In Our Name?

Ever since 11/9, muslims worldwide have been under the spotlight, constantly being asked to apologise for what other nutcases around the world are doing. Not only that but attacks on muslims as well as people spoofing terrorism in order to increase Islamophobia are all on the rise. In order to understand how ridiculous the situation is, you need to understands some BASIC tenants enshrined within Islam.

Jihad

The biggest misconception about Islam surrounds ignorance about Jihad. Jihad simply means 'struggle'. It does not mean 'war'. It does not mean 'terrorism'. There are many stages of Jihad which supercede one another. The simplest form is Jihad within oneself. This is ones internal struggle to become a better person. Every muslim strives to be a better person whether it be remembering to pray to helping your neighbour with their shopping. Based upon this definition, every theist in the world is probably a 'jihadist'... it simply means 'to better oneself' (Jihad bil-nafs). It is the most difficult of Jihads because it is guarding against ever-present internal factors (one's self) as opposed to temporary external factors (see below). It involves understanding where your deficiencies are or where you could improve yourself and subsequently making the changes to improve. It also includes striving to gain knowledge of Islam and oneself as well as acting upon it and teaching others about it, plus being able to bear with the difficulties involved in doing such things.
Another type is that of Jihad bil-shaitan which is basically guarding against shaitan in the form of temptation and doubt, both of which are strived against with patience and faith.
You then have physical Jihad (Jihad bil-saif) which involves your reaction to evil in the physical world. For instance, if you witness a person being mugged, you should step in to physically put a stop to it. If you are physically too weak to do so, you must vocalise for the perpetrator to stop or shout for help. What you are actually doing is struggling for justice and thus, this is a form of Jihad.
This can extend into if you yourself are physically threatened or not (again, physically stop it, or vocalise against it). This is also where Islam gives sanction to physical force in self-defence. Notice those last two words...self-defence. Jihad is never used to attack, it is only ever used as a form of self-defence as a last resort. This means that when the media lovingly expounds upon the exploits of Al-Qaieda/ISIL/ISIS/Daish/Islamic State etc etc, you are NOT witnessing people responding in self-defense, therefore regardless of what your media is telling you, it CANNOT by definition be Jihad so these people are not 'Jihadists'. Furthermore, muslims should NOT be supporting them because despite their name, they are not examples of any Islamic state in any shape or form.
You could argue that currently, the poor civilians of Syria suffering under the despotic regime of Al-Asad are rightly in a state of Jihad because they are fighting for their lives against their oppressors (similar to French civilians were under Nazi rule in WW2), but it doesn't apply to other nutcases and terrorists around the world.

Non-Combatants

Islam has a very clear and concise ruling about non-combatants, namely that they should not be part of combat and therefore should not be harmed in any way. The reason Islam spread so far and wide was that civilians under Islamic rule were treated with kindness and tolerance and thus many of them reverted to Islam based upon the model behaviour of their rulers at the time. Indeed, during the Spanish Inquisition, when many non-catholics were being tortured and killed in Europe, many christians and jews fled to southern Spain and Al-Hambra in order to continue living peacefully under Islamic rule.
Based upon this, it is easy to see that when some nutcase decides to suicide bomb in a crowded area full of civilians, not only are they not 'jihadists' (because civilians cannot be harmed) but they aren't even muslims. "But they murder in the name of Islam" I hear you say...Timothy McVeigh was a committed christian yet all christians aren't held to account for Oklahoma are they? Ditto the Nasdap party in 30's Germany. Or apartheid-era South Africa. Or the jewish settlers & authorities in Palestine who kill children. It is frustrating that whenever someone around the world commits an act of violence or terrorism, as long as they happen to be of a different faith, then it is viewed solely as a "rogue event". However, as soon as that nutcase is revealed to call themselves muslim, then ALL 1.7 billion muslims around the world have to stand up and apologise for them? This is a stupid and (dare I say it) bigoted state of affairs that shouldn't have a place in the modern world. Plenty of muslims also die when one of these nutcases decides to act and no, the rest of us won't sit here trying to explain their behaviour (you need a psychiatrist for that).