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Prelude to Murder
Asra Q. Nomani is the author of Standing Alone: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam. She is co-director of the Pearl Project, an investigation into the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Her activism for women's rights at her mosque in W.V. is the subject of a PBS documentary, The Mosque in Morgantown. She recently published a monograph, Milestones for a Spiritual Jihad: Toward an Islam of Grace. asra@asranomani.com
Bridges TV / AP Photo
In a Daily Beast exclusive, Asra Q. Nomani reports that the Muslim man accused of beheading his wife had a long history of mental illness and violent rages—and talks to family and friends about their brutal marriage.
In the 1990s, a rising 30-something Pakistani-American sat in the living room of a ranch house in the suburbs of Rochester, New York, where one of the aunties of the American-Muslim community lived, and he bellowed in rage about his 20-something Pakistani wife, Sadia: “She doesn’t look good. She doesn’t work. She is a good for nothing.”
The auntie, Azra Gillani, now 63, studied the man. She, like others in the Rochester Muslim community, had watched the husband’s first marriage to a white American convert, Janice, disintegrate amid allegations of abuse. She turned to the young bride, who sat beside her, stoic and dignified, and asked for her side of the story. “He abuses me,” the wife said, telling of how her husband locked her in a room in their home, pulled the plug on their telephone so she couldn’t use it, lashed out at her in verbal tirades, refused her spending money, shoved her out of his car, stranding her on the highway, and, once, threw a glass at her, but missed. The bride’s family sought out explanations for his turnaround from a cheerful groom to an abusive husband, and his mother told them that, alas, he wasn’t taking psychiatric medicines prescribed for mood swings, said members of the community involved in the conversations. Within the year, the wife left the marriage, according to family members.
The family of Hassan’s second wife sacrificed two goats in thanks that their daughter had escaped her marriage alive.
A third marriage and just over a decade later, that man, Muzzammil Hassan, 44 years old, stands accused of the shocking murder of his next wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan—a woman who was buried, according to people who saw her in repose, with gashes on her face and body and her head delicately poised over her body, because of the brutal way in which she was murdered and then decapitated in the town of Orchard Park, just west of Rochester.
Last week, Orchard Park police said Hassan arrived at the station and told them that they could find the body of his wife, 37, at the offices of the Bridges Muslim TV network that he had founded. Hassan has been charged with second-degree murder, and is in jail. No bail has been set. On Wednesday, after his first official proceeding since he was arrested, his attorney, James Harrington, waived the presentation of evidence, setting the stage for a grand-jury proceeding soon. The attorney told reporters there, "If and when he's indicted, he'll plead not guilty,” adding, “It’s too early to know what approach we’ll take, but we’re exploring everything.”
In death, as details emerge of the troubled life she led with her husband, Aasiya Hassan has become a symbol for critics of Islamic law, or sharia, and spurring denunciation of so-called honor-killings. On February 6, six days before her murder, Aasiya Hassan had filed for divorce. Court filings by Aasiya’s estate since then allege a long history of domestic violence in the marriage, a history that many in the community say they were aware of but did nothing to help stop.
And in the Pakistani-American community, Muzzammil Hassan—who built a media empire in the American-Muslim community, crisscrossing the globe, courting investors and cable companies, while being celebrated by organizations like the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington, D.C.,-based civil-rights advocacy group—has gone from from “hero to zero.”
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ProjectPat
Why isn't this man being trid for 1st Degree murder?
easton
projectpat
because it seems to be a crime of passion, he didn't try to hide the body. 1st degree is premeditated.
LeahRenee
um, let's not forget the underlying theme of this story. This is not just about him and him killing his wife. This is not simply about a mentally ill man(which may be the case), this is about abuse that occurs more often than we know....
we only see the stories in the news. Its really about abuse of justice and human rights when it comes to women in controlling relationships.
to know more about this subject, refer to Evan Stark's "Coercive Control, How men entrap women in personal life".
boatscain2003
I believe that the first steps to curbing this kind of behavior among the American-Muslim community is to define it boldly. There is no such think as an "Honor Killing" here. There are various degrees of murder. Period. This is problematic among immigrants from certain countries where it is permitted and the law actually allows these to happen. In some other Muslim countries such as Pakistan and Iraqi Kurdistan, honor killings are outlawed but in practice the police and prosecutors ignore the killings because of old beliefs or whatever they think makes murder just fine. What's worse is that if someone is actually charged, tried and convicted of an honor killing in Pakistan the sentence is 7 years and life imprisonment is only handed down in the most extreme cases.
Honor Killings are not going to stop in these countries if the laws don't change. If that happens, then it's up to law enforcement and the courts to help stamp out this archaic, horrible cultural attribute into a sociological stigma.
AtomicLaura
I wouldn't call this an honor killing really... the guy was a 'looney tune'. While treading carefully so as not to blame the victim, why would any woman be wife #3 to someone so abusive and think she wouldn't suffer the same abuse?
The Muslim community did not fail anyone. The husband bears all the blame. Whata freak! It takes a special breed of insane to cut off someone's head.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
mdreader
I am troubled that this is being labeled as an "honor killing."
Hassan had severe mental problems that required medication. This is no different than domestic violence that results from any person that may have these problems and don't take care of them properly.
My understanding of "honor killings" is that they are a tribal and regional practice and not part of the tenets of Islam. So linking "honor killings" to the Islamic community is not accurate, nor is it fair.
