As you all presumably know, Paris and Beirut have recently suffered heinous attacks of terror. The outcomes were devastating and I cannot imagine the amount of pain that people must feel for their lost loved ones and for the destruction that was caused in their cities. When talking about these acts of violence I hear people saying that it has caused them to lose faith in humanity. While it does make me question the compassion and empathy of others, what makes me worry about the state of the world is the fact that people seem to use the actions of these extremists to justify a hatred for the entirety of the Islamic faith.

We have to remember that Islam is not the problem. It is true that the people behind these terrible attacks identify as Muslim, however we cannot blame an entire religion for the actions of a few, clearly deranged, radicals. It saddens me to think that people would condemn an entire religion and the community surrounding it based on one set of outliers. I know that not all Muslims are (dare I even say the word) terrorists, but some people don't seem to understand that.

Maybe it is because I was lucky enough to attend a very diverse high school where I was exposed to cultures from all over the world. Not everyone has been introduced to regular people from the Islamic community, I’m sure. It doesn't help that the media seems to emphasize the fact that these terrorists are Muslim extremists. It is ignorance that fuels these hateful assumptions, so let’s take a moment to debunk the stereotype.

Thanks to my wonderful, loving parents, I went to a private all girls school for high school. In my small class--I graduated with less than 50 girls--we all knew each other pretty well. In the first semester of Sophomore year we gained a few new girls in our class, one of which was my friend Seema. She was funny, intelligent, beautiful and confident. I remember thinking, "Wow, I wish I could be more like her." She was elected class President and even crowned May Queen (an age old tradition at our school where the freshmen chose a sophomore who embodied the core values of our community--an honor to say the least).

I was surprised when I learned that she practiced Islam. She didn’t wear a veil or cover her hair the way that I thought all Muslim women did. She advocated for girls education around the globe and valued her own more than anyone else who I have ever met. I discovered that I had a lot to learn about her faith. Through our three years together in high school--and now communicating long distance--she has been my ally, role model, and friend.

No doubt because of the recent attacks, I have heard my classmates at my current school, Le Moyne, talking about how terrible all Muslims were and how they are all violent, western-hating, terrorists. I was appalled. The Muslims who I knew, including Seema, were nothing like that. I sat down in my room for a while, after having a particularly heated discussion about the matter, and thought, "What can I do to show people all that they’re missing?" I realized that Seema would probably have an answer.

I sent her a quick message to ask her opinion about everything going on and they way she responded gave me back a little bit of the hope for humanity that I thought I’d lost. I asked for her opinion about not only the attacks, but the reactions to the attacks from people in our country. Her response was as follows:

“I hear a lot of news about people dying, but no one seems to pay attention to it. Whenever something happens on that side of the world, all of a sudden, instead of blaming the people [who have committed the terrorism] themselves, religion is blamed. I do feel sad and wish the Paris attack never happened, but I feel that, instead of blaming Islam, we should find ways to protect our countries.”

I, personally, think that she hit the nail on its head with that one. During our short conversation Seema was able to put into words the point that I am trying to make with this entire article. Islam is not to blame. The attackers may have identified as Muslim, but they do not represent the entirely of Islam. Some Muslims, including Seema, even denounce them for their actions. “Killing is a sin in Islam and in other religions. Terrorists who call themselves Muslims are not Muslims.”

In short, what I’m trying to say is that we cannot judge an entire group based on the actions of a small part of said group. We don’t blame all Christians for the actions of the KKK, so why should we assume that all Muslims agree with the actions of the Paris and Beirut attackers? The ignorance that fuels hatred and prejudice can be dissolved if we make an effort to get to know people from other cultures and those who have different backgrounds. We have something to learn from everybody. I’ll leave you with one last quote from Seema, who sums up what I think is the most important takeaway from all of this. In regards to the attack on Paris she says that, “It is something I never imagined would happen and [it is] very heartbreaking. We are all humans and no one deserves to die no matter what religion, culture, [or] ethnic group."