Ever since the tragic day of 9/11, Muslims and people of the Arabic culture have been looked down upon. People associate the Arabic culture and Islam with terrorism. A third grader Jared Johnson says “ when I take the train to school with mom in the morning and I see someone who looks Muslim I get scared because I think that something might happen to us”. Most kids at that age think the same way as Jared. It’s horrible but it just goes to show you how one bad apple can ruin the bunch.

The Islamic religion started with a man named Muhammad. When he was a young boy his parents died and his uncle took him to live with him. There with his uncle he learned skills to be a merchant. Muhammad was born into a trading society of Mecca in 570. He was part of one of the dominate tribes, the Qu’raish. Muhammad married a rich widow and later had a daughter named Fatima. In 610, Muhammad claimed that after meditating in the desert, God had revealed many messages to him concerning life. These revelations were said to come from the angel Gabriel, who Muhammad claimed God had used to call him to publish his religion. Muhammad’s revelations were written shortly after his death and they are now in the Qur’an.

Even though some think it is wrong to associate Islam with terrorism, a lot of people only know Islam to be associated with terrorism. The actions of Islamic terrorist groups operating throughout the world are well known. Islamic terrorists have bombed and destroyed buildings, planes, and vehicles. During the last 20 years, Muslim terrorists have targeted and murdered tens of thousands of males, females, adults, and children. Victims have been found all over the world--Some in Kenya, Algeria, Indonesia, Egypt, Iran, France, South America and America. Muslim terrorists have attacked and murdered those they felt were a threat to their aims. No one has been spared by these treacherous people. Research also shows that more than one half of all terrorist groups in the world are Islamic.

When it comes to terrorism and Islam, people have a lot of questions like, why are these groups Islamic? What does the religion of Islam have to do with terrorism? Is there a link between the two? How do these groups justify murdering civilians based upon Islamic values. Are terrorism and murder actually allowed under Islam?

In Mecca, at one point Muhammad was weak--he attacked no one. He only preached his religion and insulted Mecca’s religions. But when he got powerful with men behind him, he used violence to help promote his religion. Islamic history shows that as Muslims grew in power their forms of violence changed criminal terrorism to outright warfare.

If the Qur’an preaches so much about peace, why is Islam so much involved with terrorism? Sarah Seik, an 18 year old Muslim high school student was asked how she felt about the relationship between terrorism and Islam and she said “ its terrible that people associate terrorism with Islam. My religion teaches love and peace. The people who are apart of terrorism are misrepresenting the Muslim religion. Its not fair that I get looked down upon because of the stupidity of others. Claiming to be a Muslim is a big responsibility, if someone cannot uphold the Islamic integrity, they shouldn’t represent it. The Islamic religion has helped me with my everyday life. It teaches me how to be humble and bold. It teaches me how to be disciplined and independent. Ever since I started following my religion in the year 2000, things have been going great for me. I used to be a failure in school but now I’m doing great”. Sarah Seik was raised as a Muslim but never felt the need to follow her religion. She said that things in her life were going mad, “what can I lose by following my Muslim religion”. After that she said everything turned around for her. She said “ Islam is a very sacred thing and it should be kept sacred. Performing terrorist attacks in the name of Islam is being a false representitive of the sacred religion”.

I guess the big question is, is Islam a terrorist group or a religion. As a born again Christian I cannot really answer that question. I am raised to believe that any form of terrorism is wrong. So with the facts I’ve provided you, I pray that you will come up with a right conclusion.