THE PERSPECTIVE OF MAHAYAHAY COMMUNITY, ILIGAN CITY, LANAO DEL

NORTE, ON WEARING HIJAB

A Research Paper
Presented to:
ALYSSA FATMAH S. MASTURA, Msc
Mathematics Department
College of Natural Science and Mathematics
Mindanao State University
Marawi City

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements in Practical Research 3
1st Quarter, S.Y. 2020-2021

GUILING, SITTIE AQUISHA M.

SALONG, AMAL KHAN
USMAN, EMRAN BADIO
JAMALODEN, AMANODEN
MIPUKUR, AFDHAL
ABDULLAH, HILMIE A.

June 2020
 CHAPTERChapter I1
PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

1.1 Background of the StudyIntroduction

Hijab, an Arabic word that means “barrier” or “partition,” has long been

misunderstood in western cultures as a symbol of oppression a way for Muslim men to

express control over women’s bodies. Hijab is an Islamic concept of modesty and privacy.

This concept is not new to Islam but was embraced by other religions. The hijab as it’s

classically understood is not simply about covering the hair.

Eventually, a lot of non-Muslim people wears the hijab. Among the first to

popularize the idea of non-Muslims wearing the hijab in solidarity is social activists,

Nazma Khan. It’sIt is a really greatgreat interfaith activity. It’sIt is a great way to open a

dialogue, a way to understand how really deeplydeeply it represents faith.

In today’s new generation, culture stereotyping is quite famous. There are many

cases related to sexual, physicalphysical, and verbal harassments concerning Muslim

women. There are many people who will likely react with hostility: white nationalists and

Islamophobia. Despite such risks, their faith is still stronger than their fear. Our question

“As a non-Muslim, what do you think of the Islam Hijabs?” affects the context of climate

religious bigotry.

Cultural appropriation is a hot topic these days. Think pieces on sites like Everyday

Feminism fretting about the relative offensiveness of Westerners practicing the sun

salutation or eating pad thai fuel conservative stereotypes about silly liberal political
correctness. But unless the appropriation is deliberately racist or pointless—as when white

college students dress up in a feathered headdress—most people aren’tare not inclined to get

angry about what others are wearing, eating, or yogicallylogically greeting.

Some non-Muslim asks if they are allowed to wear hijab even though they are not

Muslims. Since Muslims are a minority in the country, some might be a little disappointed

to discover that despite your hijab, you aren’tare not a fellow Muslim. That might be

awkward, as it is when a gay man finds that a new acquaintance is straight despite his

cutting-edge shoes and flawless grooming habits.

But since non-Muslim women are expected to cover when visiting religiously strict

Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, there’sthere is clearly no prohibition on nonbelievers

donning the veil. And head coverings of various kinds have long been enjoyed by women all

over the world. The Virgin Mary appears in nearly all paintings to be wearing hijab, as

Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic

Relations, laughingly pointed out to me in an interview. If you choose to wear hijab, he

said, speaking as a religious Muslim, “there’s no offense on our end.”

But there are people who will likely react with hostility: white nationalists and

Islamophobes. SoSo, if someone choose to go ahead and wear hijab despite such risks, this

climate of religious bigotry still affects the context of your question. You say you don’tdo

not want to make a political statement, Seeking, but why not? Some non-Muslim women

and girls—including some evangelical Christians—have been wearing it in solidarity with a

group under attack. February 1 is World Hijab Day, when women who don’t normally

wear hijab are invited to try it out. Excellent timing for the launch of your new look.
1.2 Theoretical Framework

The topic of non-Muslim perspective of Hijab can be investigated or researched

from multiple theoretical backgrounds. These perspectives include, amongst others,

cognitive theory, systemic theory, and socio-cultural theories. In this thesis the researcher

chose to use social constructionist theory.

Social constructionism is concerned with explicating the processes by which people

come to describe, explainexplain, or account for the world in which they live (Gergen &

Gergen, 2003). It has its roots in post-modern and post-structuralist frameworks. Both

post-modernism and post structuralism emerged in reaction to the notion of an absolute

truth and an objective reality. These theoretical frameworks argue that knowledge,

truthtruth, and reality are contextual (Becvar & Becvar, 2000) and that there are different

views of reality and truth (Gergen, 1999).

