There are some terrorists who happen to be Muslim, but the entire Islamic community is not made up of terrorists. If Islam itself were the issue, Muslim human rights activist Malala Yousafzai, the woman in this article's cover photo, would not have received the Pakistani National Youth Peace Prize or have been a co-recipient for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. So why do people believe this stereotype? It's simple, really: they don't understand the religion, and they listen to media.
One of the biggest reasons people have this misconception of the Islamic religion is the way in which Western media portrays it. The media doesn't understand certain terms and beliefs of Islam, and they come off misconstrued when they try to define them. Take, for example, the term "jihad."
How many of us have heard jihad defined as a holy war? I know I have. If you use Google Translate to change "holy war" into Arabic, you would come up with two separate words -- not the single word "jihad." According to Seeker Daily, jihad is better defined as a struggle in the way of Allah (Allah is the Arabic word for God, even Christians and Jews who speak Arabic refer to God as Allah). There are radical Muslims who believe that attacking the West and non-believers is a part of that struggle, but a majority of Muslims don't hold this belief. So why is the majority being held accountable for the beliefs of the minority?
There has been a movement called "#MyJihad" on Twitter where people tell the world what their struggle in the way of Allah is. Here are a few of my favorite tweets from this thread:
"God doesn't need us to fight a holy war for His sake. #MyJihad is to make myself a better human being." - @TrueIslamUSA
"There's no hate, bigotry, or racist gene. It's taught. #MyJihad is to unteach hate." - @MyJihadOrg
"#MyJihad is trying to appreciate the Jihad in a place where the Jihad is misunderstood." - @JesuisShababa
"It is easy to see how religion is part of the problem. #MyJihad is to demonstrate that it is also part of the solution." - @JihadiJew
I'm not claiming to be an expert on all things Islam -- I'm not even an expert in my own religion. I do, however, try to look at things from an unbiased perspective to learn more about something I may not understand. Some people have abused the "#MyJihad" movement by using hateful speech and bringing to light the radical minority, but those still using it for its initial intent are telling the world what they believe is important to strive for in the way of Allah.
