If you need help right now

You don't have to do this alone.

A few numbers. Use them. Reaching out is not weakness — it's the work.

If you are in immediate danger

Call

911

Or go to your nearest emergency room

If you are at risk of harming yourself or someone else — or someone in your care is — this is the right call. Tell the operator what is happening, and where you are.

If you're in distress but not in immediate danger

Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

988

Call or text · 24/7 · free · confidential

You don't need to be at the edge to call. Distress is enough. The counselors are trained, calm, and unhurried.

If calling feels impossible

Text HOME to 741741

Crisis Text Line · 24/7 · free · confidential

A trained counselor responds within minutes, by text. Useful if you can't talk on the phone or you're somewhere you can't be heard.

For Muslims specifically

Naseeha Mental Health

1-866-627-3342

Call or text · daily 12pm–3am ET

A confidential helpline run by Muslims, for Muslims. Trained counselors. They will not judge what you bring.

If you are a Zaha client

You can post in your shared room any time. Crisis posts — anything mentioning self-harm, harm to others, or imminent risk — page our on-call clinical lead immediately, day or night, bypassing the standard 24-hour reply window. Both your providers are looped in within minutes.

If you cannot wait for the clinical lead, call 988 or text HOME to 741741 first. Then post in the shared room when you can. Your providers will be in the room when you return.

A note from Zaha

If you are reaching for these numbers right now, please know: this is the work. The Qur'an says la taqnatu min rahmatillah — do not despair of Allah's mercy. We mean that, and we mean the calling 988 part too. Both are part of the same turning.

You are not alone in this. Reach out.

For someone else

If you are reading this for a friend or family member who is in distress, here is what tends to help most:

Be present. Sit with them. Don't try to fix it in the first ten minutes.
Ask plainly. "Are you having thoughts of hurting yourself?" doesn't plant the idea — it gives them permission to answer.
Don't leave them alone if they are in immediate danger. Call 988 together if you can. 911 if it's escalating.
Take them seriously. Even if it sounds dramatic, even if you've heard it before. Especially then.
Follow up. The next morning, the next week, in a month. Most people in crisis remember exactly who showed up afterward.