Rasel Siddiquee

Bangladeshi Muslim Rasel Siddiquee immigrated to the US in the hope of a better life… but things didn’t work out so well for him. The devout Muslim, age 27, experienced the same difficulties finding employment as the average liberal arts major, and struggled to make ends meet. His landlord, another Muslim immigrant but one who had become deeply attached to America and loved it here, would soon face Siddiquee’s wrath.

It is believed Siddiquee killed his landlord for money, seeing as a he had quite a lot of cash on him for someone who lacked permanent employment. However, the method by which Siddiquee carried out the murder was truly Islamic: beheading.

Instead of shooting his landlord or stabbing him like a normal criminal, Siddiquee had to commit murder in a uniquely Islamic fashion. His victim’s head was found barely attached to the body, having been hacked nearly off by a sword. Qur. 8:12, among others, commands Muslims to behead infidels, and there are numerous permissions in the Qur’an for Muslims to take the possessions of those defeated in battle. Siddiquee’s comments have suggested his landlord’s attitude toward his lack of income was a motive. Of course, instead of handling a slight bit of shame like a reasonable person, Siddiquee had to defend his “honor” from someone who questioned it. In Islam, the way to do that is to slay the source of the shame.

Siddiquee was apprehended when he tried to flee the country and return to his native Bangladesh via Kuwait. He never made it out of the US, and is now facing murder charges.