In the Western world, no other two religions are portrayed on such a global scale as Christianity and Islam. These two religions are constantly bickering over trivial situations ever since the two became popularized. So much violent conflict has been ignited over disputes between the two, yet we continue to fight this ridiculous religious war. We continue to let people live and die by the blade in a useless effort to cull each other based on what spiritual beliefs they may hold.

While I do adore my country, we tend to label Muslims as terrorists and when we see one at the airport, we automatically think that something bad will happen. There is obviously some basis off of which Americans hold this stereotype. We are at war with radical Muslims and they tend to do what terrorists do best: instill fear. Fear naturally breeds ignorance, and thus many do not understand Islam and just fear those who practice it because of what the news tells you. If we could simply stop and look into Islam, we can see where the extremists had a bit of a lexical mishap.

Islam’s main text is the Quran. Many are not aware of another set of texts called hadith. These are retellings of occurrences in the life of the prophet Muhammad, usually things he personally dictated. Hadith have varying levels of authenticity, ranging from shahih to da’if (authentic and weak, respectively). Some of the authentic ones say that Muhammad said to give to the needy, pray, etc. A myriad of misinterpretations of the Quran and some poorly cited hadith caused for quite a mess in the future. The Quran dictates that those who fight and die in the name of God will be rewarded in heaven. One of the rewards is virgins, and in conjunction with hadith 2687, it is stated that the number of virgins will be 72. There are obviously those who take this wrong way. The jihad bil saif, or jihad of the sword, merely states that this fighting in the name of God is in defense. The Quran even dictates that those who choose to not believe needn’t be punished as their punishment awaits them in the Hellfire. This minor piece was used to create warriors that would not fear death as the afterlife seems better already.

Now for one misinterpretation that you may not be familiar with. Most of America has read the Bible or is familiar with it. For those of you who are not too familiar or need a recap, this insight lies in the story of Cain and Abel. When Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden for eating a fruit from the tree that God told them not to, they birthed two brothers: Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel gave God offerings and God favored Abel’s offering and did not care much for Cain’s. Cain grew jealous of Abel for this and then took him out into the fields and killed him. God then gave Cain a special marking that would let those who saw him know that he was cursed for killing another human. The marking also warns others to not do the same as Cain, for they will suffer just like him. This mark was never truly specified. This lack of information gave those in power at the time to abuse this piece of the Bible.

We all know the slave trade. Europeans came to Africa and took over, then took them as slaves. While the whole ordeal is a bit more convoluted than that, that is a story for another time. When these Africans were taken as slaves, the commoners wondered how these slaveholders could mistreat and own another person. They questioned their Christian nature. They fed the common folk lies that the mark of Cain is actually dark skin. They ruled these men and women as children of Cain and that are therefore sinners and deserve this treatment.

Both of these misinterpretations have led to some pretty nasty conflicts in contemporary times. They have bred racism and hatred, just so that a select few could have some power over many. These lies have gotten humans killed and tortured for eras, and will continue until we wake up and see that this is a struggle we must band together to stop.