It is often said that people are afraid of or don't like what they don't understand. So here are ten things to help you understand who Muslim's are and what we believe.

1. Allah is God and Means God.

If you were to go to Google translate right now, typed in God, and put the receiving language on Arabic. You would see written out in the Arabic alphabet the word “Allah.” Underneath that you would see translations such as God, Maker, and The Creator. So calm down, there's no need to freak out whenever you hear the word, Allah. It's not this terrible entity that we dance around bonfires naked for, once every blood moon. Allah is just the Arabic word for God.

2. Muslim is not a race or a nationality.

It is true that many people in the middle east and Asian countries such as Lebanon, Pakistan, and Egypt are Muslims; and being a Muslim often is, whether we like it or not, our most important identifier. But think about it. A Christian, when filling out official documents, wouldn't check off Christian in the “what race do you most likely identify with box."

3. Being a Muslim and Following Islam is the Same Thing.

A Muslim is someone who believes and practices the religion of Islam. In the same way a Christian is a follower of Christianity, a Muslim is a follower of Islam.

4. The word "Islam" means submission.

A Muslim is someone who submits to God. The Islamic conception of who God is, and how he is to be worshiped and served, is based on the teaching of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) which can be found in our holy book, The Qur'an. We believe that: "There is but one God, and Muhammad (pbuh) is his messenger.”

5. Muslims don’t believe that Jesus is the son of God.

When you tell us Jesus loves you, we know, and we love him, too. But Islam teaches that Jesus (pbuh) was a great Prophet. That he was born from the virgin Mary, he lived a sinless life, and most importantly, that he will come again.

6. Muslims don’t worship the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

We don't think that he's God, either. We also don't think that he created or founded the religion of Islam. We believe that he is God's Prophet and messenger (pbuh), who our holy book the Qur'an was revealed to. We try to use his life as an example of how we should live our own.

7. It is not Moozlim, Moslim, or Moazlim.

This drives me crazy! I can't stress this enough, THERE IS NO 'Z' IN THE WORD! It's an 'S', M.u.S.l.i.m. I have no idea where some people are getting these weird pronunciations from -ahem, coughs, CNN and Fox News, cough, cough cough. Believe me, we know some people honestly don't know how to say it. But come on, at least make an effort to say it the right way. Especially if someone has already corrected you a bunch of times; it can be very disrespectful. Its not that hard, its a six letter word, and it can't be any harder to say than the words Christian, Jew, or Pentecostal.

8. Islam is a Religion, not a Culture.

I get this question way too often. People see me walking around with my Hijab (scarf) on, and they come up to me and ask me what my culture is. When really what they actually want to know is what my religion is or where I'm from. I don't mind answering questions, but I think it's pretty sad that people don't know the difference. In the same way Islam and being a Muslim is not a race or nationality, it's also not a culture. Muslim's do believe Islam is a way of life, but your culture is defined as, "the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group (dictionary.com)." A lot of times some of the customs and social institutions people follow, have nothing to do with their religion at all.

9. Islamic practice can be summarized by the five pillars of Islam.

• The profession of faith, as mentioned earlier: that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad (pbuh) is his messenger. Saying this expresses our acceptance and total commitment to our faith.
• Prayer. We have to pray five times a day. A prayer at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and evening. It's to help give us a feeling of a direct relationship with God.
• Charity. Only those who are able, are obligated to, and it is considered part of our service to God.
• Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. For thirty days Muslims wake up before sunrise to eat, and then we can't eat or drink until sunset. Fasting helps to teach us the sufferings of the poor. In a society like ours, so many people don't give any thought to where their next meal is coming from, because they don't have to. All they have to do is just walk into the kitchen and open the fridge. Ramadan helps remind us of the hungry and homeless everywhere. This helps us understand why charity is so important. Fasting also teaches us self control. At times during the day we may get hungry or thirsty, but for the sake of God we restrain ourselves. After Ramadan, this helps us to restrain ourselves from other things we may want to do but are not suppose to.
• The pilgrimage to Mecca. It is only for those Muslims who are physically and financially able to make the journey. It is every Muslim's dream to one day be able to do this.

10. Islam does not promote, sponsor, condone, or encourage terrorism or murder.

This is probably the most important message Muslim's want you to know. There are extremists in absolutely every religion who twist the words of the teachings and holy books for their own deceitful agenda's. Unfortunately, Islam is no exception. The difference is the media often portrays all Muslims in a bad light.

When a white “Christian” person commits a horrible crime, whether it's in the name of Christianity or not (God forbid), it's often underplayed in the news. There are times when the fact that the person is a Christian is not mentioned at all. If they do mention it, then that person must clearly be insane. He or she must have some degree of mental problems and needs to get help. Other decent Christians don't claim him as one of their own. They say he was confused or not really a true Christian.

Meanwhile, if a “Muslim” person, whatever the race, commits a horrible crime, whether it's in the name of Islam or not (God forbid), the fact that he's Muslim is the very first thing the news wants to talk about. Suddenly, this one horrible person represents all Muslims everywhere, and all the rest of us must have been in on it! This is a hurtful, unfair assumption, not only does it not make sense, it's not true. It can also cause unjustified retaliation from wrongfully informed people onto Muslim's who not only had nothing to do with what happened, but also disagreed with it.