SMF and Idara e Jaferia to Host Faith & Mental Health Workshop

BURTONSVILLE, MD — The Shia Muslim Foundation and Idara e Jaferia will host a Faith & Mental Health Workshop on Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to noon at Idara e Jaferia in Burtonsville, Maryland.

The workshop will bring together state officials, mental health professionals, and community members for a conversation about coping with tragedy, religious discrimination, and stress through faith and support. Adults, students, and young people in the Shia Muslim community are invited to attend.

For many Shia Muslims, news of wars and suffering abroad comes alongside concerns about religious hatred and discrimination locally. The workshop will provide a space to discuss these pressures, ask questions, and learn about available support and services.

Proposed quote for Rahat Husain, Executive Director of Shia Muslim Foundation:

“Many people in our community are carrying grief over suffering abroad while also dealing with stress and discrimination here at home. We want to make it easier to talk about those experiences, seek support, and connect with mental health professionals. Faith and community can play an important role in that conversation.”

Featured Speakers

The workshop will feature Dr. Rachel Talley, MD, Deputy Secretary for Behavioral Health at the Maryland Department of Health, and Dr. Lora Hargrove, PhD, DMin, MDiv, Director of Faith Outreach at the Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives.

Their participation will bring perspectives from Maryland’s behavioral health leadership and faith outreach efforts to the community discussion.

Program and Community Resources

The program will include welcome remarks and introductions, a presentation on faith and mental health, and a panel discussion with community mental health professionals. Resource tables and informational materials will offer information about available services and support.

The conversation will address concerns relevant to adults, students, and young people, with an emphasis on connecting community members with practical resources.

Event Details

• Saturday, October 17, 2026

• 10:00 a.m. to noon

• Idara e Jaferia

• 3140 Spencerville Road

• Burtonsville, MD 20866

Muslim Students Face Disproportionate Religious Discrimination on U.S. College Campuses, New Data Shows

WASHINGTON — Muslim students in the United States are reporting religious discrimination on college campuses at rates substantially higher than students from other religious groups, according to data highlighted in a new higher education resource from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.

The findings are part of ISPU’s “Countering and Dismantling Islamophobia” toolkit, which includes recommendations specifically aimed at universities and colleges. The data point to discrimination involving fellow students, people in positions of authority, institutional practices and restrictions on religious expression.

According to ISPU’s American Muslim Poll 2025, 63 percent of Muslims surveyed reported experiencing religious discrimination during the previous year, compared with 50 percent of Jewish respondents, 27 percent of Protestants, 25 percent of Catholics and 22 percent of religiously unaffiliated respondents. The survey was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago between April 2 and May 8, 2025.

The disparities become particularly pronounced when researchers examine higher education.

Among respondents who said they had experienced religious discrimination, 25 percent of Muslims reported experiencing discrimination while interacting with peers at a university or college. The corresponding figures were 13 percent among Jewish respondents and 6 percent among Protestants.

Nearly another quarter, 24 percent, of Muslims who experienced religious discrimination reported encountering it while dealing with people in positions of authority at their academic institutions, including faculty, administrators or staff, according to ISPU’s university findings.

Muslim students report greater discrimination than Muslim nonstudents

Earlier ISPU research suggests that attending college itself may be associated with greater exposure to religious discrimination among Muslims.

In research based on polling conducted from December 2023 through January 2024, 84 percent of Muslim students in higher education or vocational programs reported experiencing religious discrimination during the preceding year, compared with 66 percent of Muslims who were not students.

The difference was also visible in particular settings. Seventy eight percent of Muslim students reported religious bias from peers, compared with 56 percent of Muslim nonstudents. Sixty eight percent reported discrimination involving people in authority, compared with 50 percent of Muslim nonstudents.

The results indicate that discrimination is not confined to isolated interactions between students. ISPU describes Muslim students as encountering bias from peers, faculty and institutional policies.

Students report pressure to remain silent

Another issue identified by the research is self censorship.

ISPU’s university toolkit, citing research from Muslim Campus Life, reports that 53 percent of Muslim students self censor generally and 69 percent report self censoring when interacting with professors, the highest levels among the religious groups measured.

The finding raises concerns beyond religious accommodation. Students who believe that expressing religious, social or political views could result in academic or professional consequences may choose not to participate fully in classroom discussions or campus activities.

Muslim Campus Life, an organization focused on Muslim experiences in higher education, maintains a national tracker documenting reported incidents involving Islamophobia, anti Muslim racism, anti Arab racism and anti Palestinian racism on college campuses.

Other research points to a broader campus problem

ISPU’s findings are consistent with other recent research examining Muslim students.

A 2024 study by CAIR California surveyed 720 Muslim students attending 87 public and private colleges and universities in California. Nearly half reported experiencing harassment or discrimination on campus during the 2023 to 2024 academic year, an increase from 40 percent in the organization’s previous campus climate study.

Among students who reported harassment or discrimination because of their Muslim identity, 53 percent said their institution’s official statements regarding Palestine and Israel made them feel excluded on campus.

Institutional reviews have documented similar concerns. Harvard University’s 2025 Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti Muslim, Anti Arab and Anti Palestinian Bias reported concerns from Muslim students regarding prayer space, halal food, Ramadan meals and institutional support for Muslim religious life.

Muslim religious spaces have also been targeted

Recent incidents have demonstrated that campus discrimination can extend beyond speech or institutional policy.