Ironically, Islam itself gives women a lot of power in a marriage. They have the right to divorce (which is not the case in Catholicism, for example) and every troubled marriage must be mediated. Both parties have equal voice. Whether imams take these tenets seriously is another matter.
But I doubt Muslims any more secretive than any other community. Did the folks in Prince George's County, Maryland foresee their Park Service neighbor killing his wife and stepchildren last week?Probably not. Weren't we all surprised when we heard that Rihanna was abused by her boyfriend? Domestic violence is invisible and stigmatized.
Labeling this as an "honor killing" gives these tribal practices a false cachet and validity. Not only are they illegal in a Western society, but they also happen to be against the basic tenets of Islam.
The irony is that these were the sorts of tribal cultural norms that Hassan was trying to fight as he sought to present the Muslim community in a modern light. So we need to treat this case in the hard, cold light of reality. He was troubled, abusive, violent and killed his wife. The religion, sword and circumstances are irrelavant.
bigsneezy
Just heard the author on 'talk of the nation'. In response to LeahRenee, I'm reticent to call domestic abuse strictly a component of sexism. Sexism is widespread. Sexism is a problem. But I don't think that's the guys crime. The underlying story, to me, is that this man had severe mental health problems, and it seems to me that mental illness and/or substance abuse is central to many stalking/abuse cases. The national conversation about domestic abuse seems to be trapped in a women's shelter vacuum, but it also has to be integrated into a wider mental health and substance abuse conversation. I think something that wasn't addressed was how to get the abuser help. Make no mistake, this isn't about Islam, this isn't about honor killings. This was a sick man who needed help. There is some sexism here, too. Clearly his family knew that he had problems, yet they allowed him to keep marrying apparently without warning to the brides.
xbainx
Why would they arrange a marriage at all? Oh right it's the 8th century.
I really do hate all fundamentalists. Max Blumenthal just did a piece on GodTube, which features some of the same type of narrow-minded idiots talking about the world going to hell because of women in bikinis.
Go out. Get laid. Have a drink. Because one day you will die.
Or get really effing into religion and kill your wife as is the fundamentalist Christian/Islamic way.
xbainx
Aw man this is the first time my comment got deleted. Ok fine. I went too far. Islam is the way and the light.
I was merely pointing out that arranged marriages seem a little dorky for a forty year old man you know?
Sort of makes you question the whole doctrine of beliefs. I also pointed out christians are abusive wife-killers too.
sallyma
Men kill women, men kill men, men kill children and men kill helpless animals at a percentage of well over 90% of all homocides. So why not talk about the real problem: our society needs to deal head on with male violence for the epidemic that it is. The question is not why this Man killed this women, but why Men can't control their homocidal selves in a culture that supposedly has evolved.
ssm111
The media has tried to portray this as an honor killing or cultural event, I would unequivocally say that this has nothing to do with Islam or any particular culture. It has everything to do with the issue of control by a batterer. Islam is again being challenged to be on the defensive.
The brutal murder has left a indelible mark on the psyche of people who knew the couple, knew of them or heard about them near and far from United States to Pakistan and South Africa. People are shocked, angry, hurt and dismayed. On reviewing this case I was appalled at the number of times the battery was reported to the police by the victim.. Police was more than willing to intervene had the victim allowed it. The laws need to be changed for the police to put a person behind the bars for the kind of torture Aasyia had gone thru. There were more than a dozen reports to the police and he was not handcuffed once till her death.
To what extent should the Local community shoulder the 'emotional burden of responsibility' when the victim herself did not want to proceed with charges against her spouse, to safeguard her 'husband's honor' or 'protect her children from the publicity'?
It is time that the communities come together and work to raise public awareness about violence against women. We need to carefully dissect the causes and figure out solutions.Empoerment and support of women going through domestic abuse is crucial
Sarwat Malik MD
click212
Whether he was insane or not is irrelevant when Muslim cultural tradition allows abuse and murder by its passive attitude about violence against women. Let's not kid ourselves, he isn't that crazy that he doesn't know that his culture will give him slack, therefore abetting his rage to punish her. Why are not immigrants education in the ways of the society they are entering and know that sort of behavior will bring dire consequences. Or we can retaliate whenever a killing of this nature occurs buy allowing the women in the community to stone the killer to death as a means of equal justice.
That should make the sane and the bipolar think twice before they lift a finger. Allah is great, no?
Genni2002
The problem that I have with religions that tilt to the fundamental side is that usually the men are allowed to treat the women as possessions. They think they have some God given right to forcibly make women do what they want. Hopefully, at some point women will get fed up with this lop-sided God who plays favorites.
It is really too bad about Aasiya Hassan. She sounded like a really lovely person. She may have been an excellent spokesperson for women's issues.
ssm111
click212, For your information
Having practiced Medicine in USA for 35 years I have seen a lot of battered women (non Muslim). Contrary to what you say I did not see any difference in this society's approach to the problem of domestic abuse. I did not see people in droves trying to condem the perpetrator or support that woman. Human nature is the same universally. No religion or docent socity or culture condones this kind of behavior
Gennie2002, it has nothing to do with religion, but it is typical for the betterer, no matter in which society he lives or which culture he belongs to. they consider women as their property. Total control is the root cause of the problem I think we can do better justice to the cause by keeping the religion out of it as it has nothing to do with Islam and use our energies and focus on finding solutions. The men who abuse women need anger management. God or Allah, yahwah, OM whatever you chose to call Him is indeed great.
Thank you.
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