The controversy over Zohran Mamdani’s story about his aunt, explained

In late October 2025, a controversy erupted online after Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist running for New York City mayor, shared a story about a relative as an example of Islamophobia following the 9/11 terror attacks.

During a speech outside the Islamic Cultural Center of the Bronx on Oct. 24, Mamdani said, “I want to speak to the memory of my aunt, who stopped taking the subway after 9/11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab.”

In the days that followed, multiple social media users accused Mamdani of fabricating the story. For example, one X user claimed (archived) Mamdani’s aunt couldn’t have taken the subway in New York City after 9/11 because she was actually working in Tanzania at the time. The post included what appeared to be a screenshot of a LinkedIn profile for a user named Masuma Mamdani.

Other posts (archived here and here) alleged that Masuma is Mamdani’s only aunt and that photos show her without a hijab, a head covering that some Muslim women wear.

Multiple Snopes readers wrote to us asking for clarity about Mamdani’s anecdote. Here’s what we found.

Mamdani’s speech and clarification

Mamdani shared the brief anecdote about his relative during an Oct. 24 speech focused on Islamophobia. He said, in part (emphasis ours):

I want to use this moment to speak to the Muslims of New York City. 

I want to speak to the memory of my aunt, who stopped taking the subway after Sept. 11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab.

I want to speak to the Muslim who works for our city — whether they teach in our schools or walk the beat for NYPD. New Yorkers who all make daily sacrifices for the city they call home, only to see their leaders spit in their face. 

I want to speak to every child who grows up here, marked as the other, who is randomly selected in a way that never quite feels random, who feels that they carry a stain that can never be cleaned.

Mamdani became visibly emotional while recounting the story.

Several days later, in a video shared by Fox News (archived), Mamdani clarified that he was referring to his father’s late cousin. While speaking to reporters on Monday, Oct. 27, he said (emphasis ours):

I was speaking about Zehra fuhi, my father’s cousin, who sadly passed away a few years ago. 

And for the takeaway from my more than 10-minute address about Islamophobia in this race and in this city to be the question of my aunt tells you everything you need to know about Andrew Cuomo and his inability to reckon with a crisis of his own making.

Some Hindi speakers use the word “fufi” to refer to their paternal aunts. “Fuhi” may be an alternative spelling, as CNN reported (archived) it is a term in Urdu and Hindi that means paternal aunt.

The following day, a radio host asked Mamdani how he could ask New Yorkers to vote for him after he said he “lied,” according to CNN.

Mamdani reportedly responded, “It’s not a lie. My father’s cousin is my aunt. That is how I referred to her all my life.”

Snopes contacted Mamdani’s campaign for comment regarding claims that he “lied” or “fabricated” the story, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. 

What we know about Masuma Mamdani

Masuma Mamdani, identified by several news outlets as Mamdani’s only biological aunt, appeared to have worked in Tanzania at the time of the 9/11 attacks and during the following years. A LinkedIn profile (archived) bearing her name showed that she served as a senior program development officer for AMREF Health Africa in Tanzania from January 2000 to December 2003, and currently resides in the United Kingdom.

Her LinkedIn profile picture does not show her wearing a hijab.

While multiple news outlets reported that Masuma is Mamdani’s only aunt, Snopes was unable to independently confirm this information. We could not immediately reach her for comment.

Mamdani’s campaign had not responded to our inquiry by the time of publication.