The motto for World Hijab Day 2019 is “Breaking Stereotypes | Shattering Boundaries.” We wanted to take this opportunity to clear some commonly held misconceptions about hijab. We didn’t want to just provide our opinion. We wanted to break these stereotypes with actual data taken from women who wear the hijab.  So, we decided to take polls on our social media regarding these misconceptions. These polls were taken on Facebook and Instagram Story.

To better understand these polls, we will provide some backgrounds on our followers.  At the time of taking the polls, our Instagram had 40,000 followers and 790,000 followers on Facebook fan page. Top five countries of our followers on Instagram were from Pakistan, Malaysia, India, Nigeria, and Indonesia.  And top five cities were Karachi, Lahore, Kuala Lumpur, Dhaka, and Cairo.

Top 10 countries on Facebook fan page were Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Philippines, USA, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia.  And top 10 cities were: Karachi, Dhaka, Cairo, Lahore, Kuala Lumpur, Islamabad, Dubai, Riyadh, Singapore, and Alexandria.

Misconception #1: Hijab is a symbol of oppression.

We took this misconception directly to those women who wear the hijab and asked: “Do you feel oppressed in your hijab?” On Instagram, 94% answered No and 6% answered Yes.  On Facebook, 81% answered No and 19% answered yes.

When we asked how women in hijab feel about such remarks, one of the Facebook fans expressed: “It’s a bit offensive to be honest…because a person who asks the question has already made up their mind that you must be oppressed because you wear a hijab.” [Shabnam Sharin]

Next we asked: “Do you feel confident in your hijab?” 93% answered Yes and 7% answered No on Instagram. Same results showed on Facebook.

We also wanted to know if women in hijab felt empowered by their hijab. So we asked: “Do you feel empowered by your hijab?” 94% answered Yes and 6% answered No on Instagram. On Facebook, 87% answered Yes and 13% answered No.

Misconception #2: Women are forced to wear the hijab.

To clear this misconception, we asked women the following question on our poll: “Were you forced to wear the hijab?” 93% answered NO and 7% answered YES on Instagram. 87% said NO and 13% said YES on our Facebook poll.

When we asked sisters to share their thoughts on such stereotype, one fan shared:

 “How is it oppression if I am choosing to wear it? Don’t you think it’s oppression for girls to go on all sorts of diets and have eating disorders in order to “fit” a certain body image that is portrayed by media?” [Shabnam Sharin]

Disclaimer: We strongly condemn forceful implementation of the hijab. The choice should be left to the women.

Misconception #3:  Women are forced to wear the hijab by their fathers, brothers, or husbands.

In the poll, we asked the following question: “Did your father, brother or husband force you to wear the hijab?”  94% answered NO and 6% YES on Instagram. 86% answered NO and 14% answered Yes on Facebook.

When we asked women to share their thoughts on such misconception, one fan on Facebook shared the following: “Incredibly insulting as I speak for myself and managed my own thoughts before I married so he has nothing to do with my decision…Unfortunately, if I asked him, he may not want me to wear it because of how he feels I may be treated, but it’s not about him either.” [Rachel Carol Madeleine Fex]

Misconception #4: Women in hijab do not really face any discrimination.

Many people undermine the numbers of women face discrimination due to their hijab. So, we asked sisters worldwide the following question: “Have you ever experienced discrimination due to your hijab?” 58% answered Yes and 42% answered No on Instagram. However, on Facebook, 60% answered Yes and 40% answered No.

We were curious to know the numbers in Europe, Australia and USA. So we asked the following question: “Sisters in Europe, Australia and USA ONLY. Did you face discrimination due to your hijab?” On Instagram, 71% answered Yes and 29% answered No.  63% answered Yes and 37% answered No on Facebook.

Misconception #5: Hijab shackles and imprisons women.

To clear this misconception, we asked sisters the following question: “Do you feel free in hijab?” 98% answered Yes and 2% answered No on Instagram. 93% answered Yes and 7% answered no on Facebook.

We would like to conclude by adding the following statement from a sister in Pakistan: “Hijab is not a barrier to my ambitions, neither do I feel oppressed in it. Rather, hijab is a choice, a feeling, an identity. I feel free in hijab, empowered, protected, stronger in faith and more passionate to become a better being overall. Everyone travels through their own spiritual journey & mine just feels more wholesome ever since I embraced my hijab.” [Zara]