Muslim Affairs                       March 6th 2009

A Muslim Celebrity CEO of Bridges TV murdered his Wife

M. Basheer Ahmed M.D. Opinion - Muslim Affairs

Muzzammil Hassan, the founder and CEO of first Muslim Television Network, was charged with murdering his wife by beheading her. It is ironic to note that the mission of the television network was to show the Muslims in a positive image. The victim, Aasiya Hassan, was having marital problems and recently filed for divorce after previous incidents of domestic violence.

As a head line, I used the words “A Muslim Celebrity murdered his wife,” not to show that Muslims are capable of this violent behavior but to point out to the Muslim Community that we are not immune to such behavior which are not uncommon among the followers of all faiths.

This is certainly a wake-up call for the Muslim community, majority of whom do not believe that domestic violence exist in the Muslim community. However it occurs frequently in the community, but seldom appears in the news paper. In this situation, Mr. Muzzammil Hassan, who became a spokes person for the Muslim as the founder of the TV Channel devoted to correct the misconception of Islam, alleged to commit a violent crime which was contradictory to all the Islamic principles. His acts became a national and an international news and it evoked some of the most extreme stereotypes about the religion Islam.

Domestic violence is a pathological behavior which is nothing to do with Islam. It occurs in the followers of all religions and cultures. It is a pattern of behavior to establish power and control over other person through fear and intimidation, often including the threat or the use of violence. The abuse occurs when the spouse believes that he is entitled to control the other person.

Domestic violence and family violence appears to be civilized terms describing the most uncivilized, controlling and demeaning behavior of the spouse. Millions of women through out the world live in a condition of abject deprivation and they are subjected to humiliation and abuse only because they are women. 

The world is making advances in education and supposed to be becoming more civilized but unfortunately the issue of domestic violence and uncivilized behavior towards women has not been resolved. Millions of women in all over the world subjected to domestic violence resulting in emotional and physical injuries and sometimes death. Women are still unable to depend on the government to protect the physical violence at home which sometime fatal consequences.

Domestic violence is not a women’s issue. Men need to be educated that the primary pathology for domestic violence lies in men. Until they learn to handle effectively the conflicts and learn to manage their anger, the problem will continue.

Domestic Violence in United States:
The domestic violence is more common than the general perception. Even the cases reported are much smaller than the actual incidents. In United States, the figures are much higher than the Eastern part of the world due to higher reporting and media’s attention. On average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in this country every day. 30% of women killed in the U.S. are killed by their husbands or boyfriends. 20-30% of American women will be physically abused by a partner at least once in their lifetimes. 1.3 million Women are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually. 30-40% of women's emergency room visits are for injuries due to domestic violence. 25% of suicide attempts by Caucasian women and 50% of suicide attempts by African American women preceded by abuse. 324,000 pregnant women report abuse by their husbands every year. 50% of men who assaulted their female partners also assaulted their children 10 million children witness domestic violence each year and boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults. The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health services.

In Texas, there were 187,811 incidents of family violence in 2005 and 12,356 adults living in domestic violence shelters in 2006. There were 120 homicides as a result of domestic violence in 2006. Of those 120 domestic violence homicides in Texas, 43% were committed by a spouse and 24% were committed by a dating partner.
Six children were killed in Texas as a result of domestic violence in 2006.

Black females experienced intimate partner violence at a rate 35% higher than that of white females, and about 22 times the rate of women of other races. The number one killer of African-American women ages 15 to 34 is homicide at the hands of a current or former intimate partner. 77% of all Hispanic Texans indicate that either they, a family member and/or a friend have experienced some form of domestic violence, indicating that approximately 5.2 million Hispanic Texans are personally affected by the epidemic of domestic violence. 40% of Hispanic Texans who reported experiencing at least one form of domestic violence took no action.

Project AWARE (Asian Women Advocating Respect and Empowerment) in Washington, DC, conducted an anonymous survey in 2000-2001 to examine the experiences of abuse, service needs, and barriers to service among Asian women. Using a sample of 178 Asian women: 81.1% of the women reported experiencing at least one form of intimate partner violence (domination/controlling/psychological, physical, and/or sexual abuse as categorized by the researchers) in the past year. 67% "occasionally" experienced some form of domination or controlling psychological abuse; 48% experienced it "frequently" in the past year. 32% experienced physical or sexual abuse at least "occasionally" during the past year. In another survey of South Asians in United States 40.8% of the participants reported that they had been physically and/or sexually abused in some way by their current male partners in their lifetime; 36.9% reported having been victimized in the past year. 65% of the women reporting physical abuse also reported sexual abuse, and almost a third (30.4%) of those reporting sexual abuse reported injuries, some requiring medical attention. A recent study in New York City found that 51 percent of intimate partner homicide victims were foreign-born, while 45 percent were born in the United States.

