Arsalan Iftikhar | BIO
Founder, TheMuslimGuy.com
It is a tragically ironic scenario when a television station dedicated to helping bridge cross-cultural divides becomes the scene of a horrifying murder. But that's what happened last week.
Aasiya Zubair Hassan, a 37-year-old mother of four was found brutally decapitated inside the television studios of Bridges TV in upstate New York. She had co-founded the cable channel with her husband after September 11th to overcome negative stereotypes associated with Muslims.
Over the years, Bridge TV has succeeded, and transformed itself into a cross-cultural network aimed at fostering, as its website says "a greater understanding among many cultures and diverse populations." And most employees were non-Muslim.
But now Ms. Zubair's husband, Muzzammil Hassan, a 44-year-old Pakistani-American businessman, has been charged with murdering his recently estranged wife.
The couple have two children, aged 4 and 6. It's not clear who will raise them now.
CNN reported that Mrs. Zubair had recently filed for divorce, and obtained an order of protection mandating that her husband leave their suburban Buffalo home as of February 6. A police officer told CNN "there's a history" of domestic disturbance calls at their home.
Asma Firfirey, Mrs. Zubair's sister who lives in South Africa, told the Afrikaans newspaper Die Burger that she was on the phone with her sister last week when she heard Mrs. Zubair tell her husband to calm down. She said she heard her sister say the two could talk about their impending divorce the following day.
Then she heard something that sounded like her sister struggling to breathe, she said.
"I can only imagine how scared and emotional she must have been before she died," Mrs. Zubair's sister said in an interview reported in English by South Africa's News 24.
Domestic violence and the battering of women is one of the most under-reported crimes in the United States. Among thousands of other reported and unreported cases around America, the murder of Aasiya Zubair represents a vile and barbaric example of spousal violence.
"This is a wake up call to all of us, that violence against women is real and can not be ignored," the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) wrote of Zubair's murder in an open letter. "It must be addressed collectively by every member of our community. Several times each day in America, a woman is abused or assaulted. Domestic violence is a behavior that knows no boundaries of religion, race, ethnicity, or social status. Domestic violence occurs in every community.
"The Muslim community is not exempt from this issue," ISNA continued. "We, the Muslim community, need to take a strong stand against domestic violence. Unfortunately, some of us ignore such problems in our community, wanting to think that it does not occur among Muslims or we downgrade its seriousness."
Some quick facts on domestic violence in America show disturbing trends:
* Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the United States; more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes – combined, according to a 1992 staff report for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
* One woman is beaten by her husband or partner every 15 seconds in the United States, the FBI reports.
* Every 21 days, a woman is killed by domestic violence in America.
* More than a third of U.S. adults have witnessed a man beating his wife or girlfriend, and that 14 percent of women report that they have experienced violence from a husband or boyfriend, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found in a national survey.
* Over 2.5 million American women experience some form of physical violence each year. Almost two out of every three of these females is attacked by a relative or person they know.
Since Mrs. Zubair's murder, several groups and events have been created on Facebook by American Muslims to honor the life of Mrs. Zubair and call for increased dialogues on domestic violence and spousal abuse issues within American mosques and other houses of worship around the country.
As ISNA noted, this sort of wicked domestic violence is not limited to any religious or ethnic group. Last Christmas Eve, Bruce Pardo of Montrose, California shocked our collective consciousness when he dressed up as Santa Claus and killed 9 people at his in-laws’ house, shooting an 8-year-old girl in the face before taking his own life. Police said Pardo had no criminal record or history of violence, and neighbors knew him as “a friendly man” who regularly attended his local Catholic church and always volunteered as an usher at the 5.30pm Sunday service – the Children's Mass.
The Buffalo beheading case is no more about Islam than the Santa killer case is about Christianity. It's about domestic violence. And it should be repudiated by people of all colors and religious traditions.
After tragedies like these, it becomes a moral imperative for any person of conscience, of all races and religions, to ensure that we as a society begin to collectively speak up for the countless wives, mothers and daughters who suffer silently from the evil demons of domestic violence.
