Pluralistic Ignorance

According to Wikipedia, pluralist ignorance is defined as:

“a situation in which a majority of group members privately reject a norm, but incorrectly assume that most others accept it, and therefore go along with it. This is also described as "no one believes, but everyone thinks that everyone believes."

Victims of pluralistic ignorance tend to think they are strange outcasts who hold odd views; they believe that something is wrong with them. If only they were bold, knowledgeable, and confident enough to defend their opinions in the public sphere, they would discover that many other people will feel willing to be open about their honest opinions as well.

Muslims should take note of this reality and try to think about real examples in their given societies and contexts, whether we are dealing with kuffar themselves or even Muslim communities. For example, I honestly believe that many of the beliefs Muslims hold on issues related to gender roles and relations are, in fact, widely shared among a much higher percentage of people in society than what is apparent.

Islam is the deen of fitrah, and as much as social conditioning may have corrupted the fitrah of people, the reality is that a significant number of them are too intimidated to voice their honest opinions about specific issues. Sometimes, they are just waiting for someone courageous enough to speak up and properly articulate and defend their views before joining the public conversation. Perpetual silence could prolong pluralistic ignorance of critical issues.