In accordance with the principles of post-modernism and post-structuralism, social

constructionism attempts to present findings as one of the multiple views around which the

investigated issues could be articulated. The social constructionist framework was found

relevant to this study as it fits well with the purpose of this research, which is to provide a

perspective concerning the perspective of the non-Muslim residents of Mahayahay

Community, Iligan City about the HIjab. The findings are not presented as absolute truth,

but as one of the multiple ways in which the investigated issues could be construed. In this

study social constructionism was used to identify discourses around marriage and
autonomy in dual career marriages and to further understand how these discourses inform

women’s construction of their identities in this context.

1.2 Conceptual Framework

From the different theoretical foundation presented, two variables will be developed

such as independent variable in terms of age, gender, civil statusstatus, and ethnic affiliation

while the dependent variable pertains to the respondent’s perception of wearing hijab. The

third one will be the implications of the study.

Respondent’s
Respondent’s profile. Implications
perceptions.

Figure 1.1; Schematic Diagram of the Conceptual Framework of the study

1.3 Statement of the Problem.

This study will investigate what Non-Muslimnon-Muslim in a certain purok in Iligan

City thinks about hijab. Among these respondents are often interacting with a Muslim

woman in their place. This study aims to determine the differences of religion and how it

affect one insightsinsight.

 a. What is the respondent profile in terms of:are the demographic profile of the

respondents?

a) Age;

b) Gender;

c) Civil Status; and

d) Ethnic Affiliation:

b. What are the perceptions of the selected respondents on the Hijab?

c. What implications may draw from the findings of the study?

1.4 Scope and Limitations of the Study.

This study will be conducted in a particular place in Iligan City, with the help of

many friends. The researchers conducted a survey, andsurvey and performed the said

activity by providing a physical survey to our chosen respondents. The respondents will

receive a survey checklist and some of them will selected to interview with series of

question with a researcher-constructed interview guide. The findings of the study will limit

only to the responses gathered from the participants following the specific questions on

what is their perspective of hijabtheir perspective of hijab is.

1.5 Significance of the study.

This study insight the importance of learning about what the non-Muslim thinks

about the Hijab. This study aims to give a better understanding to showcase the beauty of
such belief. It would also reflect to support the Muslim community and to convey solidarity

to those who practice Islam. This study would help the following:

Muslim females, by identifying the concept of hijab to the other religions. To

support the women who wants to wear this as well as women who don’t. They will also

explain how the governments addresses hijab in different ways. It will also help in

expressing of hijab in a controversial issue.

Non-Muslim, avoiding misunderstandings. It is better to learn about the particular

religiousreligious differences. They are often viewed as people who finds it difficult to accept

the concept. It would be better for them if people would know about the unfortunate way to

dealt with such accusation. Where they can recognize the inseparable link between the

preservation of their own constitutional rights and their responsibility to defend those

rights for all others.

Future researchers. This basis could serve as a huge basis for the future

researchers who will be interested in investigating the factors that might affect the insights

of a non-Muslim person about Hijab. It could serve as their references when they will

conduct similar studies.

1.6 Definition of terms

In order to facilitate the common understanding of the concept, the terms used in

the study were defined conceptually and operationally.

Definition 1.6.1 Hijab. Hijab (pronounced as HEE-job) is a head covering worn by women

of the

Muslim faith as a symbol of modesty and religious devotion. The word Hijab derives from

the Arabic word ‘Hajaba,’ meaning ‘to conceal’ or ‘hide’ (Kasza, 2015).

Definition 1.6.2 Islam. Islam is a word means ‘submission to the will of God’ (History,

2018). In other words, it is an Arabic term Islam literally ‘surrender,’ illuminates the

fundamental religious idea of Islam – that the believer (called a Muslim, from the active

particle of Islam) accepts surrender to the will of Allah (in Arabic, Allah: God) (Mahdi,

Rahman, et al., 2018).

Definition 1.6.3 Perspective. Perspective is when readers see and experience the events and

feelings about the characters through a certain point of view (Editors, 2013).