Domestic Violence Global Perspective
According to a 2000 UNICEF study, 20-50% of the female population of the world will become the victims of domestic violence. In 48 population-based surveys from around the world, 10-69 percent of women reported being physically assaulted by an intimate male partner at some point in their lives. Intimate partners commit 40-70 percent of homicides of women worldwide. Around the world, 1 in 3 women have been beaten, coerced into sex, other otherwise abused in their lifetime. Most often, the abuser is a member of her own family.

In Bhutan, doctors at the hospital treated 87 victims of domestic violence and 8 victims of sexual assault, most of them women in the year 2005. One year later in 2006, the figure increased to 117 for victims of domestic violence and the number of victims of sexual assault jumped to 33. However, most of the cases were not reported at all.

Nepal reports 66% of the women in the country endures verbal abuse, 33% emotional abuse and 77% of the perpetrators of violence to be family members. Fifty eight percent of women who suffered domestic violence confirmed daily abuse.

In Sri Lanka, it is estimated that around 60% of the women are subject to domestic violence. Even with such high figures, domestic violence is still seen as normal and a private matter.

In South Asian countries, the culture of patriarchy is deeply entrenched, making a strong foundation for gender biases consequent upon which, women folks have to suffer. Discrimination against women in many families in South Asia begins even before birth with sex-selective abortions. The preference for sons is still strong, while daughters are considered an economic liability. A large study of India found that 43.5 percent of women reported that they were psychologically abused by their partners, and 40.3 percent reported that they were physically abused. Fifty percent of women who were physically abused reported violence during pregnancy. A recent study in India showed that intimate partner violence was the cause of 16 percent of maternal deaths during pregnancy.

Domestic Violence in Muslim Countries
The incidence in many Muslim-majority countries (where women hide their bruises and little is ever reported to authorities) is uncertain, but believed to be great by Muslim feminists. In some Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, reports indicate that domestic violence is quite widespread. One recent study, in Syria, found that 25% of the married women surveyed said that they had been beaten by their husbands. One study found that half of Palestinian women have been the victims of domestic violence.
In a study by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in 1996 suggested that domestic violence takes place in approximately 80 percent of the households in the country. In Pakistan, domestic violence occurs in forms of beatings, sexual violence or torture, mutilation, acid attacks and burning the victim alive. According to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in 2002, over 90% of married women surveyed in that country reported being kicked, slapped, beaten or sexually abused when husbands were dissatisfied by their cooking or cleaning, or when the women had ‘failed’ to bear a child or had given birth to a girl instead of above.
In Saudi Arabia, only in 2004 did the first successful prosecution for domestic violence occur after international attention was drawn to the case of Rania al-Baz.
In Afghanistan, a family member such as a husband, father-in-law, son or cousin commits more than eight out of every 10 acts of violence against women. And in many of the remaining cases, the perpetrator is someone known to the woman.
In Iran, two out of every three Iranian women have experienced discrimination and domestic violence from the father or other male members of the family. For the vast majority of Iranian women, married life is the beginning of horror, pain, and humiliation she is the victim of her husband and his family members. 81 out of 100 married women have experienced domestic violence in their first year of marriage. 
In Bangladesh, 14% of all maternal deaths result from domestic violence and family members commit 80% of violence against women.

It is true that many Muslim women, who are the victims of abusive behavior, do not discuss their issues with families and friend and seldom report to the authorities unless it becomes out of control. There are multiple factors for not reporting the abusive and violent behavior of the spouse: lack of support system, religious and cultural inhibitions, poor self confidence, accepting the abuse as a normal behavior. Muslim families and especially Muslim women leaders in the community must take the responsibility for not paying enough attention towards this problem. The girls are still advised to be tolerant and patient towards abusive behavior and must cover up the husband’s faults. They are given the understanding that to be married is better than to be divorced. Mr. Hassan was married twice and divorced primarily due to domestic violence. He was still able to get married without any problem. Many South Asian women don’t have support even from their own parents. Divorce is still regarded as a stigma and a shame on the families. Many men complain that it is the nagging behavior which instigates them.  However, they fail to recognize that the primary pathology is exerting the power and control over spouse. Men must learn to control the expression of their anger and they must be taught about this during the teenage years.

