The killing of Aasiya Hassan: Open letter to leaders of American Muslim communities

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RESPONDING TO THE KILLING OF AASIYA HASSAN: AN OPEN LETTER TO THE LEADERS OF AMERICAN MUSLIM COMMUNITIES
By Imam Mohamed Hagmagid Ali
Executive Director, ADAMS Center
Vice-President, The Islamic Society of North America
Source: ISNA.NET - main page


The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is saddened and shocked by the news of the loss of one of our respected sisters, Aasiya Hassan whose life was taken violently. To God we belong and to Him we return (Qur’an 2:156). We pray that she find peace in God’s infinite Mercy, and our prayers and sympathies are with sister Aasiya’s family. Our prayers are also with the Muslim community of Buffalo who have been devastated by the loss of their beloved sister and the shocking nature of this incident.

This is a wake up call to all of us, that violence against women is real and can not be ignored. 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. 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.

I call upon my fellow imams and community leaders to never second-guess a woman who comes to us indicating that she feels her life to be in danger. We should provide support and help to protect the victims of domestic violence by providing for them a safe place and inform them of their rights as well as refer them to social service providers in our areas.

Marriage is a relationship that should be based on love, mutual respect and kindness. No one who experiences a marriage that is built on these principles would pretend that their life is in danger. We must respond to all complaints or reports of abuse as genuine and we must take appropriate and immediate action to ensure the victim’s safety, as well as the safety of any children that may be involved.

Women who seek divorce from their spouses because of physical abuse should get full support from the community and should not be viewed as someone who has brought shame to herself or her family. The shame is on the person who committed the act of violence or abuse. Our community needs to take a strong stand against abusive spouses. We should not make it easy for people who are known to abuse to remarry if they have already victimized someone. We should support people who work against domestic violence in our community, whether they are educators, social service providers, community leaders, or other professionals.

Our community needs to take strong stand against abusive spouses and we should not make it easy for them to remarry if they chose a path of abusive behavior. We should support people who work against domestic violence in our community, whether they are educators or social service providers. As Allah says in the Qur’an: “O ye who believe! Stand firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you swerve, and if you distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do” (4:136).

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) never hit a women or child in his life. The purpose of marriage is to bring peace and tranquility between two people, not fear, intimidation, belittling, controlling, or demonizing. Allah the All-Mighty says in the Qur’an: “Among His signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are signs for those who reflect” (30:21),

We must make it a priority to teach our young men in the community what it means to be a good husband and what the role the husband has as a protector of his family. The husband is not one who terrorizes or does harm and jeopardizes the safety of his family. At the same time, we must teach our young women not to accept abuse in any way, and to come forward if abuse occurs in the marriage. They must feel that they are able to inform those who are in authority and feel comfortable confiding in the imams and social workers of our communities.

Community and family members should support a woman in her decision to leave a home where her life is threatened and provide shelter and safety for her. No imam, mosque leader or social worker should suggest that she return to such a relationship and to be patient if she feels the relationship is abusive. Rather they should help and empower her to stand up for her rights and to be able to make the decision of protecting herself against her abuser without feeling she has done something wrong, regardless of the status of the abuser in the community.

A man’s position in the community should not affect the imam’s decision to help a woman in need. Many disasters that take place in our community could have been prevented if those being abused were heard. Domestic violence is not a private matter. Any one who abuses their spouse should know that their business becomes the business of the community and it is our responsibility to do something about it. She needs to tell someone and seek advice and protection.

Community leaders should also be aware that those who isolate their spouses are more likely to also be physically abusive, as isolation is in its own way a form of abuse. Some of the abusers use the abuse itself to silence the women, by telling her “If you tell people I abused you, think how people will see you, a well-known person being abused. You should keep it private.”

Therefore, to our sisters, we say: your honor is to live a dignified life, not to put on the face that others want to see. The way that we measure the best people among us in the community is to see how they treat their families. It is not about how much money one makes, or how much involvement they have in the community, or the name they make for themselves. Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) said, “The best among you are those who are best to their families.”