Definition 1.6.4 Religion. Religion is a set of organized beliefs, practices, and systems that

most often relate to belief and worship of controlling force such as a personal God or

another supernatural being. Religion often involves cultural beliefs, worldviews, texts,

prophecies, revelations, and moral that have spiritual meaning to members of the

particular faith, and it can encompass a range of practices including sermons, rituals,

prayer, meditation, holy places, symbols, trances, and feasts (Stibich, 2020).

Definition 1.6.5 Senior High School. Senior High School is the last phase in the

implementation of the K-12 program. It covers grades 11 and 12. Students have four

general programs or tracks to choose from. Under each program, there are various

specializations or strands to specialize in

(Viloria, 2016).
 CHAPTER Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

The aim of this chapter is to review the literature and studies that are related to this

work. This review provides insight to the researchers regarding what is already known and
what remains to be tested regarding the topic of research. It guides the researcher to avoid

duplication and provides useful suggestion for further research of given topic.

2.1 Related literature

2.1.1 Non-Muslims Help or Hurt Women by Wearing Hijabs.

Hijab is an Islamic concept of modesty and privacy. This concept is not unique to

Islam, but embraced by other religions, such as Judaism (where the concept of modesty is

called Tzuniut) and Christianity. The Islamic concept of hijab is most often expressed in

women’s clothing. Hijab garments range from simple head scarves (called khimaar or

simply hijab) to head-to-toe cloaks such as abayas and burqas. This photo gallery

illustrates some of the many types of hijab clothing.

Although firmly rooted in Islamic tradition, hijab is not strictly defined in the

Muslim holy book, the Quran. It is often a personal and cultural concept, not a religious

one. Expression of hijab varies within the Muslim world and beyond.

Public expression of hijab is a very controversial issue. It is, first and foremost, an

act of worship among Muslim women. In the United States, wearing hijab clothing is a

right guaranteed by the First Amendment—as freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

However, hijab clothing has also become a potent indicator of identity, with many non-

Muslims viewing it as a political statement. Some communities interpret hijab as a sign of

Islamic fundamentalism, the refusal of immigrants Today, well-intentioned women are

wearing headscarves in interfaith “solidarity.” But, to us, they stand on the wrong side of a

lethal war of ideas that sexually objectifies women as vessels for honor and temptation,

absolving men of personal responsibility.

 This purity culture covers, segregates, subordinates, silences, jails and kills women

and girls around the world. Recently, in Bareilly, India, a father killed his daughter, 4,

smashing her head against the floor when her scarf slipped from her head during dinner.

In Ontario, a few years ago, a man strangled his 16-year-old sister when she defied their

father, including by refusing to cover her hair. In November, a former University of

Missouri instructor dragged a female relative, 14, out of school “by the hair” when he

discovered she hadn’t covered her hair. Today, in Iran, friends of the journalist Masih

Alinejad dodge batons as they shoot photos of themselves, hair bare, in a campaign

Alinejad started, #MyStealthyFreedom, to protest Iran’s mandatory headscarf law to

integrate into mainstream society, or the oppression of women.

2.2 Related Studies

2.2.1 The effects of wearing Hijab: Perception from facial attractiveness.

The hijab (meaning partition or barrier) is worn as a traditional head-covering by

millions of Muslim women throughout the world. For these women, the hijab is a visible

expression of their faith and culture and a major determinant of being identified as

Muslim. Indeed, wearing this item of traditional Muslim clothing appears to exert

considerable influences on how others perceive the individuals concerned. Unfortunately,

these perceptions are not always positive, and an often-discussed effect in non-Muslim

“Western” societies is that perceptions of Muslim women wearing the hijab are frequently

negative (for a review, see [2]) and wearing the hijab is likely to increase hostility and

promote outgroup perceptions towards an individual in everyday life. However, the effect

of wearing the hijab on the perception of Muslim women within a Muslim country is far

from understood. Of particular importance is that the hijab is worn as a symbol of cultural
identity, piety, and modesty, and Muslim women within a Muslim country, particularly in

the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are encouraged to wear this head-covering when in

public as a means of limiting their physical attractiveness to men [6]. Indeed, the way in

which a woman wears a hijab. Faith and the extent to which she is intending to restrict her

attractiveness. But despite these intentions, the effect of the hijab on how others perceive

the facial attractiveness of the person wearing this item remains to be fully determined. So

far, several studies have investigated the effect of the hijab on various cognitive and

perceptual processes, such as face recognition [7], memory for faces [8], and implicit bias