Editor’s Note: Arsalan Iftikhar is an international human rights lawyer, founder of www.TheMuslimGuy.com and contributing editor for Islamica Magazine in Washington.
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I find that to be a very tragic story. If this is not a wake up call on how serious domestic violence against women is in this country, then I don't know what is. There is no certain look to a battered woman, it can happen to any woman out there, and even to someone we all know, and yet it's swept under the rug in this country. It's very upsetting.
All religion is a cult Jim. Don't just pick on Islam because it's not your religion. As an Atheist I see how Christianity and Catholicism are cults as well since I'm not blinded by being a part of a religion. How can you say ALL and then 99% of terrorist attacks? That's a contradiction. Explain to me why there are no female priests allowed into the Catholic church? How openminded is that religion? Explain why there's such a high number of domestic violence against women in this country when Christianity has the highest amount of believers in this country. How Christian are they to beat women?
Had the woman decapitated him – there would be world wide non stop coverage, special music, breaking news and on and on.
Time to wake up ladies, more women in high places in every country. Wasn't it Pakistan that assassinated it's "Female President"? What a great country! We've struggled far too long. Christians this one's for you, Jesus said, "Men are for brawn, woman are for brains". We've allowed the brawn to rule since we crawled out of the caves ~ time to take charge!
Another beheading and another victory for Islam? Since the creation of Islam, Muslims have been spreading hate and death throughout the world (if I'm wrong then prove it). I asked myself when Muslims will end terrorist attacks, beheadings and honor killings. Then I realized that these activities are embedded in their DNA and the Quran authorizes such acts. Unless Muslims denounce the Quran, all these violent acts will continue. Sunnis and Shiites have been massacring each other since the death of Muhammad and that was about 1,000 years ago. The world needs to shed light onto darkness.
There is one more thing we really need to be aware of. As we have all read that Mrs. Zubair obtained an order of protection against her husband. Well when you look at the profile of an abuser, they want power. That is their main issue.
Restraining orders and such do not stop an abuser. Abusers want control and a restraining order just serves to challenge the abuser. They want to take control of their victim and a restraining order only fuels their mission.
We need to take the laws a step further and make it safer for women who have identified their abuser and wants to protect themselves. I have no idea how this can be done, but this case only shows the urgency needed in these situations.
This incident just shows us how prevalent domestic violence is and how we need to be aware of it. What a tragic story. We need to continue with domestic violence awareness and let women know that they have choices.
Matt from Costa Mesa wrote:
"I agree with Mr. Iftikhar that domestic violence is not just a Muslim issue. What I wish he had addressed was the means Mr. Hassan used to murder his wife. Why do Muslim’s appear to have an affinity for decapitating people?"
I'm with you, Matt. The beheading aspect, which is a bizarrely Muslim tradition, needs to be addressed by someone who understands the culture & religion.
Jim Fallbrook. You have got to be kidding me. You must not interact with very many Muslim people if you're under the impression that the majority of Muslims are in the habit of beheading their spouses.
What I don't understand is how come this ultra Islamic-style murder is suddenly given "universal" hues and passed off as part of domestic violence in America.
Muslims are quite adept at this game. Thanks to an abundant supply of petro dollars, they have some of the top-notch PR firms working for them 24/7. Hence, every time a Muslim commits a gruesome act of horror...and recent events have shown that there have been many such ghastly acts of terror – the PR machine goes into full throttle in an effort to either whitewash the crime or use diversionary tactics to make it look like the rest of the Americans (non-Muslims) are also wife abusers as is being done in this article.
Meanwhile, the truth must not be disputed. Honor killing is an accepted form of punishment amongst the Muslims. The Holy Koran sanctions it and it is practiced routinely in Islamic countries. Male relatives of a woman have the full authority to kill women who bring dishonor to the family...it could be suspected offence. There are no judges. No trials are required. It is worse than the law of the jungle.
One would wish that Arsalan Iftikhar were more factual in this article. Honor killing is no run of the mill “domestic” violence …the audacity to lump it with domestic violence statistics is a blatant attempt to whitewash yet another one of those Islamic crimes committed in the name of religion. All civilized people of this earth must reject such attempts.
