If I say the word "Muslim," what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Most likely, the first thing we associate Muslims with is terrorism.

Does it shock you when I say that 94% of terrorist attacks carried out in the United States from 1980 to 2005 have been by non-Muslims? What about if I say you have a higher chance of dying from diabetes, heart disease, or cancer than you do from a terrorist attack?

We are so uneducated about Islam and Muslim culture, and it leads us to make assumptions like "all Muslims are terrorists" and "all Muslim women wear hijab." It is time to end Muslim stereotypes because it is way overdue, but also because these assumptions we make are factually and morally incorrect.

When I traveled to Morocco, I wore a hijab to go into a mosque and that photo had more questions and comments than any other. There was this automatic assumption that because I wore a hijab, I was converting to Islam and that I would become a terrorist.

No, seriously, people thought that if I wore a headscarf, I would automatically want to bomb people. People assume that all Muslim women wear hijabs and that I can't wear a hijab unless I am Muslim. Both are incorrect.

Before I left for Morocco, I had people telling me for months that I was traveling to a terrorist country. Correction. I traveled to a predominantly Islamic country (another misconception was that all Moroccans were Muslims, but that's not my point now).

Everyone thought I was going to die because in their minds Islamic country equals terrorist country.

Well, I am alive and well now and I can say that not all Muslims are terrorists. I felt safer in Morocco than I do on my college campus or in America in general. I strongly believe I have a higher chance of being killed or raped on campus than I do in Morocco. I mean think about how many school shootings and sexual assault cases we have heard about in the past week alone.

News flash: The world is broken and we need to realize that it is a people problem. Not a Muslim problem. Not a race problem.

There are many stereotypes, but the biggest stereotype surrounding Muslims is that they are all terrorists. If you genuinely believe that this is true, you are so incredibly wrong.

It is shocking to some people that Muslims play video games, laugh, shop and in general do completely normal things. After my trip, I was asked how many terrorists I saw walking around. I wish I was making this up.

I was also asked if I HAD to wear a hijab because they think Muslims are forced to wear hijabs and that Muslim men would rape me if I did not. I was asked if they had cars in Morocco because someone thought that they rode donkeys and camels everywhere. There was this assumption that because it was an Islamic country in Africa, it had to be a third world country.

People came to me and said "I heard the food wasn't good," "I heard it was dirty," and "I heard they are poor." I mean if these people don't believe me when I say the food was amazing and Morocco was the most amazing country I have ever visited, how are they going to believe me when I say Muslims are people just like us?

It became very apparent to me that certain people around me are absolutely terrified of terrorists and it became even more apparent that they are extremely uneducated on Islam and Muslim culture. I have been fortunate enough to experience different levels of Muslim culture first hand, but there are not many people willing to learn about Muslim culture from Muslims instead of from the media.

So, for those who are too ignorant to get off of their couch and visit an Islamic country, here is some interesting information I found.

In general, I learned that the top causes of death in the United States have to do with weapons and diseases, not terrorism. Yet, we are all more afraid of terrorists than donuts. According to Business Insider, you have a higher chance of winning the lottery than you do of being killed by a terrorist. Yet, everyone KNOWS they have no chance of winning the lottery no matter how many times they try, but they are terrified they are going to die every time they see someone they assume to be Muslim.

Why?

Also, according to Business Insider, you are more likely to be killed by a police officer than a terrorist. But, we trust the police and remain terrified of who we assume to be terrorists.

Again, I ask why?

If we are 6.9 Million times more likely to die from cancer or heart disease than a terrorist, why is President Trump more worried about travel bans rather than implementing healthy diets in schools or funding more cancer research?

We, as Americans, are very uneducated about Islam which translates into these misconceptions. We don't learn about it in school and I guarantee most people in my hometown have never met a Muslim. We get our information from the same media platforms that care about which Kardashians are pregnant and which are getting divorced, but we live by this information.

It is not our fault that they don't teach it in schools, but it is our fault that we don't try to educate ourselves. If your argument starts with "Well I saw on Facebook..." or "I saw on the news the other day that..." and then you proceed to talk about Islam and terrorism, don't waste your breath.

It blows my mind how opinionated people are about Muslim culture considering how little they know.

I mean I haven't read the Quran and I am no expert, but I got on a plane and went to a country full of Muslim culture. I also have asked a close friend to me many questions about Islam and what they believe and how they celebrate different holidays. I did not get my information from a third party, biased-media platform that is even less educated than I am. I went to the source.

The people I have met in Morocco have been more than willing to share their religion with me and answer any and all questions I have. The biggest thing I have learned is that it is not that different from Christianity as we seem to think. Is the news going to tell you that? Is the news going to show you Muslim children playing soccer or going to school? Will Facebook talk about Muslim women getting their Masters degrees or traveling the world?

Why does the media have to portray Muslims as terrorists rather than what they are: human beings just like us?

Why do we assume that because Islam is different from American culture, that it is wrong and dangerous? Why do we see a headscarf as a sign of terror rather than a sign of faith? Why do we continue to judge an entire religion that we know nothing about? Why are we more focused on what we think is scary rather than what is actually going to kill us? Why do we assume all Muslims wear hijabs? Why do we assume countries in North Africa are only Muslim? Why do we think that all Muslims are terrorists? Where do these stereotypes come from? More importantly, where do they end?

If we spent more time listening and learning rather than judging and fearing, we could change the world and end the Muslim stereotype.