Muslims around the world have taken to social media to condemn the terrorist attacks in Paris and fight against Islamophobia.
Reviving the #NotInMyName hashtag campaign, many Muslims are sending the message that ISIS, the group claiming responsibility for the attacks that killed over 120 people, does not represent Islam. The campaign originally launched in September 2014 by Young British Muslims at the Active Change Foundation, a London-based organization working to end violence among youth.
"As British Muslims we utterly condemn ISIS who are abusing the name of Islam with their acts of terrorism," the group says on its website. "We call on fellow British Muslims to unite and denounce this evil group and their acts – which are done #NotInMyName"
Since the attacks on Friday, the hashtag has been used on Twitter 94,000 times, as of Tuesday morning.
According to a Public Religion Research Institute poll released Tuesday, 56% of Americans polled agreed with the statement "The values of Islam are at odds with American values and way of life." This percentage has increased from 47% in March 2013, which was not long before ISIS took a major role in the Syrian conflict and became more well-known in the United States. Only 1% of the Americans polled identified as Muslim, while 32% identified as Protestant and 20% identified as Catholic.
The poll also asked participants if certain groups receive discrimination in the United States. Seventy percent of the individuals polled said Muslims receive a lot of discrimination, which was the highest percentage agreeing that a certain group is discriminated against. Other groups included the LGBT community, blacks, Hispanics and women.
The #NotInMyName campaign attempts to challenge that perception of Islam and reduce the discrimination against Muslims with messages that show all Muslims cannot be blamed for the actions of ISIS and defend Islam as a religion of peace, not one that promotes violence.