[2]. But direct investigations of the effect of the hijab on perception of facial attractiveness

are rare; we can find just three such studies in the literature and only one of these was

conducted within a Muslim country. And yet facial attractiveness is associated with many

aspects of human social perceptions, including priming the attribution of other positive

characteristics such as honesty, intelligence, sincerity, moral virtuevirtue, and overall

competence. Furthermore, these perceptions have significant social consequences, to the

extent that attractive women are seen as socially more appealing, occupy higher status jobs,

marry higher status mates, and generally experience more upward economic mobility than

their less attractive counterparts. Indeed the “what is beautiful is good” [10] stereotype has

been found to extend even to the courtroom, with attractive women being less likely to be

found guilty of a crime and receiving lighter punishments when they are actually convicted

[9]. Clearly, therefore, a full understanding of the effect of wearing the hijab on facial

attractiveness is extremely important for understanding the effect of the hijab on attitudes

towards Muslim women. Of the three studies investigating the effect of wearing the hijab

on facial attractiveness that have been reported to date, two were conducted within a non-
Muslim country (the UK [11,12] hereafter M&S). Both these studies investigated

perception of facial attractiveness by Muslim and non-Muslim British males who rated

images in which women’s heads were displayed either entirely uncovered or covered by the

hijab so that only each face was visible. Muslim and non-Muslim participants showed no

significant difference in their attractiveness ratings for images where the hijab was worn,

but non-Muslim males gave higher attractiveness ratings than Muslim males for images

where women were uncovered. M&S suggest that these higher ratings were due to the

location of the research (the UK) where negative perceptions of Islamic symbols, such as

the hijab, place Muslims as outsiders and inspire negative attitudes towards individuals

wearing this garment. The hijab is an important marker of Muslim women’s identity [15]

and the results of M&S’s research with non-Muslim males provide an important indication

of influences of cultural endogamy (a preference for one’s own cultural group) on

perception of others [16]. But although negative perceptions of Islamic symbols by male

Westerners may explain why, in the research by M&S, non-Muslim males rated uncovered

women as more attractive, the full influence of the hijab on facial attractiveness remains to

be determined. Of particular relevance is that the ratings by Muslims in the studies by

M&S were made by men. But the Hijab is often regarded as an example of male authority

over female behavior which serves to maintain gender differences [17] and so it is uncertain

how much the attractiveness ratings made by Muslim males were affected by these

influences. In addition, as M&S point out, because the research was conducted in the UK,

anti-Islamic feeling may have become internalized even by the Muslim males who took

part, and this may have caused some moderation of their judgments of the attractiveness of

hijab-wearing women in those earlier studies. Indeed, while not different significantly,
images where the hijab was worn were rated as slightly less attractive by Muslim males

than by non-Muslim males. Some of these issues were addressed by a subsequent study by

Pasha-Zaidi [6] in which Muslim females living in either a Muslim country (the UAE) or

the USA were shown images of female faces wearing the hijab. Full-face photographs of

Caucasian and South Asian women were used, one of each face wearing the hijab and one

uncovered, and participants had to rate each image for facial attractiveness. The findings

suggested that images of faces wearing the hijab were rated as more attractive by both sets

of participants. But while these findings are interesting, several aspects of the study by

Pasha-Zaidi suggest that the results they report may have been affected by other,

confounding factors. The first of these is that the purpose of this study was to use only

participants who originated from South Asia (mostly India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh).

