The profile of a classical honor killing is one in which a young girl or young woman in an Islamist household is, from a modern, western, and feminist point of view, kept secluded and subordinate, normatively abused, force-veiled at a young age, and held to a 7th-8th century view of woman’s honor and family honor as practiced in the past and still today among many people in the Muslim Middle East, in the increasingly Arabized Islamic world in Asia, and in Muslim immigrant communities in the West.
For the first time, in the wake of the Buffalo beheading, Muslim-American organizations who routinely claim that honor killings have nothing to do with Islam are now saying that a classical honor killing involves the murder of a young girl or woman by multiple family members. It does. I have shown this to be so in my study, just published in Middle East Quarterly HERE. The Muslim organizations are not necessarily admitting that such a killing is related to Islam, but they are admitting that honor killings do exist, separate and apart from western-style domestic violence/femicide. And, to be fair, many individuals and organization leaders are also condemning such murders in grave and heartbroken voices.
Alas, they are now doing so, loud and clear, in order to make the point that Muzammil Hassan’s “alleged” beheading of his wife, Aasiya Z. Hassan, does not fit the profile of a classical honor killing–and, of course, that Islam has nothing to do with it.
They may be right. But they may be wrong. And, as is often the case, the truth may turn out to be a complicated mix of criminal-legal, cultural, and psychological realities.
Even if the Buffalo case turns out to be the act of a “temporarily deranged” and violent man and not a classical honor killing–this does not discredit the importance of differentiating between a classical honor killing and domestic violence, and between the kind of cultural-religious murders which are normalized in Muslim countries and communities versus the kind of domestic violence/femicides in the West which are viewed as crimes.
As I have argued today in Frontpage HERE, some violent Muslim men in America who ended up killing their wives after first beating them, all killed them in signature barbaric-Islamic kinds of ways. They beheaded them, burned them alive, slit their throats and the throats of their wife’s family members who either supported their leaving a violent marriage or supported their refusal to convert to Islam.
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17 Comments
1. MG:I believe the phrase we infidels seek is:
“He went full Muslim on her.”
Any Muslim readers disapprove? Then QUIT BEING APOLOGISTS. QUIT SPLITTING HAIRS!
Feb 20, 2009 - 1:25 pm 2. SeanLA:And what would you like to be done? Whats this “cultural” defense-like argument, would you like to see sharia courts in NY? capable of understanding Islam and its methods?
Let him be tried as a westener in western courts. All this islam material is to establish intent, premeditation thats all
If you bring the `cultural understanding of religion’ into it, especially a religion with so many grants and donations to give, and money to be had, what value is this life compared to a new library or studies endowment? The same as the Daniel Pipes character, Hassan will be free in a few years to continue his work spreading the word of his prophet.
Take religion out of it and paint him as a sicko who cut off his wifes head (while still alive?!) then you can get somewhere.
Feb 20, 2009 - 1:31 pm 3. George Jochnowitz:Most American and European feminists consider violence a greater crime than murder???!!!
Well, as I always say, anti-Zionism takes precedence over all other issues.
Feb 20, 2009 - 3:06 pm 4. joeblough:I’m not sure that that would be so bad, when you consider that if one accepts that argument one also has to concede that it is a powerful argument against allowing mohammedans to immigrate. If that is a normal response to agravated stress, then who needs or wants such people around.
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In general however, I’m not sure how much value there is in agonizing over whether or not this murder fit’s 100% neatly into the category of honor killing.
If one must reach a conclusion about this sort of thing, I expect that it’s reasonable to assume that there is a whole super-category of ritualized or perhaps conventionalized civilian murder, into which honor killing fits as a sub-category. There are probably a few other varieties covering revenge in business affairs, terminal punishment in marriage, etc, etc …
I would be willing to offer a small wager that a little bit of investigation would reveal that several types of interpersonal strife are regarded as resolvable by killing, and that the method of killing in those cases is loosely subject to convention, with some regional variations.
It will be difficult to collect the data anywhere outside of the western countries where police keep somewhat reliable statistics about such things.
In any case, there can however be no doubt whatsoever that mohammedans have a particular emotional excitement about decapitation, amputation and mutilation — but decapitation in particular.
The simple facts that even our 5th column press must admit are that decapitation is rare among everybody else, and common among mohammedans.
The association with mohammedanism is pie-in-the-face obvious.
Feb 20, 2009 - 8:29 pm 5. Help me better understand:WE are dealing in a time of twins now more common than ever – and as such multiple births which Western technological enterprise enables. Interestingly, we have an unprecedented “success” story that of an Arab woman in America conceiving and birthing octuplets. The price to be paid by all of us – the American taxpayers!
Reminds of the Biblical story of Sarah, Abraham and her handmaid Hagar. Sarah unable to bear children recommended to her beloved husband, Abraham, he have a child with Hagar. Hagar indeed had a son, Ishmael. Sarah subsequently conceived Isaac. However, Hagar militancy and major disruptions of the household – seeking to displace Sarah seeing herself entitled to being the wife of Abraham. The threat to Sarah and her son Isaac was inestimable.
Sarah saw she had to send Hagar away to preserve herself, to save the life of her own son. Abraham, on the other hand, did not want to send Hagar and Ishmael away saying Ishmael too was his son and felt pity for Hagar. Sarah prevailed.
The question remains however is there a lesson in all this in our day?
How many nations represented by those artificially induced children of Ms. Suliman? And at what price?
Nadya, the mother giving no forethought to the consequences for the children – not satisfied with the 3 sets of children she already brought into the world thanks to the most sophisticated reproductive technologies in this our day – unprepared to care for them financially and otherwise -has America paying the full price now and one can only wonder the implications for the future?
Feb 21, 2009 - 9:38 am 6. Louis Santacroce:I agree that he should be tried as a westerner; that is, tried under our western law, with a western penalty if/when he’s found guilty (and let’s not be afraid of “offending” muslims by carrying out that penalty). But let us not forget, and — more importantly — let us make certain that our courts,and especially our lawmakers understand that his actions were carried out according to Islamic law/culture, and that this law/culture is incompatible with American law/culture; that its acceptence/tolerance in any form, however slight, will spell the death of America.
Yes, many forms of femicide are carried out in the US; but, these actions are perpitrated by(mostly) men with no unifying system of beliefs (unless “death to women” qualifies). I support the death of Islam in the US — they can convert or they can leave, and that goes for American-born/converted muslims as well as the “imports” — because their entire belief system is in direct opposition to American ways of life, however varied, insufferable and/or at odds with each other many of those ways may be.
Feb 21, 2009 - 10:12 am 7. Some links for February 21 2009 | Vlad Tepes:[...] Phyllis Chesler has been writing recently on Islam and so called honor killings and domestic violence. She is quite probably the first and certainly one of the most knowledgeable authors on this subject who comes from a western background. This new article by Ms. Chesler is quite exceptional and brings into focus other lesser known femicides by Muslim men and details some of the reasons the western media as well as western feminist organizations have been ignoring Muslim killing of women. For those of you who have read her material on the Buffalo beheading of the TV station owner’s wife, don’t think you know this already and skip it. This is very good and needs to be read by all in my opinion. [...]
Feb 21, 2009 - 12:22 pm 8. MikeH:More from the Buffalo News on this case: http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/585874.html?imw=Y
“Aasiya Z. Hassan was stabbed several times before being beheaded Feb. 12, and authorities still aren’t sure whether she was alive when she was decapitated.”
Feb 21, 2009 - 2:10 pm 9. MikeH:a href=”http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/39825477.html?video=YHI&t=a”>And to think that this has anything to do with Islam is just shameful
Feb 21, 2009 - 2:19 pm 10. MikeH:OK That didn’t work, so here is a link to WKBW-TV (Buffalo) video. Draw your own conclusions.
Feb 21, 2009 - 2:21 pm 11. Gloria:http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/39825477.html?video=YHI&t=a
When we accept that “Muzammil Hassan’s ‘alleged’ beheading of his wife, Aasiya Z. Hassan, does not fit the profile of a classical honor killing–and, of course, that Islam has nothing to do with it”, I think we are allowing Islamists to define a situation we know little about.
All we know is that Aasiya’s beheaded body was found in the offices of Bridges TV after her husband reported her death to the police at 6:20 pm. We do not know if her husband committed the act alone.
To me, it seems highly unlikely that one man, even a big, strong one, could behead a vibrant, young woman, with adrenaline flowing, in a public place without anyone hearing the commotion and coming to her aid. This act apparently took place on a weekday afternoon in a business establishment and her body was discovered in the hallway, a common area. Where were the workers? Was she actually killed there or somewhere else and brought there? Could Hassan manage all that on his own? In the middle of the day?
Also, we don’t know if she was killed first and beheaded later. Only an autopsy can confirm that.
Then there’s Hassan’s report to the police. I would imagine that beheading someone is a very messy undertaking. Did Hassan do the deed and then clean himself up and change his clothes before going the police station? Did he have the time to do that?
There are many logistical questions left unanswered that suggest accomplices were involved and until we get more evidence, including an autopsy, I don’t think we should relinquish naming this atrocious murder an honor killing so easily. Rushing to call it an ordinary domestic violence death, does not honor Aasiya’s life.
Feb 22, 2009 - 10:06 am 12. DavidN:Everyone keeps saying that this killing, and other “honor” killings, are part of Islamic culture. In fact, in reality they’re part of the culture of some Middle Eastern countries, not of Islam. Islam is used by the people who commit these murders as an excuse, but in the Muslim world the religion is the excuse for everything that anyone does, that’s objectionable to anyone else.
Think about it. In the above article, Chesler cites a passage from the Koran that starts out talking about meeting enemies on the battlefield. She then relates this to the guy’s actions when he killed the wife who was divorcing him. But was she an enemy on a battlefield? I don’t think so. She was instead the guy’s wife. Now the Koran does at one point encourage wife-beating, but it never says anything about killing wives or daughters, at least not that I’m aware of.
Think again of what these killings are called. “Honor” killings. Not “Religious” killings, but “Honor” killings. What’s going on, frankly, is that if your 15 year old daughter is flirting with non-Muslim boys at a local McDonalds, it *shames* a man in front of his friends. If a powerful TV executive has three wives leave him in turn, because he beats them, it’s *embarrassing*, *humiliating* to him. A person in such a culture has a reputation, and it can be drastically influenced by the behavior of family members, especially the women. If they do things which the community doesn’t approve of, it reflects badly on the men who are supposed to be responsible for the women of the family. Those men need to act swiftly, to restore the family honor. There’s no religious aspect to this, whatsoever, beyond perhaps the sorts of behavior that are prohibited. It’s more about what those in the Hispanic community refer to as *machismo* and much less about religion. The problem is that here in the states, religion has such a bad reputation that if any mention of religious practices is made, around an incident like this, everyone assumes it’s the sole, or at least the major, component to what happened.
Trust me, when he did this the guy was saying to himself “A man can only take so much…What did she expect me to do?”
Feb 23, 2009 - 3:30 am 13. Carl:I heard that the instrument used was not found on the scene.
Would this indicate help in the execution?
Feb 25, 2009 - 9:34 am 14. Chesler Chronicles » The Danger To the Prosecution of Calling an “Honor Killing” an Honor Killing.:[...] all honor killings look exactly alike. Sometimes, the killers are not the woman’s own father and brothers but [...]
Feb 26, 2009 - 4:15 pm 15. Lorenzo (from downunder):This seems to me to be an act of domestic violence done according to a Muslim pattern of killing. The misogyny that so infects Islam is very present.
It is less clear to me that it is a classic (dis)honour killing.
Feb 27, 2009 - 2:00 am 16. Chesler Chronicles » A Civilized Dialogue About Islam and Honor Killing. When Feminist Heroes Disagree.:[...] Domestic Violence?” Thereafter, between February 17th and February 27th, I published an additional five articles on the subject. Dorchen is on my mailing list and so she received every article. Late [...]
Mar 2, 2009 - 4:04 pm 17. A Civilized Dialogue About Islam and Honor Killing. When Feminist Heroes Disagree. « ACT Northern Virginia/Richmond/DC Metro Chapter. Dedicated to the Defense of our freedom from Islamic Ideology.:[...] Violence?” Thereafter, between [3] February 17th and [4] February 27th, I published an [5] additional [6] five [7] articles on the subject. Dorchen is on my mailing list and so she received every [...]
Mar 3, 2009 - 10:48 am