“When one group is threatened, the civil liberties of all Americans are at stake.” Within this one sentence, Zahra Billoo of The New York Times creates an intricate map of the world surrounding us. The group she refers to is Muslims, who are followers of the religion Islam and readers of the Holy Qur’an. With so much violence in the world today, many follow the reports of “terrorism” and righteously blame the teachings of Islam as the main culprit, pinning the entirety of crime, hatred, and blood on the heads of the merciful. One of the most common misconceptions is of Jihadists being the majority of Muslims. From careful readings of the Islamic religion, it is clear that there is no true terrorism in Islam, but rather within the person itself; and it is fair to say that Muslims should not carry the weight of others' decisions on their own moral and spiritual shoulders.

Islam as a religion is often misquoted, which is astounding as it is the second largest religion in the world with over 1.7 billion followers. Many people believe it is a combination of multiple religions, similar to Sikhism, which is a religion that is composed of Hinduism and Islam. Islam is a religion based on the revelations from Allah to the Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him). Muslims, who are followers of Islam, read from their holy book, the Qur’an, which contains all of the revelations Muhammad received throughout his life, and his attempts to follow the lessons and directions He was given to achieve access into Jannah. The Qu’ran is then divided into chapters, but the chapters did not consecutively follow Prophet Muhammad (on whom be peace) during his life - they were later put in order for publishing. Islam “stresses as fundamental the purity of ‘the nature design by Allah - the nature according to which He has fashioned mankind. There is no altering the creation of Allah. That is the everlasting religion; but most people know not’”. The “nature and design by Allah” being referenced is laid out in the Pillars of Islam. The Pillars of Islam are five steps that must be followed by Muslims, or else they will not gain access to Jannah; the Pillars include the creed (shahadah), daily prayers (salat), almsgiving (zakah), fasting during Ramadan and the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) which can be done as often as you are able but must be completed at least once (Qu'ran). The differences between this religion and the many others are small, but clearly do not encourage a violent and ruthless nature within its followers.

In 2000, the State Department declared that “No one definition of terrorism has gained universal acceptance.” Defining terrorism is a difficult task; you have to encompass the information of all different types of terroristic attacks and try to understand the complete meaning behind each one. If you mapped out every terrorist attack reported, you would find the thread consistently being pinned to “Islam,” the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), or the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). Terrorism itself has been around since the Roman Empire, but became more prominent in the 1980’s, when more middle eastern extremist groups began to gain access to weapons. From there groups like Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIL were formed. Though not only middle eastern groups were coming forward because American groups like Westboro Baptist Church, an extremist Christian group arose, and the Klu Klux Klan never truly disappeared from American society. What of these groups labels them as a terrorist though? In a news story, the KKK or the Westboro Baptist Church are labeled as extremist groups, but any group not formally created in the United States is labeled a terrorist organization. Contrary to popular belief, ISIL is not a “terrorist organization,” but rather an extremist group operating within what they define as the teachings of their religion. Yonah Alexander put it best: “Terrorists are not insurgents, not guerrillas," he stresses. "Terrorists are beyond all norms. They don't recognize any laws."

The religion of Islam is not a scary one. It is no more violent than any other holy book in any religion. While it does feature Shaitan (the Islamic devil), their actions throughout mimic those of the fallen angel Lucifer of Christianity. So why do people find themselves in fear of any woman wear a hijab, or a man praying on the sidewalk? In today’s world, it seems that the only kind of terrorism there is the Islamic. Between the constant conversations about ISIL from news, media, and current political opposes, you cannot avoid the mention of an “Islamic terrorist.” But what truly is an “Islamic terrorist?” It seems almost to be a contradiction, something that when put together does not make much sense considering the beliefs of Islam and the beliefs of the so-called “Jihadists”. The consistent use of “Islamic terrorist” gives a negative connotation to Muslims everywhere. In order to start creating change, communities themselves would have to begin using terms such as “ISIL extremist,” referring to the geographical identity of the extremist rather than the religious identity. Omar Alnatour from The Huffington Post makes a great point in saying that “If all Muslims are terrorists because a single digit percentage of terrorists happen to be Muslim, then all Muslims are peacemakers because 5 out of the past 12 Nobel Peace Prize winners (42 percent) have been Muslims.” If the rhetoric of all Muslims being terrorists continues, there might be no hope for interfaith community peace in the future.

Jihad is only mentioned 41 times in the Qur’an, while the title of the book itself is mentioned 70 times throughout its passages. Some may argue that it is still more than half the amount, so it could possibly be persuading Muslims to carry out a “Holy War.” But what does Jihad mean? According to the text of the Qu’ran, it is a term referencing the religious duty all Muslims have to maintain and spread the religion. It can be used in the context of war, but is an anathema to the peaceful nature of Islam. Many Islamic extremists have followed the belief that in order to properly be Jihadist, they must participate in the Holy War and will then be granted entrance to Heaven. Because of Jihad consistently being used in discussions on ISIL extremists, many believe that the majority of Muslims follow the word of it as well. Many Muslims do not believe in the Holy War, or any kind of violence against another. That comes more from the political teachings or culture of their geographical region than their actual religion. “I think the intellect of the average American is beyond the rhetoric of what we are hearing,” and I have to agree.

A follower of Islam is not one who attempts to cause mass destruction and unimaginable violence against anyone - it is not something Allah would allow. To consistently label Muslims as “terrorists,” “Islamic terrorists,” or “Jihadists” is to say that all followers of Islam are the ones inciting violence against other people. Those who commit these atrocities are not true Muslims, but rather violent and lost souls who allowed themselves to be educated into a practice that should never be followed. “When a drunk driver causes a car accident, we never blame the car manufacturer for the violent actions of that driver. This is because we understand that we cannot blame an entire car company that produces millions of safe vehicles just because one of their cars was hijacked by a reckless person who used it to cause harm. So what right do we have to blame an entire religion of over 1.6 billion peaceful people because of the actions of a relatively insignificant few?”