On April 15, our country was badly shaken. As news of the Boston bombings spread, heartfelt tweets sprang up on my timeline. “Pray for Boston,” they said. Pictures on my Instagram popped up. “Pray for Boston,” they said. Statuses updated on my Facebook. “Pray for Boston,” they said.

But at that moment, on my way home from school on the bus, I was not praying for Boston. Chills crept up my arm, and my whole body tensed up as if it were under attack.

Don’t get me wrong; the tragic nature of the calamity did not surpass me. The death of an innocent portrays nothing less than the demise of humanity in the souls of the heartless monsters that stormed through Boston that day. Nevertheless, at that moment overpowering fear swept me up. Fear of the bombers being Muslim, like myself.

According to Merriam-Webster, terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a mean of coercion. To clarify, it has no religion. Terrorism is the product of hardened hearts, corrupt minds and arrogant egos. Yet still, news bulletins across the nation have pinned the word terrorism with religion. Terms like jihadist and terrorist, as well as radical Muslim have become household, common phrases. The media has undermined the severity of these terms by associating the second largest religion on the globe with something as malicious and disgusting as terrorism.

Let me take you a few months back to Newtown, CT. On Dec. 20, in cold-blooded murder, Adam Lanza shot 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

This was a “systematic use of terror” just like the Boston bombings were, and yet there is a massive difference in the media coverage of both these tragedies. Adam Lanza was labeled as a mentally sick killer with no mention of his religion. He was characterized as a cruel individual. On the other hand, the Boston bombers were considered followers of “radical Islam.” Their crime was not pictured as an individualistic act; instead, the media criminalized an entire faith.

Ultimately, both acts are terrorism. Both endangered and destroyed the lives of innocent people. Both spread fear and were acts of hatred and violence. So why is there a double standard?

As forementioned, terrorism has no religion. The individuals alone can be held responsible for his heinous actions. By publicly relating the criminal’s actions to his or her religion, we are fostering misconceptions and hatred for an entire population.

Being an American Muslim, I can attest to the slight change in attitude. The morning of the Boston bombing I had decided to wear the hijab, a religious head covering worn by Muslim women as a symbol of piety.

To be honest, I was nervous enough to start off with, but as news of the bombing spread my anxiety heightened to a new level. My fear became reality later that week when a classmate of mine politely informed me that he respected my religion, but he felt as though my timing was a bit off, as though I was endorsing the bombing or something along those lines. In all honesty, I can’t blame him. He was a victim of manipulated media portrayal much like the rest of us.

Incorporating religion, something deeply loved by millions across the globe, with terrorism is a crime on its own. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev are the only two people responsible for the Boston bombings. What they did was due to their own personal ideologies and interpretations, which cannot be applied to anyone else. Terrorism has no religion, no color and no race.

I encourage you all to focus solely on the criminal when assessing a crime. By blaming his religion or race, you are criminalizing an entire population of innocent people. It’s time for us to rise above labels and stereotypes.

Maham Nadeem is a reporter for the HiLite. The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach her at [email protected].