"Muzzammil Hassan fights negative views of muslims in US
Answer: Move to America, set up a tv station to bridge the gap of understanding between muslims and the American people… and then behead your wife.
With all the bushfire news, this horrific story seems to have quietly slipped under the radar here in Australia. Muzzammil Hassan arrived in the US from Pakistan back in 1979. He worked as a banker and at some point married Aasiya Z. Hassan. After 9/11 Assiya overheard a report she didn’t like that contained negative comments about muslims. After discussing the issue together Muzzammil quit his banking job and spent three years developing a television network that would be broadcast in English, the idea being that “there should be a Muslim media 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” (Voice of America).
Reception of the network was mixed and it seems to have had difficulty taking off. Daniel Pipes blog features a timeline suggesting that prior to February 2009, Bridges TV was last in the news after Muzzammil Hassan took a trip to Saudi Arabia in late 2006 hoping to raise 5 million in investment money.
On February 6th 2009, divorce papers were served to Muzzammil and Aasiya was granted an order of protection, which is our equivalent of a restraining order. FoxNews reports that Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz stated that “he was served with divorce papers that day at the [television studio], he came back to the residence and was pounding on
doors and broke one window … He left the premises that night.”
At 6:20pm on February 12th, Muzzammil turned himself in at Orchard Park Police Department, announcing that his wife was dead. Police officers found the decapitated body of Aasiya at the Bridges Tv station shortly thereafter. Muzzammil has since been charged with second degree murder.”
Mr. and Mrs. Hassan, the not so happy couple
We have a man who’s been living in western society for thirty years, who is the CEO of a television network designed to fight muslim stereotypes in the western world, and then he goes and beheads his wife after she files for divorce. Can you get any more stereotypically muslim then the image of beheading your wife for wanting a divorce? All that’s missing from this story is a suicide bomber thrown in somewhere for a bit of drama.
Forget about some uneducated immigrant with pre-conceived baggage from his homeland and one sided views of the world, this is an educated banker who was actively working to crush these stereotypical views and “bridge” the gap between muslims and the western world. WHAT HAPPENED!?!? How do you go from what he was to hacking off his wife’s head and then just turning yourself in to the local police station?
At this point there are a lot of questions and the primary motivating factor for the murder would appear to be the divorce. From an update on Daniel Pipes blog, Aaisiya’s divorce attorney Elizabeth DiPirro is quoted as stating “the grounds for divorce were “cruel and inhuman treatment,” referring to multiple prior incidents of abuse. The couple had “physical confrontations off and on” during their entire eight-year marriage and these recently had escalated to death threats.”
These claims of domestic violence are further confirmed by Asma Firfirey, Aasiya’s sister. She claims “the last time her sister had been in South Africa was in May last year, and that on her arrival, she had been assaulted so badly that they had to pay R30,000 in medical fees.”
To be fair to Islam and muslims, I couldn’t find any information on beheading being a punishment for divorce in Islam so I can only assume it isn’t. One of the common acceptable citations for divorce in Islam I found was if the wife has received ill treatment” which seems to fit in well if previous accounts of the Hassan’s domestic violence history are to be believed. What’s not acceptable is firstly the murdering of his wife and secondly the manner in which he did so, given his position and what he apparently stood for he simply should have known better.
Sadly it seems this one act will easily overshadow the potential good work the television station had worked towards since it’s conception. “Muslim CEO” and “beheading his wife for divorce” are just too striking an image to gloss over and forget about. It’s not so much the fact that they were muslim as the fact that in the modern age, the act of beheading is almost synonymous with negative portrayals of Islam. Every so often news trickles in from the middle east of beheadings of females for various “honor kills” and then there were the infamous soldier beheading videos plastered over the internet during the height of the Iraq/Afghan wars. It just seems like such an inexplicable action for someone in such a position in the community that Muzzammil was in.
Back in Australia Islam and women’s rights was in the spotlight after Samir Abu Hamza suggested rape was impossible in marriage and that it was ok to go around beating your wife with a toothbrush if she didn’t put out. Whilst beheading is an extreme jump from those remarks and admittedly thus far a rare occurrence in the west, I only hope that I never live to see the day any person is beheaded for religious reasons or otherwise on Australian soil.
What an absolute shocking end and waste of human life, my condolences go out to her family and I hope they lock up Mr. Hassan for a long time and the charges are upgraded from second degree murder, one would think the act of beheading your wife would warrant so.