Whilst this would not necessarily be problematic for participants in the USA, participants

in the UAE would have been non-native, ex-patriate residents with limited residents’ visas

due to strict UAE laws concerning citizenship and residency. Moreover, social distinctions

between ex-patriate occupants and native Emiratis are substantial in the UAE, and

residents from South Asia generally take lower-ranking jobs, occupy lower levels on the

social scale, and experience considerably less job security and greater risk of deportation if

laws or customs are contravened [18]. Accordingly, as wearing the hijab is the norm in the

UAE amongst native UAE Emirati females, the preference shown by UAE South Asian

participants The purpose of this study was to investigate perception of facial attractiveness

in images of women either wearing the hijab or with their heads uncovered. Importantly,

and for the first time in the published literature, the participants providing these

perceptions were practicing Muslim women living in their native Muslim country (the
UAE) where Islam and wearing the hijab are normal and widespread aspects of everyday

life. Under these conditions, perceptions of facial attractiveness by Muslim women for

women wearing the hijab were examined directly, and anti-Islamic feelings were unlikely

to be present, thus circumventing negative influences on judgments of women wearing the

hijab that may have been present in previous research conducted in the UK. But despite

these expectations, and despite strong influences of religious conviction in Islam and the

high levels of religiosity observed amongst our participants, practicing Muslim women in

this indigenous Muslim culture showed a preference for the facial attractiveness of women

not wearing the hijab. Given the key characteristics of this study, it seems unlikely that the

higher facial attractiveness ratings observed for uncovered images were due to negative

perceptions of religious affiliation or influences of cultural endogamy. So why were these

higher ratings observed? One initial possibility is that participants had an awareness of the

intention of covered females to appear physically less attractive, and so the ratings of the

images they were viewing reflected a form of self-fulfilling prophecy [28] or confirmation

bias [29]. But in the UAE, fully-coveredfully covered hijabis (women wearing the hijab) are

widely regarded as showing a greater depth of faith than partially-covered hijabis and yet

both types of image produced identical ratings of attractiveness in our study. Accordingly,

if a cognitive bias of this type existed in our participants’ ratings, its influence appears to

have been very weak indeed. A more powerful explanation of why uncovered images

produced higher ratings of facial attractiveness lies in the effect of the hijab on normal

processes of facial perception. In particular, wearing a hijab obscures external features

(such as hair and ears) which are naturally visible when viewing an unoccluded human

face. Moreover, humans do not process faces as a collection of distinct facial features but
rather as an integrated perceptual whole and external featuresintegrated perceptual whole and

external feature, like hair and ears, play an important role in this process see also the

external feature processing advantage. For example, To see and colleagues found that

wearing the hijab produces substantial differences in the way uncovered faces are

recognized, and concluded that the external features of a face play an important role in

face recognition and that facial processing changes when these features are not visible.
 CHAPTER Chapter III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the overview of methodology that will be used in this study.

The discussion in this chapter evolved around the research design, the locale of the study,

the respondents of the study, the research instrument and its validity, the data gathering

procedures, and the statistical method that applied to analyze the data gathered.

3.1 Research Design

This study used a mixed method which is the qualitative and quantitative research.

A purposive sampling method was used to gather data using a questionnaire checklist

which was statistically analyzed by mean and percentages.

Quantitative method will be needed in collecting the data of this study. Qualitative

in a form of interview to strengthen the reliability of the study. Quantitative method is

generally based on social constructivism perspective. It is a subjective approach used to

describe life experiences and give them meaning. It is used to explore the depth and

complexity inherent in the phenomena being studied. Often has the aim of description and

researcher may follow-up with examinations of why the observation exists and what the

implications of the findings are. The descriptive method will be used in the study with the
help of ready-made questionnaire-checklist in gathering all the information about what

Non-Muslimnon-Muslim people think about wearing hijab.

3.2 Population

The chosen respondentstarget population will be the residents of the Mahayahay

Community in Iligan City. The researchers will provide a questionnaire (add more! State your

reasons bakit yun ang target population niyo!)

3.3 Locale of the Study

The subjects of this research are some residents of Mahayahay in Iligan City. The

respondents of the study will provide their opinion of Hijab. (add more about mahayahay

iligan city)

3.4 Respondents of the Study

The respondents of the study will be limited only to the selected fifty (50) non-

Muslim residents of Mahayahay community. The researchers will gather the respondents

of the students who will participate in answering the survey with age ranging 18 – 24 years

old. Adolescents at this age range were the highest among ages that have been penetrated

and has a wide insight about hijab.

