What Does It Mean to Feel Safe?

On Muslim grief, belonging, and what we carry forward 25 years after 9/11.

This month marks 25 years since the September 11 attacks. I want to begin by holding space for the lives that were lost that day, for the people who survived, and for the families and communities whose lives were permanently changed.

Muslim Americans were part of that grief, too. Muslims died in the attacks. Muslims lost loved ones. Muslims were first responders, survivors, New Yorkers, coworkers, neighbors and children trying to understand what had happened.

And then, while grieving alongside everyone else, Muslims became objects of suspicion.

The thread I am holding this September is: What happens when you are grieving a tragedy, while the world begins to look at people like you as though you caused it?

Twenty-five years later, the question still remains relevant. I hear its echoes in the therapy room, in conversations within Muslim communities, in what happens in our schools and institutions, and in the way many of us experience what is happening to Muslim communities around the world today.

This issue of Cultural Threads is about what that history taught us about safety, and what we are still carrying forward.

From This Month: “Muslims Grieved 9/11 Too”

And in the days, months and years that followed, many also found themselves being treated as suspicious because of their faith and identity.

There is something painful about having your grief go unseen while also being asked to prove that you belong among those grieving.

When “Over There” Doesn’t Stay Over There: How global events can enter emotional life and the therapy room

Global events do not always remain psychologically distant.

For some Muslims and diaspora communities, the South West Asia & North Africa/Middle East and North Africa (SWANA/MENA) region may be where family lives, where our parents are from, or where people share our faith, language, and history.

Fear, grief, anger, helplessness, guilt, and exhaustion can follow us into our homes, workplaces, relationships, and bodies.

Sometimes the additional burden is having to explain why these events affect us at all, especially when people around us treat them as “just politics.” All of this is part of mental health.

Beyond The Therapy Room: Supporting Muslim Mental Health with Naseeha

One of the ways I’ve been grateful to support Muslim mental health beyond my therapy practice is through advisory work with Naseeha Mental Health. Naseeha offers the first 24/7 crisis helpline specifically for Muslims.

Since the genocide in Gaza began, Naseeha reported a 600% surge in helpline contacts from Muslim Canadians, including people experiencing anxiety, marginalization in schools and workplaces, and distress connected to the ongoing loss and devastation in Gaza.

It is a powerful reminder that what happens “over there” doesn’t stay over there.

Maybe what we carry forward isn't the expectation that we should become unaffected by what is happening around us. Maybe it's learning how to remain connected to what matters to us without losing ourselves in the process.

Here are some Muslim organizations you can support:

ISPU: research and data about American Muslims, discrimination, and institutional and structural issues.

Emgage USA: voting, civic education, civic participation, and mobilizing Muslim communities.

Emgage Action: policy advocacy, current issues, mobilization, and ways to engage elected officials.

CAIR: civil-rights resources, reporting discrimination, advocacy, and information about rights.

You do not have to leave the world outside the therapy room.

You can talk about the news. About Gaza. About Islamophobia. About being afraid for family abroad. About anger at political systems. About faith. About identity. About guilt when you need to look away. About the exhaustion of having to explain why any of it affects you.

Culturally responsive therapy isn't about pretending those realities don't exist so that we can focus on your symptoms. It's about understanding you within the world you're actually living in.

I work with South Asian, SWANA, and Muslim adults in Texas using a culturally responsive approach that considers the person and the systems, histories, relationships, and identities around them.

If you are looking for therapy where these parts of your experience do not have to be minimized or separated from your mental health, we can start with a conversation.