Aasiya Zubair

Aasiya Zubair, also known as Aasiya Hassan (June 17, 1972 – February 12, 2009) was a TV broadcaster. She was married to Muzzammil Hassan, the Pakistani-American co-founder and owner of Bridges TV, the first American Muslim English-language television network. In February 2009, she was found dead, beheaded, at the Bridges TV station in Orchard Park, New York after her estranged husband turned himself in to a police station and was charged with second-degree murder.

Career Zubair was an architect by training. Worried by the negative perceptions of Muslims, she "felt there should be an American Muslim media where her kids could grow up feeling really strong about their identity as an American Muslim" and came up with the idea for Bridges TV. She also studied for a Master of Business Administration at State University of New York at Buffalo from 2007 to 2009.

Murder Muzzamill Hassan lured Zubair to the television studio where they worked together, on February 12, 2009. He attacked her with two hunting knives, stabbing her forty one times and finally severing her head.

Legacy In addition to her pioneering work as a broadcaster, Zubair is being remembered as a catalyst for heightened awareness of the issue of domestic violence, especially in the North American Muslim community. Wajahat Ali, acclaimed playwright and founder of GoatMilk, wrote in The Guardian that "he absolute brutality of Aasiya's murder has served as a clarion call to many American Muslims who have passionately responded to the tragedy with a resounding desire to confront this festering calamity." Imam Mohamed Hagmagid Ali, vice-president of The Islamic Society of North America, stated: "This is a wake up call to all of us, that violence against women is real and can not be ignored. It must be addressed collectively by every member of our community."

On February 7, 2011, Muzzammil Hassan was found guilty of second degree murder for beheading his wife of eight years, Aasiya Zubair. Alaa Murabit, founder of The Voice of Libyan Women, said that "Purple Hijab Day directly contests a Muslim's falsely perceived right to abuse a wife, daughter, mother, or sister."