Ads by Muslim Ad Network

UK Muslim Woman Gets Loads of Trust Hugs

CAIRO – Standing blindfolded in the middle of London’s Trafalgar Square, a young British Muslim woman asked people for hugs if they trust her, in a social experiment to know if her city accepts her as she is.

“I am a Muslim, not a terrorist. If you trust me, give me a hug,” 18-year-old Muna Adan, a student from East London, wrote on a piece of cardboard.

According to video footage of the project, people responded with an incredible show of love.

For Adan, the experiment restored her faith in humanity over religious bigotries.

She said that she was inspired by these other experiments and was hoping to make people in her own city “think twice about Muslims being terrorists.”

Ads by Muslim Ad Network

“I know my little act is not going to change much in the world,” Adan wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. “However it made people feel the love.”

Facing some criticism on social media, she said that the overwhelming response to her experiment was “beautiful.”

“I hope people see the message behind this, that Muslims, actual Muslims are wonderful people and you should get to know them,” Adan wrote to HuffPost.

“If you have a questions about Islam just ask a Muslim politely and they will be nice. We are all the same.”

However, the overwhelming response to Adan’s experiment was praise.

“I sense relief on the part of the general public of London, who perhaps are looking for ways to interact and engage with Muslims, particularly Muslim women,” Mussurut Zia, general secretary of the advocacy group Muslim Women’s Network UK, told HuffPost in an email.

“Muna has removed barriers of stereotypes and misplaced negative myths and allowed people to come forward on basic human instincts of goodness, compassion and trust.”

Similar “trust hug” social experiments have happened in Sweden, Canada, and France, with equally moving results.