IRUSA CEO Ahmed Shehata on Rebuilding from COVID-19: “We need to make sure that we serve the Muslim and non-Muslim community at large”

by Zana Sahyouni, IRUSA Communications Specialist

From August 19–22, IRUSA CEO Ahmed Shehata and Director of Public Affairs, Research, and Advocacy Christina Tobias Nahi attended the G20 Interfaith Forum, where they spoke amongst a panel of faith-based leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities that religious communities face.

At the conference, Ahmed Shehata spoke on the program, Rebuilding from COVID-19. While many would like to leave the COVID-19 emergencies behind, there is much to be said about the world’s response to the pandemic. The discussion focused on the specifics of the draft Pandemic Treaty and on challenges of localizing pandemic prepardeness and rebuilding health systems. Ahmed Shehata provided insight on this topic from a Muslim-lens.

When asked how the Muslim community was negatively impacted by the pandemic, Ahmed shared insight on the mental health crisis that was exasperated due to strain of the pandemic on the community. “After the pandemic, we have seen many cases of [mental health crisis], such as the increase of divorce and some other problems.”

Islamic Relief USA has been there from the beginning to support the crisis: “Unfortunately the community at large, Muslims and non-Muslims, they are not aware of [the mental health budget established by the city of New York], so Islamic Relief USA has been trying their best to educate the community to benefit from the grants.”

Shehata also shared that, “Islamic Relief USA is encouraging the main Islamic centers around the nation to establish their own free clinics and to include the mental health. Islamic Relief USA was able to financially support these Islamic centers around the nation to make sure that they are going to help and serve the Muslim and non-Muslim community at large.”

While the pandemic exasperated the mental health crisis in the Muslim community, it also hurt many communities financially. However, Islamic Relief USA ensured that no religious communities closed due to the pandemic. He shares how IRUSA was a part of an initiative that ensured communities would remain open.

“We are part of the initiative called Twin Mosques. We have found that some of the community was financially struggling and the wealthy communities were able to keep their mosques open and running even if people were not going to mosques. So we were able to, as Islamic Relief USA, make sure the wealthy communities were able to support the [vulnerable] communities.”

Thanks to this initiative, Shehata shares that, “The Muslim-American community was the only faith-based community in the US that didn’t lose a single mosque during the pandemic. Meaning, other communities, unfortunately, were not able to maintain that financially.”

Lastly, IRUSA was part of solution of preventing COVID-19 through the vaccine.

“I strongly believe that the religious leaders still have their influence on their followers. Unfortunately, we have seen some communities in the states during the pandemic saying that from the religious perspective you cannot take the vaccine. This is something sad to see, that some communities [speak] from this perspective. We were able to train some Imams and the Imam’s counsels in America that this is not the right of the religious leaders to [speak] on such matters.”

Similarly, they were able to spread vaccine awareness. “Islamic Relief USA was able to establish more than 50 webinars the importance of taking the vaccine.”

Learn more by watching the discussion below: