Dear Sir,
I stare at your wife’s face, elegantly framed in dark hair, and I wonder what secrets were lost in her head, rolling around on the bloodied floor, after it was lopped off. My mind cringes from the images of how she must have resisted when she saw her attacker coming, grimacing in a frenzied, insane rage. How her voice must have begged for mercy until her last gurgling breathe.
The media reports that you, her husband, killed her.
Her name was Assiya, and it wasn’t just her life that is prematurely destroyed. She leaves behind two small children, a family and community to mourn her absence. And for those around the world who are already suspicious of Muslims, her murder hammers another nail in the coffin.
You are an educated man, a former banker who has lived in the
What will be your defense? Will you tarnish Islam further by claiming religious rights, that women aren’t allowed to dishonor their families no matter how just their divorce requests might be? I hope for your sake, you claim something else, anything else, even the Twinkie defense. Because the news continues to show us an image of Islam incongruous with peace.
And when someone like me - a mother, a liberal, and a pacifist – reads your story, I am revolted. Mistrust and anger grow and I think: you can take a man out of the darkness, but can’t take the darkness out of him.
Perhaps you think
Perverse and hateful offenses don’t go unanswered. Men who kill their wives are punished. Tyranny and subjugation won’t prevail. Not in our land, not in our streets, not in our time, and not in the future. We are the
Comments
Muslim men understand it's hateful, is it pressure from their Muslim male peers that if they don't douse out the flame, their male peers will eventually kill them? What is the male community like? Maybe it's that same men needing to teach men thing you wrote about with Rhianna's abuse. In this case, I believe American Muslim Men need to separate themselves from their wrong culture and show each other and support each other MORE verbally, how to become good people here. It would show their people elsewhere, this IS THE RIGHT THING to do! Good luck American Muslim Men, I have faith you can.
Muslim men understand it's hateful, is it pressure from their Muslim male peers that if they don't douse out the flame, their male peers will eventually kill them? What is the male community like? Maybe it's that same men needing to teach men thing you wrote about with Rhianna's abuse. In this case, I believe American Muslim Men need to separate themselves from their wrong culture and show each other and support each other MORE verbally, how to become good people here. It would show their people elsewhere, this IS THE RIGHT THING to do! Good luck American Muslim Men, I have faith you can.
Muslim men understand it's hateful, is it pressure from their Muslim male peers that if they don't douse out the flame, their male peers will eventually kill them? What is the male community like? Maybe it's that same men needing to teach men thing you wrote about with Rhianna's abuse. In this case, I believe American Muslim Men need to separate themselves from their wrong culture and show each other and support each other MORE verbally, how to become good people here. It would show their people elsewhere, this IS THE RIGHT THING to do! Good luck American Muslim Men, I have faith you can.
This coward used murder as a way to solve his "problem." Great column (no surprise there!)
Well said, Tinamarie.
Gray
One of your best columns I have ever read. In fact, one of the best pieces I have read in a LONG time. Doesn't hurt that we actually agree on the content, either!
You said it sister.
This Muslim man lived in America for years, and it was his profession to promote a "better image" for Muslims, especially those living in the United States. Yet, this was the best example of Muslim behavior he could deliver? Tina, you are absolutely correct in this case that you can take a man out of the darkness, but you cannot take the darkness out of the man...thank you for that insight. The courts need to make a statement LOUD and CLEAR that we will not tolerate the importation of this barbaric form of retatliation, under any circumstance.
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