There are several misconceptions in the community. Many Muslim community leaders including religious leaders believe that this behavior does not occur in Muslim community. When women approach the religious leaders, they often advise them to tolerate and accept the dominant behavior of the spouse. Many women are discouraged and do not seek any assistance. Many women are hesitant to report the abuse to the authorities with the fear that their husbands will be arrested, incarcerated and possibility deported and they will not be able to support themselves and their families. They feel that they have no options but to tolerate the abuse and live in a miserable situation. They do not realize that they are not only suffering from abuse but their children are also learning the same behavior. The boys growing up in an abusive environment will become an abuser themselves. Thus by not taking action the abusive behavior is transmitted to the next generation. It is the community responsibility to pay attention to this matter.

There is also a misconception that the domestic violence occurs only in lower class families. I have seen many domestic violence cases from well to do educated families such as physicians, lawyers and business men. Because of their status, their issues are dealt very discretely and women from these families have easy access to legal help.

Unfortunately in this country, whenever the domestic violence is caused by a Muslim perpetrator, the media blames both Muslim and Islam. You will never hear from a professional expert ever blaming faith or religious traditions for the acts of violent behavior. Recently Mr. Riley of Fox News had a special program where he invited an expert with Ph.D. to discuss the domestic violence case of Mr. Muzzammil Hassan of Bridge TV. I was surprised and shocked to see that Mr. Muzamil Hassan’s decapitating act was regarded as an Islamic act and they discussed that beheading is sanctioned in Islam. It is pathetic to hear the conclusion that Islam and Quran approve such behavior. I am specially surprise to hear these comments from the expert with a Ph.D. degree. We never hear that Hinduism, Christianity or Judaism is responsible for violence against women but when Muslim is involve in such an unfortunate event not only the individual but the faith is also blamed. Mr. O'Keeffe from Brooklyn killed the baby after trying to quiet her by hitting. The baby sustained brain injuries and died, the news paper did not mention a word about his religion. A man in Melbourne, Australia killed his three sons by drowning just to punish his wife and the news paper never mentioned his religious affiliation. A man killed his estranged wife at YMCA in Essex County, New Jersey in front of his young daughter, but the news paper never quoted his religious affiliation. Perpetrators of all faiths including Muslims twist interpretation of religious dogma to justify their behavior.

The Muslim Community Center for Human Services of North Texas has been working to deal with this problem for several years. We started the domestic violence program “Roshni” about seven years ago. We organized a regional conference at University of Texas at Arlington on “Domestic Violence Islamic Perspective” sponsored by Department of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington. This was attended by many Muslims and non-Muslims, community and religious leaders and professionals. Two leading Muslim pioneers of domestic violence late Shareefa Al-Khateeb and late Dr. Farzana Hamid (Founder of Hamdard Center in Chicago) presented papers on this subject. Following this regional conference we started a hotline for the victims of domestic violence. We got only lukewarm support from the community for this effort. In 2005, Imam Majid, Vice President of ISNA, gave an inspirational speech at the MCC fund raising dinner and with the community support we hired a social worker to help the victims of the domestic violence.
In June 2008, MCC organized another Regional Conference at University of Texas at Arlington on “Domestic Violence Cross Cultural Perspective.” Imam Dr. Yusuf Z. Kavacki and Imam Mujahid Backhash made a presentation and Professor Zanaib Alwani of Virginia presented a paper on “The Islamic perspective on Domestic Violence.” Professor Najma Adam of Chicago discussed “The Culture Basis of Domestic Violence” in South Asian community.
MCC is the only Muslim medical and social organization in DFW area offering professional help, counseling service, psychiatric assessment, legal and financial help and reference to shelters to the Muslim victims of domestic violence.

MCC has developed an advisory committee of women to develop policies and oversee the operations. MCC staff makes educational presentation at various Islamic Center 3-6 times a year. The presentations make people aware of the early signs of domestic violence and encourage participants to ask questions when abuse is suspected. “Are you constantly ridiculed, criticized, and humiliated, are there any restrictions on your communication with family and friends, restriction on visitors, do you experience an extremely harsh behavior? Are you pushed, shoved, slapped, kicked, strangled, and threatened?” Do you feel “no matter what I do, it is never right?” We provide a small pink card to the participants giving information about the available resources in the community. We also advise women about their legal rights including right to get the divorce. Women are also given education about preparing to leave the house, if the abusive behavior becomes unbearable.

Protection Plan: Victims of domestic violence must develop a protection plan incase they have to escape from the house, during an attack or if they have been in a abusive relationship for along time. If it’s an emergency and they have to leave the house quickly, they should not stop to collect their belongings. The following documents: birth certificate, passport, citizenship papers, immigration papers, child custody papers (if there are any) should be easily accessible. The abuser’s social security number, insurance information, money, credit cards, checkbook, personal telephone, address book, medicine, house keys, driver’s license, car keys, clothing for a few days and valuable jewelry must already be stored in a safe accessible place.

