Imagine getting a zero on a test you studied really hard for because someone else in the class cheated. Unfair, right? Now let’s suppose you can’t go out despite your punctuality because your sibling broke curfew. That’s a tad unreasonable. I am not saying these scenarios stand in comparison to the Islamophobia that has plagued our society. But even then, they are a good analogy for how absurd Islamophobia is itself. Simply put, blaming an entire religion for actions committed by single individuals is like blaming the entire world for your own misfortunes — unjustified and irrational.

9/11 shook our country in 2001 and although we stand united, the fear has accumulated. You’ve seen countless headlines of ISIS — the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria — raiding countries and inspiring fear through violence. Gun control is still a hotly debated topic. Bombings, mass shootings and terrorist attacks seem to become more and more frequent. I get it. You’re scared. You have to think twice before going to a movie theater, and even airports have become daunting. School isn’t the safe haven everyone once perceived it to be. No place feels safe anymore. Expect the unexpected has become a reality.

Before you go and point fingers at an entire religion, look at yourself. Imagine that you are carrying the burden of all the mistakes your peers have made. That’s the same burden 1.6 billion Muslims carry every day because of the heedless actions of less than .006 percent of their population. That’s right. They are being penalized for actions that a minute amount of the 7.125 billion people of the world committed. It is rather simple — the individuals who intentionally hurt any of the inhabitants of the world are not representative of what Islam is. They are representing their own character.

Even then, there are people who point fingers at “jihad” — which individuals misperceive it to be a war or agenda against nonbelievers. In reality, it is a concept that encapsulates the internal and external struggles of maintaining faith and being a strong believer in Islam. It is easy to criticize something because we fail to understand it, but it is even harder to be willing to dig deeper for the truth. People jump at the opportunity to hold the misconstrued concept of jihad accountable, but less people will shed light on their holy month of Ramadan. Muslims fast from dawn until sunset, refrain from sinful behavior ranging from offending another individual to fighting someone and recite from the Quran daily. Like I said, misunderstood concepts are easily pinpointed while the truth gets overshadowed.

Whether you want to hear it or not, all religions have their fair share of committing acts of terror. Just because it is not in the media spotlight does not mean they did not occur. Buddhists have persecuted Muslims in Myanmar Burma. A Christian man shot people paying respect in a Sikh Gurudwara. Different religions, similar crimes. We do not associate other religions like Christianity and Buddhism with terror and phobia because we have the understanding that these handful of individuals do not represent their faith. This being said, my question is why can’t we extend the same courtesy to Islam?

So the problem isn’t Islam. Muslims are not the perpetrators of your Islamophobia. It is your perspective and inability to distinguish faith from character. It is your incompetence in realizing that anyone with a gun can shoot — despite their race, religion or ethnicity. You always hear education is key. Cliché as it is — it’s true. Educate yourself. Don’t remain ignorant in your hatred and comfortable in your bigotry that you fail to see humanity within a religion.