During Eid al Fitr in April 2024, the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University was broken into and vandalized. Religious artifacts and other property were damaged. Federal prosecutors subsequently charged a New Jersey man with a federal hate crime involving obstruction of religious practice.

In April 2025, a Muslim prayer room inside a New York University library was vandalized. University officials reported obscene imagery on a wall and urine on prayer mats and publicly condemned the desecration.

These incidents illustrate the range of problems Muslim students may encounter, from interpersonal discrimination and inadequate religious accommodation to attacks on spaces specifically designated for Muslim religious practice.

ISPU calls for institutional action

ISPU’s recommendations for universities and colleges call for campus climate assessments, clear procedures for reporting anti Muslim discrimination, religious accommodations, reviews of policies that may disproportionately affect Muslim students and training for faculty and administrators on Islamophobia and anti Muslim bias.

The toolkit also calls for consistent application of free speech and academic freedom protections and recommends accommodations for Ramadan, Eid, daily prayers and dietary requirements.

The data provide university leaders with measurable evidence that Muslim students’ concerns cannot be treated solely as individual disputes or isolated campus incidents. Across multiple studies, Muslim students report problems involving classmates, faculty, administrators, institutional policies and the ability to practice their faith.

For Muslim civil rights and community organizations, the findings also underscore the importance of documenting incidents and holding institutions accountable to religious freedom and nondiscrimination protections.

The Shia Muslim Foundation encourages Muslim students, families and campus organizations to document incidents of anti Muslim discrimination, preserve relevant communications and use established university reporting procedures when problems occur. Universities should apply their nondiscrimination, religious accommodation and free expression policies consistently to Muslim students and other campus communities.

U.S. Grants Sanctions Waiver for Iran to Najaf Pilgrimage Flights

The United States has granted a temporary sanctions exemption allowing Iraqi Airways to resume passenger flights between Iran and Najaf, reopening a major pilgrimage route to one of the most sacred cities in Shia Islam. Iraq’s Transport Ministry said service is expected to resume in October after regulatory and technical requirements are completed. Reuters reported that the initial authorization will last one month, with the possibility of a longer arrangement afterward.

For Shia Muslims, the significance of the decision extends far beyond the restoration of an international flight route.

Najaf is home to the shrine of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin and son in law of the Prophet Muhammad and the first Imam in Shia Islam. Visitation to his shrine has been a central part of Shia religious life for centuries. Najaf developed around Imam Ali’s burial place and became an international destination for pilgrims from Iran, Iraq, the Indian subcontinent, the Gulf, North America and Shia communities across the globe.

The city is also one of the principal intellectual centers of Shia Islam. Its Hawza, or religious seminary, has shaped Shia scholarship for centuries and has produced generations of scholars and religious authorities. Najaf remains the seat of senior maraji, including Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, whose religious following extends across national borders. The city therefore serves simultaneously as a place of pilgrimage, religious scholarship and Shia communal life.

Najaf also functions as a gateway to Iraq’s wider network of Shia holy sites. Pilgrims arriving there frequently continue to Karbala, home to the shrines of Imam Hussain and Hazrat Abbas, as well as Kadhimiya in Baghdad and Samarra. Air access to Najaf therefore supports a much larger pilgrimage infrastructure serving millions of Shia Muslims.

Reuters reports that Najaf draws millions of pilgrims each year. The city also contains Wadi al Salam, the vast cemetery adjoining the shrine city that has served for centuries as a burial place for Shia Muslims from Iraq, Iran and communities much farther afield.

That religious importance helps explain why the interruption of flights generated an immediate reaction.

Iraq halted flights to and from Iran on September 25 in line with new United States sanctions affecting services to Iranian airlines. The restrictions were part of a broader campaign targeting Iran’s civilian aviation sector and companies providing services to Iranian carriers. The measures disrupted air connections between Iran and several neighboring countries.

The consequences in Najaf were particularly sensitive because travel between Iran and Iraq is closely tied to religious pilgrimage. Iraqi officials sought exemptions for civilian travel connected to pilgrimage, medical treatment and education.

Protests followed the suspension of service at Najaf International Airport. The dispute placed the Iraqi government between compliance with United States sanctions and the practical effects of cutting a heavily traveled religious and civilian connection with neighboring Iran.

Reuters reported that Iraqi officials warned that continued restrictions on the pilgrimage route could generate significant backlash among Shia communities. Baghdad offered safeguards including passenger screening, information sharing and measures intended to prevent the authorized flights from transporting weapons, sanctioned individuals or illicit funds.

The resulting Treasury authorization is limited. Iraqi Airways is expected to operate the permitted services through Najaf while broader restrictions affecting Iranian aviation remain in place. The number of flights authorized under the temporary exemption has not yet been determined.

The exemption therefore does not represent a general reversal of United States sanctions policy toward Iran. It creates a narrow channel intended to preserve travel through Najaf for religious pilgrimage while maintaining the broader sanctions framework.

For Shia communities outside Iraq and Iran, the dispute also demonstrates how geopolitical decisions affecting transportation can directly affect religious practice. Najaf and Karbala are international religious destinations. Restrictions on the transportation network serving them can affect pilgrims whose connection to these cities is religious rather than political.

For Shia Muslims, access to Najaf carries meaning that cannot be measured simply in passenger numbers or airline schedules. The city holds the resting place of Imam Ali, serves as a center of religious scholarship and connects generations of believers to institutions and traditions at the heart of Shia Islam.

The Shia Muslim Foundation will continue monitoring government policies that affect access to Shia holy sites and the ability of Shia Muslims to undertake religious pilgrimage across international borders.