Wow! I had no idea that domestic violence is higher than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined!! What a huge problem that truly you don't hear anything about. Too bad that a story like this had to be reported before people start paying attention to the impact and wide range of domestic violence. Everyone should be proactive to help stop these attacks from happening.
There is debate whether Islamic law forbids beheading. It should be obvious that 99% of Beheadings are done by muslims. All terorists attacks and suicide bombers 99% are committed by muslims. We all know that Islam is not a race. It is a religion. I prefer to call it a cult. The odds are that he beheaded his wife for his Islamic beliefs. The proof it is a violent religion can be proven on how Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq kept law and order with Sunni's and Shiites who hate each other for over 40 years. When we removed Saddam from power, all we got was terrorist attack and suicide bombings. The muslims apparently preferred a brutal dictator to the civilized world. I believe my good friend Jeff Cohen should have a history lesson about muslim culture.
@ Jim....... "this is one reason Muslims should not be allowed to...." Are you kidding?
Domestic Violence........... has no religion or race! There are killers in every religion, every ethnicity!
This is so tragic.
This is why we should bring back the public pillory - and allow those victims of such crimes to throw rotten food at the criminals who commit such heinous acts.
Public humiliation would go a long way toward changing public perceptions of the crimes and the (mostly) men who commit them.
The saddest part of all is that we, as a society, ignore these crimes until they are too gruesome and staring us in the face...
Domestic violence IS about control - and shocking the other party. Such shocking acts must always be escalated to be effective. I am constantly amazed and saddened when women defend such monsters – and cannot see that verbal violence generally becomes physical, which ultimately ( if not addressed through incarceration, therapy, etc. ) often becomes murder.
Some seem to have missed this important statement in this story:
"The Buffalo beheading case is no more about Islam than the Santa killer case is about Christianity. It’s about domestic violence. And it should be repudiated by people of all colors and religious traditions."
We need to get the message across that violence against women and children will not be tolerated. It is particularly important for men to stand up to abusive behavior by other men and say, "NO!", loud and clear.
Dis sidtuation telled me a hole lot aoubts them nice peoples..
Domestic Violence! I just don't understand how anyone can do that to another?
This is not about Religion this is about control, this man was mad because he no longer could control his woman and this is what he did to get revenge and take back or so he thought his control!
This is a very sad story now there are 4 children who no longer have a mother or father and will have to deal with this the rest of their lives!
Too bad stupid selfish humans never think of anyone but theirselves in cases like this! I hope the man is happy now! Idiot, Hope they cut his head off too!
Prove and send the guy to jail. That's what we'd do for any other human in this country. Then, you can send me the children. I would be happy to care for them.
doubt it was an honor killing. says she was a mother of four; yet only had two kids with this guy. must have been her second marraige. if the guy was willing to marry a divorce doubt his values are so conservative that he'd kill his wife because she "dishonored" him. Probably more that he hated her guts for leaving him/jealousy.
Murder is a murder my friends any body who makes that horrible
disgusting and in human crime exceptions himself is a criminal.
Hussein.
IT IS IRONIC, THAT THE MAN WANTED, TO PORTRAY, MUSLIMS IN A BETTER LIGHT, THEN HE BE-HEADS, HIS WIFE
Typical
I'm glad that many fellow commentors are not being racist about this case. But too many comments include racism against Muslims-did you not read the article above? Domestic violence, and for that matter terrorism and all violence, are found in all cultures and religions, including Christianity. Consider the bombing of the Oklahoma government buildings; the KKK; and the Santa case cited above and the Scott Peterson case as well. If we can get together and stop blaming the wrong culprits, perhaps we can address these problems.
How do the comments I've read here, directed toward the Muslim religion, explain the brutal abuse of Christian and Jewish women by fellow Christians and Jews?
All three of these religions, and actually all major religions, teach that women are subject in some way or other to men. And many men who have been taught this way grow up to believe – whether or not they are aware of it- that they "own" their women.
