The Difference in Muslim and non-Muslim Opinion on Hijab

I test out the difference in Muslim and non-Muslim opinions on hijab. As someone who dons the hijab myself, I’ve experienced a lot of mixed reviews, and was always a little shocked by what people thought about it. It would be reasonable to assume that Muslims would always be in favor of it because of their religion, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes non-Muslims are more in favor of it than Muslims, and sometimes they hate it. I sit down with individuals who identify as Muslims and those who do not, and really get to the root of the question. I ask them how they were first introduced to the subject of hijab (if they know someone who wears it, if they’ve just seen someone wearing it in passing, if they’ve seen it on the news, etc.) I wanted to know how they felt about their first encounter if they remember it, and how it shaped them from there. Did their opinions change over time, and what are their current beliefs on the topic. In addition, I wanted to find out if they actually know the reason women wear hijab, and see if them having a clear understanding makes them more in favor of it or not. Basically, what this project hopes to answer by asking all these questions is where the difference in opinion on hijab lies and stems from. There must have been a certain point at everyone’s life where they were exposed to hijab, and as a result formed an opinion. The University of Illinois is home to the first MSA, and as a result has a decent Muslim population. In the MSA alone, there are 124 Muslim women (this is coming from the MSA list serve). Likewise, UofI is home to some of the biggest Christian groups on campus, like InterVarsity. Beyond that, there are 40,000 students at UofI, all coming from different backgrounds and religions. There is so much diversity that finding Muslims and non-Muslims to interview will be a breeze, and it will allow me to find a multitude of opinions.Ope