A week before September 11, 2001, I was visiting New York with my family. In the morning, my dear husband left my daughter Rayah and me around 8:30 to visit the Twin Towers’ observation deck before it got crowded.

Fate spared his life.

A week after our visit, I was back home watching in disbelief as the second plane struck the tower after the first. I watched the scene unfold before my eyes, realizing how close my family had come to unimaginable loss. If this had happened a week earlier — the same day and time — my husband might have been among those who never returned. Rayah could have lost her father. I could have lost the person I loved.

That realization has stayed with me ever since.

So many families were not spared that day. So many people lost parents, spouses, children, siblings, and friends. Their lives were changed forever, and the pain continued long after the towers fell. My heart goes out to everyone who lost someone and to all those who suffered through the tragedy and its aftermath.

September 11 was an act of terror born from hatred and a dangerous distortion of faith. It showed me how easily humanity can be lost when people allow hatred to define what they believe.

That day changed the way I think about faith, identity, and humanity. Before I am defined by religion, I am a human being. And as a human being, I choose compassion over hatred, understanding over division, and peace over violence.

I am human first. My faith comes after that — and nothing should ever come before our shared humanity. Farhana Khorshed, Author

A Truth Being Rewritten

As we approach the 25th anniversary of this devastating tragedy, we are watching its history be distorted, softened, and rewritten in front of us. The truth is being buried beneath political agendas, and even the current mayor has helped reshape the public narrative for political gain.

We must confront the questions we have too often avoided: Where did we fail to teach future generations the moral courage to recognize evil, defend truth, demand accountability, and understand the terrible human cost of extremism? How did we allow the deadliest terrorist attack in our nation’s history to be questioned, minimized, and rewritten?

We Will Never Forget

Today, I remember every innocent life stolen. I honor the families who were left with unimaginable grief and the loved ones who still carry that pain. I salute the heroes who ran toward danger, sacrificed everything, and gave their lives trying to save others.

Their stories must not be erased. Their suffering must not be politicized. Their sacrifice must not be forgotten.

We remember the fallen. We honor the brave. We speak the truth. And no matter how many years pass, we will never forget.