November 14th, a Saturday evening in Paris, seemed like just another ordinary crisp autumn evening in the city of love. Rebellious teenagers gathered for a rock concert, enthusiastic fans cheered on their favorite football teams in brilliantly colored jerseys, and several Parisians crowded into restaurants for late night dinner and drinks after a long week of work. The Eiffel Tower twinkled in the distance and the River Seine flowed silently through numerous European styled buildings and bridges. But then, just like that, everything changed. Piercing gunshots were fired. Hostages were trapped. Lives were ended. What resulted was the most devastating attack on Paris since World War II, leaving about 120 people dead and hundreds more injured.

Immediately, people wanted answers. They wanted someone to point fingers at and blame for such a merciless act of violence. They wanted someone to hate. As a young American Muslim, I am here to tell you that the general Muslim population is not at fault here, but the ISIS is. They may have the word “Islam” in their name but there is nothing Islamic about them. They kill hundreds of innocent people but claim they follow a religion that directly translates to peace and faith in the Arabic language. They affirm that they follow the teachings of Mohammed, the main prophet in Islam, but he said many years ago that a "Muslim who kills a non-Muslim will not even get a whiff of paradise." They profess that they abide by the rulings of the Holy Quran, when in reality the book clearly states that "whoever kills an innocent person it is as if he has killed all of humanity." They say they are fighting for their Muslim brothers and sisters yet they killed Muslims across the Middle East in places like Beirut and Baghdad and burned down many mosques there. This is the crystal clear truth that many Americans are failing to realize: ISIS has nothing to do with Islam, and not all Muslims are terrorists. In fact, only a small percentage of them are.

Much like any other religion in the world, Islam has its extremists and radicals who say they act upon religious law when in fact they don't. Any type of extremist will use violence and inhumane tactics, no matter if they're Christian, Jewish, or Hindu. The eight people who were involved in the Paris attacks should not be representative of a religion of 1.7 billion. However, what flashes across television screens and makes the headlines of newspapers plastered on bulletin boards on every corner of every street leads many to think otherwise. Muslims have had to tirelessly defend themselves against blatant accusations and apologize for crimes committed halfway across the globe by a strange group of men they have never and will never meet. The French are not the only victims in this situation; the Muslims are too because of the retaliation and backlash that has closely followed. In fact, they are the ones that despise the ISIS the most.

So I implore you to take a step back before stealing furtive glances at the woman wearing a hijab at the grocery store. I ask you to think twice before posting a comment on Facebook or Twitter labeling all Muslims as terrorists. I urge you to speak up for what is right, because after all, Muslims are just humans and not a group of ruthless monsters. They might wear long flowing veils that cover their faces, speak in swift foreign tongues that you don't understand, fast for a whole month from sunrise to sunset and celebrate holidays that are not on your calendars. But in the end, they are your neighbors, your doctors, your taxi drivers, your teachers, and most importantly, your friends. And behind closed doors, we really are more alike than different, even if we don’t know it yet. So invite them to your places of worship and they'll invite you to theirs. Tell them about your beliefs, dreams, and fears and they'll do the same. Life is too short for labels, assumptions, and ignorance. And at the end of the day, we can all go to sleep knowing that ISIS will receive the punishment they deserve from a divine power that is bigger than you, bigger than me, bigger than us all.