MCC has two full time staff devoted to Domestic Violence Program. Until last year, we used to get one or two calls in a month, however, during the last few months the number of calls has increased to 6 calls a month and now we are currently providing services to 23 victims of domestic violence. With limited resources we are having difficulty in handling all the calls. We received a small grant from Department of Justice to train volunteers and this has helped the organization.  We developed excellent relationship with all the existing community resources and we utilize these resources as needed. MCC domestic violence program depends totally on the community support.

Islamic Perspective: Islam brought with it a great emancipation for women, who were severely persecuted in the pagan era. Islam empowers women with the rights of owning the property and some other rights giving them a measure of protection against ill treatment by their husbands. Unfortunately position of women remained low and worsened because the original message of Islam lost its impetus and was modified under the influence of pre-existing attitudes and cultural traditions.

God has commanded in the Quran that women should be cherished, respected, and protected. In the eyes of God, superiority does not lie in race, sex or rank, but in closeness to Him and strength of belief.

Islam strongly condemns the abusive behavior towards the spouse. Quran says “O who believes, stands firmly on for justice as witness to Allah even as against yourself, or your parents or your kin and whether it be against rich or poor for Allah can best protect both.” Tragically, some Muslim men actually use Islam to "justify" their abusive behavior. They wrongly use the Qur'anic verse that says men are the protectors and maintainers of women and, demand total obedience from wives. They disregard the Islamic requirement for the head of the household to consult with other members of the family when making decisions. When women dare to speak up or question their orders, these men misinterpret a Qur'anic verse that talks about how to treat a disobedient wife and use it as a license for abuse.  “Husbands, who fear adversity on the part of wives, admonish them, leave their bed, and beat them. (Daraba)” Tthe Arabic root word, Daraba, has 25 different meanings. One of the meanings, when used in the imperative form as it was in verse 4:34, is “to go away.” This is exactly what the Prophet did. While clearly he never beat any woman, he did “go away” from his wives when there was domestic unrest. Abusive men are completely disregarding the Islamic teachings of kindness, mercy, gentleness, and forgiveness .Muslim women often accept un-Islamic treatment from their husbands because they don't know their Islamic rights, unfortunately many women don’t get support from Imams and they are let to believe that they must be obedient to their husband. Similarly many women do not get support from their family members either.

Imam Majid, executive director of ADAMS Center and Vice President of ICNA, issued a statement in response to the recent incident. He emphasized and urged the Imams to never second guess, a woman who comes to them indicating that she feels her life to be in danger. He points out that no women in a health marriage would accuse her husband wrongfully. Abused woman should be given the safety of the environment and abusive spouse should be dealt strongly. “Our community needs to take a strong stand against the abusive spouse and we should not make easy for them to remarry, if they choose a path of abusive behavior.” “The young man should be taught that violence has no place in marriage and young woman should be taught not to accept abuse and keep silent. No Imam should suggest that the abused woman should return to the abusive relationship and to be patient if she feels that the relationship is abusive.

The Role of Imams and Community Leaders:  The Muslim community has failed in its obligations to protect many Muslim women from abuse. The issue of domestic violence needs to be dealt much more effectively in order to stop the immediate suffering of people in abusive situations and to help build healthy Muslim families.

First, the community must accept the fact that there is a problem. The Imams and the community leaders need to educate people about the problem and about efforts to help victims and prevent future abuse - through Friday Khutbahs (sermons), educational seminars, and workshops. The community needs to establish classes to teach Muslim men, how to be proper husbands and fathers and to teach Muslim women, how to be proper wives and mothers. Many Muslims do not know their rights and obligations in these roles.

Healthy Marriage Initiatives: Marriage should be based on equality, mutual respect, love and kindness. When the conflict occurs the couple needs to learn how to deal it without losing self control. We need to strengthen the family support system by premarital counseling, “Healthy Marriage” education program and marital counseling. This program should be carried out by the Muslim Social Service Agencies.  

MCC organizes educational programs on healthy marriages to teach the couples, the art of communication to reduce escalation, invalidation, which are the major causes of fights and arguments and conflict resolution techniques. Hopefully this will enhance the healthy marriage and prevent abusive behavior. Anger is another precipitating factor which leads to violent behavior and the spouse needs to learn anger control.

If you need further information or help please contact MCC- Domestic Violence Help Line 817-589-0200 or you can contact the national hot line 800-799-7233. uslim Community Center for Human Services needs your support to continue this work in the community. May God bless you.

M. Basheer Ahmed M.D.
Chairman, MCC for Human Services  
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www.roshni-mcc.org/
817-907-6080