MINNESOTA – Electing their first Somali –American Muslim representative, many Muslim women in Minnesota still face increasing hate crimes due to a widespread misunderstanding of Islam, compounded by the president-elect’s hateful rhetoric.

“A lot of non-Muslims what they hear of Islam is jihad, sharia law [and] oppression of women,” Zainab Salbi, author, activist, and founder of Women for Women International, said in a Huffington Post original video on Tuesday, November 15.

“The disconnect between that understanding and between how Muslims see these issues is huge.”

Ilhan Omar, who dons a hijab, made history on Tuesday, November 8, becoming the country’s first Somali-American legislator, securing an easy win in Minneapolis district.

Looking to unpack the stark discrepancy between the way that non-Muslims and Muslims view Islam, Salbi headed to Minnesota to speak with all members of the community for the first episode of “The Zainab Salbi Project.”

Speaking to Muslims and non-Muslims, the issue of hijab was a major stereotype to which many non-Muslims objected.

“Though not all Muslim women wear headscarves, a lot of American Muslim women, who are wearing the headscarf are choosing to do that out of a point of identity and out of expression of their own freedom,” Salbi said.

In the first episode of her project, Salbi spoke to several women on why they chose to wear a hijab.

Fearless Women

Kadra Mohamed is a St. Paul police officer who wears the hijab.

Kadra Mohamed is the first Somali woman to become a police officer in St. Paul, Minnesota, and she wears a hijab.

While she said the responses she receives are “generally very positive,” she added that “with every good comes the bad.”

“So there have been people with negative comments,” she said. “Such as, I am not an American, I should go back to my country. It gets to you because this is somewhere that I was raised. I basically was born here.”

Mohamed said she had “absolutely not” been forced to wear the headscarf, a decision that was completely her own.

“I’ve seen a quote before. If women are free to be naked why should they not be free to be covered?” she said.

Another woman, Nausheena Hussain, sees her hijab as a manifestation of American values.

Hussain, a co-founder of Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood of Empowerment (RISE), stressed that her hijab embodies the American right to “freedom of expression and religion.”

“I feel that this is my First Amendment right,” she said. “The second this is required to be taken off, I think that’s when our civil rights are being violated. So this to me is the most American thing I can do.”

Meanwhile, Ayan Amoud Omar sees the hijab as a way to proudly and visibly proclaim her Muslim faith.

“For me the hijab is a choice. It is a symbol of my faith,” she said. “In a way it’s my cross. It allows me to stand out and shout to the world, ‘I am a Muslim and I am happy to be a Muslim.’”

Omar said she personally combats misperception of the hijab by urging non-Muslims to approach her with questions about her religion. Omar added that an open dialogue is the best way to combat fear of the other.

“Every time I do a panel, I say, ‘I want you, I actually need you to ask me those questions you’re afraid to ask because if you can’t ask me then I don’t think you’ll ever ask anyone.’” she said.

“It is easy to succumb to fear. It’s fear of the unknown. And the best way to break that fear is just to simply meet a Muslim.”