It was a comfort for me to see a group of imams in our local community, as well as in the MANA conference signing a declaration promising to eradicate domestic violence in our community. Healthy marriages should be part of a curriculum within our youth programs, MSA conferences, and seminars as well as part of our adult programs in our masajid and in our khutbahs.

The Islamic Society of North America has done many training workshops for imams on combating domestic violence, as has the Islamic Social Service Associate and Peaceful Families Project. Organizations, such as FAITH Social Services in Herndon, Virginia, serve survivors of domestic violence. All of these organizations can serve as resources for those who seek to know more about the issues of domestic violence.

Faith Trust Institute, one of the largest interfaith organizations, with Peaceful Families Project, has produced a DVD in which many scholars come together to address this issue. I call on my fellow imams and social workers to use this DVD for training others on the issues of domestic violence. (For information, go to the website: Faith Trust Institute - Home). For more information, or to access resources and materials about domestic violence, please visit Peaceful Families Project: Advocating Against Domestic Violence Among Muslims.

In conclusion, Allah says in the Qur’an “O my son! Establish regular prayer, enjoin what is just, and forbid what is wrong; and bear with patient constancy whatever betide thee; for this is firmness (of purpose) in (the conduct of) affairs” (31:17). Let us pray that Allah will help us to stand for what is right and leave what is evil and to promote healthy marriages and peaceful family environments. Let us work together to prevent domestic violence and abuse and especially, violence against women.

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Beheaded woman's sister: I might have heard deadly confrontation

(CNN) -- A woman who was beheaded near Buffalo, New York -- allegedly by her husband -- may have been on the phone with her sister when she was killed.

Asma Firfirey of suburban Cape Town, South Africa, told the Afrikaans newspaper Die Burger that she was on the phone with her sister, Aasiya Zubair Hassan, last week when she heard Hassan tell her husband to calm down. She said she heard Hassan 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," Firfirey said in the interview, reported in English by South Africa's News 24.

Police have charged Hassan's husband, Muzzammil Hassan, with second-degree, or intentional, murder in the death of his wife, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

Her decapitated body was found at the offices of Bridges TV, the television network where Muzzammil Hassan was chief executive officer and Aasiya Hassan was general manager.

Hassan told Orchard Park police his wife was dead, led officers to her body and was arrested Thursday, said Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita III. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

A Buffalo attorney told CNN on Tuesday that he expects to represent Hassan but declined further comment, saying details had not yet been worked out.

Hassan came to America from Pakistan 25 years ago and became a successful banker, but he and his wife were troubled by the negative perception of Muslims, Voice of America reported in 2004.

Speaking in December 2004, Hassan said his wife, then pregnant, was worried about that perception and "felt there should be an American Muslim media where her kids could grow up feeling really strong about their identity as an American Muslim."

"So she came up with the idea and turned to me and said, 'Why don't you do it?' " he said. "And I was like, I have no clue about television. I'm a banker. ... And her comment was, 'You have an MBA. Why don't you write a business plan?' "

Bridges TV began as a television network for Muslim-Americans, aimed at overcoming the negative stereotypes associated with the religion.

"There should be a Muslim media," Muzzammil Hassan told VOA, "so that Muslim children growing up in America grow up with the self-confidence and high self-esteem about their identity both as Americans and as Muslims."

In the past few years, according to a former employee who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, Bridges TV transformed itself into more of a cross-cultural network seeking to bridge the gap between all cultures. Most of their employees were not Muslim, the former employee said, and Muzzammil Hassan himself was not devout.

Aasiya Hassan filed for divorce February 6, police said, and Muzzammil Hassan was served with divorce papers at the station. That night, he showed up at the couple's home, she notified authorities and he was served with a restraining order.

Police are not commenting on details of the crime, except to say the woman's body did not appear to have been moved. They also would not divulge what Muzzammil Hassan told police or the suspected motive. The law firm representing Aasiya Hassan refused to comment, only confirming that she had filed for divorce.

Benz told CNN on Tuesday that police had responded to several domestic violence calls at the couple's address, but no one was arrested.