3.5 Research Instrument

This is a descriptive evaluative research design aimed at assessing the perspective of

the non-Muslim residents of Mahayahay, Iligan City.

The research instrument to be used in the study is a self-constructed questionnaire.

The questions consist of two parts. The first one is focused on the socio-economic profile of
the respondents. While the second part of the questionnaire consisting of their general

perceptions on some questions. This kind of instrument is usually used by the most

researchers because it gathers data faster than any other instruments.

3.6 Data Gathering Procedures

An interview will be conducted from the respondents in order to know their opinion

of the Islamic clothing, the Hijab. To avoid biases in conducting the collection of data

needed for the study, the researchers follow protocol in gathering the procedure so as toto

observe the generally accepted scientific methods in conducting qualitative research.

The researchers will seek cooperation with the Purok president in Mahayahay,

Iligan City. The one on oneone-on-one interview with the respondents will take place when

the permission is granted. Each respondent werewas given enough time to give their sincere

answers to the questions.

The distribution of the questionnaire to the residents were done through a contact

person or personally distributed by the researcher. The retrieval of the answered

questionnaire werewas after a week or as scheduled by the contact person.

3.7 Sampling Procedure

The respondents of the study will be selected residents of a certain Purok in

Mahayahay, Iligan City. An interview guide prepared by the researchers will be used. The

sampling method to be used is the quantitative sampling method. The quantitative method

will be utilized to selected samples but the actual selection of the respondents.
 The said sampling is needed due to ethical consideration type of population that will

be used in this particular study. This process perhaps helps the study to have honest and

truthful response, through the willingness of the selected participants of the respondents

that served as the primary data of this study.

One of the researchers will provide a letter of request and a sample of sample draft

questionnaire to the teacher/adviser who holds the authority in improvising the study.

Upon approval, the researchers will secure permission from the adviser where the

respondents will be taken.

After the researchers' questionnaire been checked, improved, and revised, the

researchers will do the survey in the said locale of the study. Respondents will be requested

to honestly and properly respond to the item presented and they will be guided by the

researchers to avoid any mistakes and to clearly understand the provided questions.

3.8 Statistical Treatment of Data

The statistical tools used in the data analysis and interpretation were the following:

3.8.1 Frequency and Percent – these were used to determine the distribution of the

respondents’ Socio-Demographic Profile. The process of gathering the percentage is

dividing the frequency (sum of responses) by the total number of responses.

To compute for the Percentage (P)

P=( f /n) x 100

wWhere:

P = percentage
 f = frequency

n = total number of respondents

For the psychological understanding of the non-Muslim respondentsrespondents’

perspective, the statistical test used to the answers Yes and No was the Mean. For the

affirmative answer (Yes), a five-point Likert type has corresponding rating scale of

Excellent (E), Very Good (VG), Good (G), Fair (F), and Poor (P) which were coded into a

Likert scale of 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively. The negative answer does not have verbal

description while the yes answers had the following verbal description:

4.21- 5.00 - Excellent

3.41-4.20 -Very Good

2.61-3.40 - Good

1.81-2.60 - Fair

1.0-1.80 - Poor

3.8.2 Mean was used to compute the age of the respondents (discuss more!)

3.8.3 Likert Scale - The Likert Scale is a pre-arranged system, one dimensional scale from

which the interviewee chose one option that reflects his/her opinion. The Likert type was

used in the questionnaire to gather the data of the study while the Likert scale was used in

data analysis to facilitate the extraction of the results on the perspective of the non-Musim

in Mahayahay Community located in Iligan City.

The legend of the likert Scales:

1.00-1.99 – Always

2.00-2.99 – Often

3.00-3.99 – Sometimes

4.00-4.99 - Never
 APPENDIX

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0199537

https://www.nationalgeographic.org.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-020-01068-7?

fbclid=IwAR3OEB63_nDrq9d0VjZ_sWLSUhiKPKy1gsl8JaDAWIFvS6KkRrBSGp2Nq

gc

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23055567?fbclid=IwAR23lt9HXo7-

hfH7YiB16gFSsHwpYO3jXovRnzbaufIgN7YdH8jNSZzJKos

APA STYLES!!!!