April 14th, 2009 at 8:01 pm pete(Quote)
In answer to your question: 30 years made him American. There’s always a beheading story or two going on in America, and, well, he just decided he’d adopt his home country’s ways, including those of the loopy killers. The Muslim angle might be peripheral in this case.
January 13th, 2010 at 4:21 pm Jo(Quote)
I find it ammusing how this story managed to get on your blog. But then I’m not surprised it did. After siftling through a few of your articles it’s not hard to see your unconceled attempts to exploit the image of muslims. Your article makes it seem like this is the first time a murder has been committed by a man after a divorce. But then, I assume you’re only interested in murders committed by muslims. Sounds a little more interesting on your blog does it?
Here’s a story: Man murders wife over facebook status. A little western murder for you.
January 13th, 2010 at 4:49 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Well I’m a little taken back you find an Islamic spokesperson campaigning against muslim stereotypes beheading their wife amusing but each to their own.
There’s over 400 articles on OzSoapbox, if you think the sole purpose of this site is solely to criticise the Islamic faith I suggest you do some more reading.
January 13th, 2010 at 5:36 pm Jo(Quote)
I suggest you re-read the comment. I did not say I found the article amusing or the fact that a man (regardless of his faith) murded his wife. Although, it seems to me that you have exploited this woman’s death to merley satisfy your own hunger for racism. To each their own indeed.
I’m not suggesting the exploitation of muslims is the SOLE PURPOSE OF THIS SITE, but rather that you seem to be doing alot of it? Any explanations as to why?
January 13th, 2010 at 5:48 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
You said it you found it amusing how the story had made its way onto my site. The reason the story made its way onto my site was because I was appalled by Muzzamil’s actions.
Therefore either his actions or the fact that I found them appalling is what amused you.
What racism, since when was Islam a race?
The Islam articles are probably one of if not the smallest topic written about here. As for why well I guess it’s most likely due to the recent spate of ‘self styled’ muslim clerics who have been outspoken in Australia over the last few years.
That and I’m not a fan of Islam in general.
January 13th, 2010 at 6:02 pm Jo(Quote)
Indeed, I do find it amusing this story has made it onto your site when there are far worse killings going on and for dumber reasons. Hence, the previous post on a man murdering his wife because she changed her facebook status to single.
You seem to think that the beheading of a woman after divorce is stereotypically muslim? Wow have you got alot of growing up to do. The ignorance of such a comment and the fact that it was in your article suggests you had ulterior motives when writing it. It therefore does not seem to me that the reason for writing this article was because you cared about this poor woman’s death or were appaled, but rather it was an oppourtunity to critise a religion.
January 13th, 2010 at 6:52 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Hassan beheading his wife wasn’t just some random killing. Hassan actively campaigned against muslim stereotypes in the US. Then he goes and beheads his wife for wanting to divorce him. Beheading is an action some would argue is stereotypically islamic (see: captured US soldiers and captical punishment in the middle east).
The guy who killed his wife would be of the same calibre of interest if he'd been actively campaigning against killing your wife over facebook status updates prior to killing her. See the difference?
In retrospect the media coverage Hassan's death got was quite light. Imagine if a priest was the head of a child potection charity and was busted feeling up children, it would have made headlines worldwide.
As mentioned earlier one of my biggest gripes with Islam is the treatment of women. This story just happened to bring criticism of Islam and treatment of women together.
January 13th, 2010 at 7:14 pm Jo(Quote)
I don’t believe that, nor do I think many others would, beheading is stereotypically muslim. The French beheaded their own queen. Mongolian and Japanese races used to behead their prisioners of war. It is not a typically “Islamic” act. But I’m sure you would have said the same thing if he had slit her throat.
January 13th, 2010 at 8:52 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
…once again how about you take off your academic rose coloured glasses. Show the sentence ‘______ fundamentalists beheaded several people today’ and ask what the missing word is. Justified or not ‘Islamic’ is going to be the answer.
The French beheading one Queen, the Mongols and Japanese beheading a few people years ago does not a stereotype make. Although you’ll note a few stereotypes exist when discusing the Japanese military, cannibalism and the kamikaze pilots etc.
The Quran itself mentions beheading a few times doesn’t it. Beheading as a punishment is stereotypically Islamic in the modern world.
February 10th, 2011 at 4:13 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
GUILTY: Just thought I’d leave an update here regarding this case.
Amazingly Hassan cited ‘self defence’ during the trial. Seriously, how do you behead your wife in self defence?