Though many people claimed to love Aasiya, none of them did enough. Laws are useless in the face of inadequate support systems in a person's family and friend network that can help extract one from her abusive situation.

The brutal murder of our sister, Aasiya Zubair Hassan, finally forced a community of believers to unearth our heads from the sand and confront head-on the insidious epidemic of domestic violence.

Aasiya Hassan's murder is horrific, but perhaps her story will give our community reason for pause and encourage countless other women to journey out of violence.

If a Jew or Christian commits domestic violence, will the media report it as a religious act? Yet when domestic violence occurs between Muslims, there is strong condemnation by their leadership.

Perhaps the way out of this madness for the Muslim community is to look back at the life of Prophet Muhammad and remember his true legacy as a visionary champion of women's rights.