For Muslims, a Beleaguered Feeling

Afeefa Syeed, principal of Al-Fatih Academy, says for Muslims, "the test of living is on a local level." (Katherine Frey -- The Washington Post)

"When you live expecting the worst every day, this is not a life," he added.

Amanullah, 36, who was born in the United States and lives in Fairfax, said he struggles with the idea that the government's war on terrorism has become a conflict with Islam.

"A lot of American Muslims don't want to believe that. If they truly believe that, they would be more scared than they are already," he said. "But . . . when a person like Tariq Ramadan is pushed out, they think, 'I wonder, could it be true?' "

Ramadan, 42, was given a work visa in April so he could become the Henry R. Luce professor of religion, conflict, and peace building at the University of Notre Dame's Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. In July, the visa was revoked under a section of the USA Patriot Act barring entry to foreigners using a "position of prominence . . . to endorse or espouse terrorist activity."

Ramadan, who has visited the United States dozens of times, denies ever endorsing terrorism and has reapplied for a visa. "We very much want him here, and we are holding the position open," said Notre Dame spokesman Matthew Storin.

Some Muslims say the U.S. government has missed an opportunity to fully engage Muslims as partners in the intellectual battle against terrorists. The extremists "have taken the narrowest interpretation" of the Koran to justify their actions, Irshaid said, adding that Muslims like himself "can demolish them ideologically. I can confront them. I can dismantle their ideas [because] I'm using the same references, the same history and the same terminology. The American government will not be able to do that."

The Los Angeles-based Muslims Public Affairs Council has expressed disappointment that no American Muslims were included in the drafting of the federal 9/11 Commission report, even in sections addressing the United States's relationship with the Muslim world.

Taking note of the report's recommendation that the United States develop coalitions with Muslim nations to fight terrorism, council officials said in a news release that "no American Muslim occupies a policy making position in key agencies that deal with the Muslim world."

Council Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati said he is also disappointed in the U.S. government's response to his organization's recently launched National Grassroots Campaign to Fight Terrorism. Among other things, the campaign's materials instruct mosques to get training from local law enforcement on detecting criminal activity.

The FBI praised the council's initiative in a news release but has declined Al-Marayati's request for a joint news conference with senior government officials to publicize the campaign.

Despite their difficulties, some Muslims say they find much in common with non-Muslims when they engage them in everyday life at schools, streets and places of worship.

"The test of living is on a local level," said Afeefa Syeed, principal of Al-Fatih Academy, an Islamic school in Herndon.

The headscarved Syeed said that when she ran for the county Board of Supervisors last year, "I went door to door in Loudoun County, which is considered a highly conservative area [and] I had so many incredible conversations with people about growth, transportation and schools. Almost never did I have conversations about my faith or what I wear on my head."

Syeed said the experience "told me that we as Muslims underestimate ourselves, we underestimate how much tolerance there is in the community at large. . . . It gave me more of a sense of belonging than before."

This sense of belonging has motivated other Muslims to take some responsibility for how other Americans view Islam.

After 9/11, graduate student Amanullah said he found the rhetoric of most Muslim leaders so "simplistic and naive" that he founded www.altmuslim.com as a forum to candidly discuss problems in the Muslim community.

"I'm just so sick and tired of hearing that 'Islam is peace.' It's a conversation killer; it's an intellectual thought-killer. It's meaningless," Amanullah said. "Most Americans want to know that Muslims are dealing with our own problems even if they're not solved. What they don't want to hear is that everything is fine with us . . . this kind of denial mode."