Through roughly learning about the present and history of Islamophobia and the Hijab, I have gotten a more complete understanding of the religion and the disparity that Muslim women faced that are buried by those traditions.

New Understanding of Islamophobia and the Hijab

Before learning about Islamophobia, I barely knew the existence of it and thought about hijabs as a trademark of Muslim women which is a very basic yet somewhat inaccurate understanding. After this brief study of the current situation in society regarding Islamophobia and the hijab, I was amazed by how widespread the misconception is and the struggle that Muslims face living in a modern society that is a mix of different cultures and communities. While the issue is known by a lot of people in the well-educated communities, people still, mostly unintentionally, implement the racist behavior on Muslims they don’t know about. Even though lots of people don’t believe they are performing racist behavior, but rather doing their job on their own behalf such as selecting the best suitable worker or finding out the criminal. I certainly do believe that some sort of action has to be done in order to turn the tables no matter it is a sudden shift or a gradual change.

How has the Understanding Change My Earlier Perceptions about Islam

I believe the new understandings have brought me two changes to my perceptions of Islam. First, I started to perceive Islamophobia as racism rather than common uneducated perception. On the other hand, as I know the back story of the hijab’s role in Islam, the essence of the religion becomes more oblique compared to before when I don’t understand what Islam is and what it believes in.