In September 2022, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, was allegedly murdered by the Iran morality police for improperly wearing her headscarf. Her crime? Her hair was showing under the scarf. Amini’s tragic death has sparked widespread protest throughout Iran. Iranian girls and women began removing their headscarves, burning them, and cutting their hair in protest.
And yet many Muslim women, including me, proudly choose to wear a hijab. “Hijab” is an Arabic word that refers to a barrier or partition separating you from others. It is a scarf used by Muslim women to cover their hair for modesty and religious reasons. Worldwide, we live at a daily risk of religious discrimination. On social media, we can see forceful people harassing Muslim women into removing their hijab to protest their perceived oppression and stand in solidarity with Iranian woman. Why is it that when Muslim women choose to wear the hijab, it is seen as oppression, but when others wear head coverings, tattoos, or other physical representations of their beliefs, it is seen as religious or cultural expression and freedom?
Why is the hijab so divisive?
I am a Muslim woman living in the United States and a health researcher studying the effects of discrimination at the University of Miami. Coming to the United States as an international student from a country where Islam is the majority shifted my perspective and offered me a unique insight into research, particularly in religious minority groups. I have also personally experienced religious discrimination. It happened to me here in Miami in 2019 when I was completing my clinical rotation as a student nurse practitioner in a clinic while wearing my hijab. A patient verbally attacked me, made an offensive remark about my hijab, and told me I was "un-American."
Muslims, Jews, and Sikhs experience this every day due to the fact that they are minorities in the United States, and their religion is more visible. Discrimination resurfaced due to social influence, political climate, economic shifts, and environmental changes. The incidence of hate crimes based on discrimination increased to approximately 1,715 reports in 2019 compared to the 1,244 incidences reported in 2015. It is important to keep in mind that each incident report does not represent individuals, but rather organizations or groups of people, so the number is much higher. In 2021, of 1,477 respondents, Muslims reported high levels of discrimination with 37 percent reporting a great deal of discrimination and 34 percent reporting a fair amount of discrimination. As a Muslim woman who wears the hijab, a registered nurse, a nurse practitioner, a Ph.D. student, and a researcher on the impact of religious discrimination, I strongly believe that the community of religious minorities needs support from all authorities.
Discrimination comes in many forms, and the aftermath can be devastating. The term “discrimination” is defined as biased action conducted toward a person based on race, religion, skin color, age, gender, nationality—and the list goes on. Discrimination has a negative impact on a person's physical and mental health. Individuals who are subjected to discrimination on a regular basis may develop chronic stress, which may contribute to major health concerns such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other ailments. Discrimination is responsible for mental health illnesses such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicidal ideation, and subclinical paranoia. Although there is well-established research on racial discrimination and poor health outcomes, there is not much research on the effects of religious discrimination. In addition, emerging research on the effect of religious discrimination on minority populations is focused only on mental aspects, not on physical aspects such as stress biomarkers.
After the incident in the clinic, I found it difficult to wear the hijab. I removed it temporarily to feel safer and to safeguard my child. I tried to fit in with society and assimilate, but I was miserable, lost, and only a shell of the person I was. When I chose to wear it again, I felt like a whole person. Even though I look different from everyone else, I am both resilient and happier. I wear a hijab not because I am oppressed or forced. I wear it because I am a proud Muslim woman who worships the creator "God," and obeys his commandments. I also have autonomy over how I show my body to others. I proudly exhibit this identity for all to see.
Individuals who choose to display their faith could face discrimination and have physical and mental health issues. Creating a sense of urgency is necessary to get people to realize the importance of acting quickly, especially in health care prevention and treatment. True America is the freedom to dress and practice whatever you want.
Khulud Almutairi is a graduate student in the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Miami. Read more about the inaugural “Op-ed Challenge.”