This brutality, in the end, is not limited to a religion or culture. It's the result of pervasive gender inequality-for whatever reasons- and personal disfunctionality. To reduce the entire topic of domestic violence to a religious issue is a means of escaping the topic, and therefore honest and potential discoveries for change, altogether.
Great job Jim! You completely missed the point of this article. The statistics mentioned in this article are from America as a whole, not Muslim Americans. America is a predominantly Christian society, no? Does this mean Christianity is an inherently violent religion since many Christians abuse their women? The same can be said for Islam.
As for Mr. Hassan, he has brought shame to the religion of Islam and is definitely not an example of Islam or Muslims. In fact no human being can be because we are human and no human being is perfect. If you would like to judge Islam as a religion, please educate yourself first.
I will reiterate what ISNA said in its statement: "Domestic violence is a behavior that knows no boundaries of religion, race, ethnicity, or social status."
What terrible news!
Scary!
And absurd in today’s!
Sad tradition:
There isn’t a woman divorced, but yes a woman dead!
I'm tired of people turning this into a religious war. The man comes from a culture that dominates women. His ego was bruised that this woman would dare defy him and seek a divorce and like any other abuser – he killed her.
@ Jim that is the most racist and narrowminded thing I've read on CNN in a long time.
This is a greusome case. It is a horrible, disgusting, revolting crime, and deserves the most severe punishment.
But don't blame the killer's religion or culture. Mr. Hassan, assuming he is the killer (he didn't confess), is a professional adult, who DID adopt the American way of life, as did his wife. They were both well educated and highly respected members of the community. Mr. Hassan did not see his wife from some cultural prizm that limited her independence, abilities or societal position. They were successful entrepreneurs, and were working for the benefit of society.
Afterall, they had two stepchildren (one 17 and one 18), and for them to remarry after having kids demonstrates that cutural issues that typically make such marriages more of a taboo did not factor into this couple's life.
Despite all of this, something happened that cannot be explained. It is a truly sad day for all of us who knew the family.
Muslims do not have an affinity for beheading. Crazy people do. Beheading was never a sanctioned punishment in Islamic history. It was something brought in by cruel and barbaric outside forces. Domestic Violence, including violent, dismembering and other greusome acts are not limited to Muslims or immigrants. There have been many other examples of this type of crime, involving dismembering and even hiding the body. Anyone remember Scott Peterson, who cut open his pregnant wife's belly after killing her and then disposing of both Lacy and his unborn baby? Or how about Nicole Simpson, who's throat was cut by her assailant? Islamic Law forbids this type of behavior, outlawing and providing the death penalty for such a crime.
By the way, Mr. Fallbrook, less than 50% of Muslims in the US are immigrants. Most of them are born and raised in this nation, and live just as freely as you do within the framework of the same laws you break each day. As a former prosecutor in Florida, trust me when I tell you that for every Muslim wife beater I've heard of, I've myself prosecuted at least 10 more non-Muslims for severe and violent domestic crimes. So take your racist bigotry elsewhere.
I do think has something to do with islam not tolerating what we in the west call freedom, and what the Torah and the Quran calls sin. Look at our nation morally we are like cave men. anything goes. our teenage girls having babies like rabbits. In many of our cities , the boys are violent criminals growing up with no fathers=. more often go to jail or the cemetery than college. Our politicians on both sides are so corrupt. We have a celebrity obsessed society, and a sports obsessed society, Our marriage rate in 50% divorce rate and in some areas the out of wedlock birth rate is 70%. Our finanacial institues are ran by greedy money loving crooks. Our morally has been replaced by the love of money and power. the clergy is always suspect cause their either right wing fanatics (jerry falwell) pat( roberson) or they are like Ted haggard who preached homosexuality is a sin, but was behind the door smoking Meth and having homsexual affairs himself. no wonder the muslim want to kill us
A man starts a television station to combat the negative view that westerners may have towards the muslim community ..... that very same person, then DECAPITATES his Wife. Maybe the muslim community should find better representation. For the record, he only made national news when he killed his wife. I guess it is fairly obvious that his plan didn't work out. If a person can site his religious bliefs for his actions ( deadly ) towards his wife, then what do we think his views are, of Infadels ( the the slow people), Infadels are all of us, not in Muslim community ....... he wants us dead, they want all infadels dead. Jesus told me, I was to love him as a neighbor ..... Muhammad, told him to kill all infadels ......... I am not moved, and if any liberal bleeding hearts are moved, I have a move for ya' ..... the front lines!
