Islam rising: US challenge

In recent weeks, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has ordered the imprisonment and trial of dozens of suspected Islamic militants to show the world his resolve in fighting terrorism. The action has placed him again at the center of criticism from Egypt's moderate Islamists, who, through the universities, professional unions, and Islamic welfare organizations, have gained substantial political power in recent decades.

A related process is unfolding in the Gaza Strip. As Palestinian President Yasser Arafat responds to US government demands to reign in Hamas militants, ordinary Palestinians are responding with a growing desire for a mainstream Islamic movement.

In recent university student elections, Palestinian students for the first time voted overwhelmingly for students aligned with Hamas. The vote was interpreted as an expression of their religious zeal. In addition, a recent wave of arrests prompted 2,500 Palestinians who were described as Islamic militants to stage protests. Even if these demonstrations were organized by a few, Palestinian society at large has shown its repeated support for the spirit of such protests against Mr. Arafat. And during periods when Arafat's popularity has plummeted, Hamas moderates have won big.

Growing Islamic activism in Saudi Arabia has also surprised the US. As the ruling family spends hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising in major American and European publications to counter allegations that the kingdom has been weak in its support for the war on terrorism, recent reports tell a different story.

Young Saudi students, in fact, open their textbooks each day to be indoctrinated in Wahhabi Islam, an austere interpretation of the faith that is intolerant of competing schools of religious thought and contemptuous of non-Muslims.

Since Sept. 11, the US government has tried to reach out to mainstream Muslims in unprecedented ways.

For the first time, a traditional dinner was held at the White House to break the Ramadan fast; President Bush made a high-profile visit to a Muslim community center; and Laura Bush delivered a radio address to point out the suffering of Afghan women under Taliban rule.

Such attempts at bridge-building are being received with guarded optimism in the Muslim world. If the rhetoric is not followed up with a change in policies, Islamic societies will know that this campaign to bring harmony between East and West was simply a calculated move in the heat of wartime to win support among ordinary Muslims. It is these millions of Muslims seeking self-determination and peaceful accommodation with the West - not Osama bin Laden - who will decide whether the United States will ultimately be successful in the war on terrorism.

Geneive Abdo, a Nieman fellow at Harvard, has reported from numerous Islamic countries over the past decade. She was the Tehran correspondent for the The (London) Guardian from 1998 to 2001. She is the author of 'No God But God: Egypt and the Triumph of Islam' (Oxford University Press, 2000).

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