If you have scrolled through Facebook lately, you may have noticed the French flag- inspired filter many are choosing to add in support after the recent happenings in Paris.

For those who do not know about the travesties that took place in Paris, here is a brief synopsis of what happened:

- Three separate locations were attacked via coordinated attacks in Paris.

- The Parisian prosecutor Francois Molin has stated that 129 people have been considered dead and 352 are severely wounded.

- The organization that has taken credit for these actions is ISIS.

When the bombings in Paris took place, and news first broke I was terrified to my core and I couldn't figure out why. One would assume that I would feel sadness, grief-- but why on Earth would an individual who lives an ocean away feel terror?

Then I realized it is because I, too, am a victim of terrorism.

I do not want to play a sympathy card, or take away any gravity away from the terrible things that have happened in Paris, but I want to take this moment to explain how terrorism isn't simply hooded Arabs blowing up buildings or something you find in third world countries. No, terrorism is an entity alive and well even in the most unthought of places.

However, in order to battle terrorism, we need not guns and bombs-- but an open mind.

Mine began with changing my Facebook profile picture to support Paris.

But my desire for change was truly awakened after reading Karuna Ezara Parikh's poem:

After reading this poem I realized that the happenings in Paris, Baghdad and Beirut were not meant to be scaled based on the level of travesty-- they were all terrible happenings. Pain is pain. Sadness is sadness. For those who disagree, I'd like for you to go to a mother who lost her son in Paris, and then to another who lost her son in Baghdad and tell me whose tears seem more real. Whose pain seems more worthy of a headline? Could you decide?

I ask now, after we strip away the ignorance, and the blaming of such terrible things on one religion. Look at the bigger picture. Ask yourself, why does this happen? Why do people feel obliged to kill, and bludgeon peaceful streets?

MISUNDERSTANDING.

Often I see, Headlines blaming Islam and Muslims for all things associated with terrorist groups, and violence. But as a proud Muslim-American, who is lucky enough to have the freedoms many of my fellow Muslim counterparts do not have, I want to speak up about Islam.

My religion is NOT the one you see on the screen promoting beheadings.

My religion is NOT the one that seeks victory in suicide bombings and the slaughter of civilians.

My religion is NOT one that condones hate for those who are different.

No, my religion is mine. My religion is my guiding principle. My religion is Islam.

I grew up in a world where the choices of what I wanted to be versus what the world wanted me to be were overwhelming. With that being said, I did not want to be a Muslim, simply because it was something I was born into.

Before I continue, I want to start by saying that my whole life I was told to stay quiet about controversial topics-- that if I gave an opinion it would automatically be labeled as a biased one. But the fear of judgment has kept me silent for far too long.

Earlier, I said that I was a victim of terrorism. To elaborate, I would like to define terrorism:

Via Dictionary.com:

1. Systematic use of violence and intimidation to achieve some goal.
2. The state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.

Religion is not meant to be a hand me down. No, religion is something so beautiful that regardless of it being around for thousands of years-- it remains untainted, but it can only remain good-- if people treat it as such.

Personally when I was struggling to find my self identity, I found myself always coming back to Islam. I stayed Muslim, because I knew it was what I aligned with the most. It was the religion where I felt the most.. me. I was accepted for the person I was-- and as average as I believed myself to be, it made me into a better person.

That is why it's upsetting for me when only one version of followers are shown.

As a practitioner of Islam, I am a firsthand witness to the goodness it promotes, but just like any group of people-- there are those who sway even the purest of words to mean something that promotes an ideology only they align with.

Imagine if the world judged all Christians simply based on the behaviors of the Westboro Baptist Church, or labeled all Buddhists as having the same ideologies of the marauding Buddhist monks who slay civilians in Tibet every day.

That would not be FAIR.

I also, want to be the first to say, that had this been an issue regarding prejudice against another faith-- I would be writing an article addressing it as well. Please do not confuse my intentions as being merely personal, there's a humanitarian effort at stake here. And as an individual who feels the need to serve her global community, I feel obliged to respond.

But this is where my struggle with terrorism comes. Because my name is Iman Ali, and my mom wears a head scarf, and my family speaks with an accent-- I am automatically different. I am placed in a box that constantly strides to remind me that "I don't belong."

While I can't blame a whole society for being terroristic, I can say that I am disappointed in it for continuously allowing it to happen.

Randomized security checks at the airport, slurred language, stereotypical assumptions-- these are all things that dehumanize people. When dealing with these things growing up, I always ignored them. '"No need to make it an ego issue-- if others feel more comfortable then just go ahead and oblige."

But after years of "obliging" I realized that I was being terrorized. I had stayed silent because I was convinced my feelings did not matter as much as the majority's, but my silence was also promoting the silence of thousands who are also in the same situation as me.

To bring this back to the bigger picture, terrorism takes various forms. Just because you aren't holding a gun to someone's head doesn't mean you aren't hurting them. This also helps to understand that terrorism does not have a face, a color, a look. So please, from a Muslim-- who aches at the idea of her faith being deemed a violent one-- think about your words, your headlines, your conversations.

Spread awareness, not prejudice.

In the same respect, hurt is not a quantitive entity. As a global community, we should be focused, less on labels like Muslim, Christian, black, and white, and more focused on our core beings. When we are stripped of all labels what are we? We are all people. With hearts beating in our chests, and goodness pulsing through our veins. We can win this fight. Not against terrorism-- but hate.

By changing my profile picture to the French flag, I wasn't making a statement to disregard all other global issues-- in fact I was doing what I hope we all do and bring them up. We need to support each other, when it comes to times of strife. And as individuals with the power to make a change, we need to stay aware of issues of injustice.

We're all humans.

129 in France, 43 in Beirut, 26 in Baghdad....

All lost.

All lives.

All HUMAN.