This has nothing to do with Muslims or Islam, PERIOD. Those who think domestic violence has to do with a specific religion, race, or ethnicity should go educate themselves first, before they spit out hatred and garbage. The stats cited in this article speak of violence to women and their demographics. I understand why ISNA was involved. But what about other groups against domestic violence? Why weren't they interviewed? Why didn't they speak?
Some of you here have spoken of honor killings, decapitating, tolerance of other religions, culture environment, etc. One went as far as wondering what the means of murder was. Are you guys blind? Do you fail to see that this has ONLY to do with domestic violence? Please go find another article to comment on. And remember, little knowledge is a dangerous thing. You may as well stay completely uneducated.
It takes a violently brutal murder of a non-white woman for people to get the "wake up call" that domestic violence is one of the biggest threats to ALL WOMEN (and in some cases, males), ALL OVER THE WORLD? I find this rather offensive and terribly short-sighted.
I agree with Mr. Iftikhar that domestic violence is not just a Muslim issue. What I wish he had addressed was the means Mr. Hassan used to murder his wife. Why do Muslim's appear to have an affinity for decapitating people?
February 18th, 2009 11:39 am ET
"This is one reason why Muslims should not be allowed to immigrate to the US. They seem to want to practice their violent religion here and have no respect for our laws. They think Muslim laws apply in this country. Another example was a muslim father killed his daughters for dating infidels.This is what we will have to put up with when they come here and try to enforce their laws. One thing for sure is these are examples of just how violent the muslim/Islam religion is. This is one religious group that has trouble adapting to living in the USA."
Sir, please learn about Islam before you start bashing it. "Honor killings" are the result of cultures, not religions – it is a huge difference. Many of the men who kill for family honor were raised in small villages or other insulated communities, where traditions dictate life. Killing for honor has nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with the culture where the perpetrator was raised. Bringing up religion as a divisive issue will only make the problem worse. We need to come together to end domestic violence, regardless of religion, culture – or even education.
Those poor little babies will never be the same again.
It's one thing to accept or tolerate another's religion. Murder doesn't fall into this category.
It tells us you can take the person out of the cultural enviroment, but you cant take the cultural enviroment out of the person. Obviously he doesnt represent all muslims and obviously domestic violence is a international universal problem. He embraced all our country represents yet the only parts he accepted were capitalism. I think he had a fundamental problem with his wife and his own culture played a part in that. He isnt the first muslim in north america to do this. To do what he did comes from deep hatred that is a sickness. I dont think he viewed his wife in the way men view their wives in this country. There is more to the american dream than being a successful businesses person. How you treat your family is just as important. Following the laws and knowing that in this country everyone has rights and are protected. What happened to her is horrible. That is all there is to say. I just wonder how many more men like him are in this country who are hiding behind closed doors and are abusive to their families and then in public work hard to make money to hide it. You know. They tell the wife and kids everybody loves me my business I am successful. I am a prominent member of the community. I am important. No one will believe you. I will make sure you get nothing etc. Domestic abuse is not a muslim problem. I have no problem with anyone coming to our country legally. I have a problem with people coming here who think that what is acceptable there is also acceptable here when its not. Beheading is not.
Domestic Violence has no cultural divides. A tragic story.
This is one reason why Muslims should not be allowed to immigrate to the US. They seem to want to practice their violent religion here and have no respect for our laws. They think Muslim laws apply in this country. Another example was a muslim father killed his daughters for dating infidels.This is what we will have to put up with when they come here and try to enforce their laws. One thing for sure is these are examples of just how violent the muslim/Islam religion is. This is one religious group that has trouble adapting to living in the USA.
.