Misconceptions About Muslim Women

We, admit to having misconceptions regarding Muslim women. We hope to provide factual information especially today with terrorist attacks and stereotypes against Muslims and Muslim women so prevalent in the media.

1. WE thought: Muslim men do not want women in the workplace

WE learned: Muslim men actually agree with women that they should be allowed to work any job they are qualified for... Read more

2. WE thought: Muslim women wear the hijab out of force from their religion/country

WE learned: "Muslim women generally view the hijab as a way to make people focus on their inner attributes, that is, their personality and talents, rather than their physical appearance." Read more

3. WE thought: Muslim women wearing long clothing can be seen as a security risk and a "flag of fundamentalism"

WE learned: "The Quran does not explicitly say you have to cover yourself in this manner."

Some Muslim women say, "I'm so comfortable wearing it that I can't imagine myself without it." But there are many women who wear it for religious reasons." Read more

4. WE thought: Muslim women are forced into arranged marriages by their parents

WE learned: "Although Muslim parents traditionally play an important role in arranging introductions and helping to choose marriage partners for their children, both husband and wife must freely agree to the marriage." Read more

5. WE thought: Muslim women feel oppressed and don't get as many opportunities as women in other cultures

WE learned: "The perception that all Muslim women are subjugated is linked to the mistaken belief that the liberation of women in the West is complete"

"The more the West fixates on the burqa and attempts to dictate what Muslim women should wear, which only serves to put Muslims on the defensive, the more Muslim woman are actually denied the opportunity to have this conversation." Read more

6. WE thought: Muslim women are (or should be) uneducated

WE learned: The oldest university in the world was founded by a Muslim woman.

Muslim women are working tirelessly to ensure women have access to education.

The first words in the Quran are, "Read. Read in the name of your Lord."

"The perception that Islam itself frowns on women's education is fanned by the hostility towards women's education in some Muslim nations." Read more

7. WE thought: Muslim women are submissive to their male counterparts

WE learned: One of the basic principles of Islam is justice for all humans and equality in the eyes of God. Women are considered no less than men in aspects of religion and are not denigrated anywhere in the Quran" Read more

8. WE thought: Muslim women can't have jobs outside of their homes

WE learned: There is nothing in Islam that requires one person to submit to another person other than to follow the laws of the land and things like that. Muslim women are free to work as they please. Muslim women have been given these rights by God, they are not privileges granted by other people. Read More

9. WE thought: All Muslim women are alike and are just a stereotype

WE learned: "Muslim women are individuals but the media promotes images and stories about Muslim women as if they are all alike. Muslim women are diverse in their opinions, appearance, spectrums of faith, occupations, cultures, languages, heritage, and anything else you can think of!" Read more