Suicide Response in American Muslim Communities: A Community Case Study

This community case study describes the experiences of two neighboring Muslim communities in the United States, following respective incidents of suicide. Case summaries are first presented to contextualize the community response to the suicides. Subsequently, the discussion highlights relevant cult...

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Main Authors: Belal Zia, Kamal Suleiman, Osama El-Gabalawy, Rania Awaad
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Michigan Publishing 2023-02-01
Series:Journal of Muslim Mental Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jmmh/article/id/1457/
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author Belal Zia
Kamal Suleiman
Osama El-Gabalawy
Rania Awaad
author_facet Belal Zia
Kamal Suleiman
Osama El-Gabalawy
Rania Awaad
author_sort Belal Zia
collection DOAJ
description This community case study describes the experiences of two neighboring Muslim communities in the United States, following respective incidents of suicide. Case summaries are first presented to contextualize the community response to the suicides. Subsequently, the discussion highlights relevant cultural and religious factors that impacted the responses of mosque leadership, mental health professionals, and the communities at large. Concerns related to the deceased’s afterlife, community connectedness, privacy, shame, and communication barriers were prominent in each case and shaped the courses of response. The COVID-19 pandemic and divergent responses to external support played significant roles in creating disparate outcomes in these communities. The discussion emphasizes the need for dissemination of evidence-based, religiously grounded, and culturally competent curricula for implementing mental health awareness programming and long-term suicide prevention efforts. Insights about cultural and religious factors influencing community responses were derived from the described cases in this paper and informed the development of a comprehensive suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention manual and training program tailored for Muslim communities.
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publishDate 2023-02-01
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series Journal of Muslim Mental Health
spelling doaj-art-6014a56e04a44b138a9c70e7c12e32b72025-08-20T02:48:41ZengMichigan PublishingJournal of Muslim Mental Health1556-50092023-02-0117110.3998/jmmh.1457Suicide Response in American Muslim Communities: A Community Case StudyBelal Zia0Kamal Suleiman1Osama El-Gabalawy2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0642-5686Rania Awaad3University of ManitobaDepartment of Psychology, University of PennsylvaniaColumbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & SurgeonsStanford University School of MedicineThis community case study describes the experiences of two neighboring Muslim communities in the United States, following respective incidents of suicide. Case summaries are first presented to contextualize the community response to the suicides. Subsequently, the discussion highlights relevant cultural and religious factors that impacted the responses of mosque leadership, mental health professionals, and the communities at large. Concerns related to the deceased’s afterlife, community connectedness, privacy, shame, and communication barriers were prominent in each case and shaped the courses of response. The COVID-19 pandemic and divergent responses to external support played significant roles in creating disparate outcomes in these communities. The discussion emphasizes the need for dissemination of evidence-based, religiously grounded, and culturally competent curricula for implementing mental health awareness programming and long-term suicide prevention efforts. Insights about cultural and religious factors influencing community responses were derived from the described cases in this paper and informed the development of a comprehensive suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention manual and training program tailored for Muslim communities.https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jmmh/article/id/1457/suicidesuicide responseMuslimIslamcommunity case study
spellingShingle Belal Zia
Kamal Suleiman
Osama El-Gabalawy
Rania Awaad
Suicide Response in American Muslim Communities: A Community Case Study
Journal of Muslim Mental Health
suicide
suicide response
Muslim
Islam
community case study
title Suicide Response in American Muslim Communities: A Community Case Study
title_full Suicide Response in American Muslim Communities: A Community Case Study
title_fullStr Suicide Response in American Muslim Communities: A Community Case Study
title_full_unstemmed Suicide Response in American Muslim Communities: A Community Case Study
title_short Suicide Response in American Muslim Communities: A Community Case Study
title_sort suicide response in american muslim communities a community case study
topic suicide
suicide response
Muslim
Islam
community case study
url https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jmmh/article/id/1457/
work_keys_str_mv AT belalzia suicideresponseinamericanmuslimcommunitiesacommunitycasestudy
AT kamalsuleiman suicideresponseinamericanmuslimcommunitiesacommunitycasestudy
AT osamaelgabalawy suicideresponseinamericanmuslimcommunitiesacommunitycasestudy
AT raniaawaad suicideresponseinamericanmuslimcommunitiesacommunitycasestudy