Firfirey, as well as a Pakistani woman identifying herself as another of Aasiya Hassan's sisters, characterized her as living in fear.

Firfirey said the last time she saw her sister was in May 2008, when she visited South Africa. When she arrived, she was badly injured, and Firfirey's family paid the equivalent of about $3,000 for her to be treated, she said.

Aasiya Hassan returned to America, she said, because she wanted to complete her MBA degree and "didn't want to leave her children with that monster." She said she calls Muzzammil Hassan "the fat man with evil eyes."

Aasiya Hassan would have graduated March 6, Firfirey said.

A woman in Pakistan using the name Salma Zubair posted on a blog that she is the sister of "this brutally murdered woman."

"She lived her 8 years of married life with fear in heart," Zubair wrote. "He had already frightened her enough that she couldn't muster up her guts and leave him, and when she finally did gather that much strength he killed her so brutally. She lived to protect her children from this man and his family and she died doing so."

She said Aasiya Hassan "had always been a very loving person, not even one person in this world can say a small wrong word about her ... she had always dreamed a life of a happily married family, which she did her best to achieve."

Both women said they were worried about the couple's children, ages 4 and 6. Firfirey said they were being cared for by a colleague of the couple. Muzzammil Hassan also has two older children from a previous marriage.

Members of Muzzammil Hassan's family did not return calls from CNN on Monday.

The former employee told CNN that Aasiya Hassan was popular at the station and was very kind. Muzzammil Hassan was known among employees for having a temper -- he sometimes would yell at and demean his wife, but at other times appeared to be a loving husband and father, the former employee said.

Bridges TV released a statement Monday saying its staff was "deeply shocked and saddened by the murder of Aasiya Hassan and the subsequent arrest of Muzzammil Hassan. Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the families of the victim."

Imam Mohamed Hagmagid Ali, vice president of the Islamic Society of North America, said Aasiya Hassan's death serves "as a wake-up call to call of us, that violence against women is real and cannot be ignored ... the Muslim community is not exempt from this issue. We, the Muslim community, need to take a strong stand against domestic violence.

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Dear Friends,

My name is Hunaid Baliwala and I have been at Bridges since May of 2005. I am writing to you as the newly appointed interim General Manager of Bridges TV. Previously, I held a number of operations and business development roles.

We apologize that we have not been able to connect with you earlier, as we were trying to deal with this shocking event and did not have access to our facilities.

At Bridges TV, all the staff members are deeply shocked and saddened by the murder of Aasiya Hassan [Zubair] and subsequent arrest of Muzzammil Hassan. Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the victim’s family. This appears to be the most tragic of domestic violence incidents and, although we have heard statistics that imply that more than three cases of domestic violence occur every day in the US, no one here could ever imagine that this may happen to our beloved colleague.

While the staff is obviously in a state of shock given how closely we all worked with both Aasiya and Muzzammil, we are all unwavering in our determination that, for the sake of Aasiyaʼs vision of this channel, we remain strong and continue the good work that she had initiated. We have a strong staff and I am confident in the success of the Company moving forward.

I would like to request that the right to privacy for the families and staff be respected as we continue to go about our daily business routine.

The two biggest issues that we currently face at Bridges TV are the negative publicity generated by this domestic violence incident and the ongoing funding constraint. Both are extremely time sensitive and are being addressed directly by myself and our Board of Directors (composed primarily of our investors). Without your support we would not have been able to come this far. Therefore, we value your continued support and will need it to get through this challenging time. If you have any ideas and suggestions please do not hesitate to contact me. Given all the myriad of activities at Bridges TV, I may not be able to respond to each correspondence but please let me assure you that all will be read and absorbed by our team. We are all resolute in fulfilling Aasiyaʼs mission for Bridges TV.

If you know anyone who would find this information useful or helpful please pass this along.

Hunaid Baliwala
Phone: 716-961-3140
EM: hbaliwala@bridgestv.com

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WHAT

THE

FREAKIN

HELL

Allah yir7ama