parliament

Britain's King Charles III and Britain's Queen Camilla arrive to attend a joint session at the Italian Parliament.
Updated 09 April 2025
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Never take peace for granted, King Charles tells Italy parliament

  • “Britain and Italy stand today united in defense of the democratic values we share,” King Charles said
  • He became the first ever British monarch to address a joint session of Italy’s parliament

ROME: King Charles III warned Wednesday that peace can never be taken for granted and hailed Italy for standing by Ukraine, as he made a historic address to parliament in Rome.
“Peace is never to be taken, never to be taken for granted,” the 76-year-old monarch said during his third day of a state visit to Italy with his wife, Queen Camilla.
“Britain and Italy stand today united in defense of the democratic values we share.
“Our countries have both stood by Ukraine in her hour of need and welcomed many thousands of Ukrainians requiring shelter.”
He noted the defense ties between Italy and the UK, through NATO and a project to develop a new fighter jet with Japan.
Speaking in English with some Italian, Charles became the first ever British monarch to address a joint session of Italy’s parliament.
The king also addressed an issue close to his heart, the environment.
“Just as we stand together in defense of our values, so too we stand together in defense of our planet,” he said.
“From the droughts in Sicily to the floods in Somerset, both our countries are already seeing the ever more damaging effects of climate change.”