How are mosques fighting terror?

Abdur-Rahim Shamsiddeen is one Muslim leader who doesn't beat around the bush on terrorism. All who regularly attend this imam's mosque know of his "zero-tolerance policy."

Before every meeting, he reminds visitors to the Jewel of Al-Islam mosque in Phoenix, one of the city's largest, that they are welcome to pray. But then he ticks off schools of ultraconservative Islamic thought that are not welcome for open discussion and debate, including several known to have been favored by the 9/11 terrorists.

"We follow exclusively the Holy Koran and the approved Sunnah [Islamic custom] of Prophet Muhammad," he says. "If all Muslims followed those we'd have no problems."

This week, Muslim leaders nationwide find themselves rallying - again - to defuse the notion that terrorism finds a sympathetic ear in America's 1,200-plus mosques. On Tuesday in Albany, N.Y., a federal judge refused bail for the imam and one other member of a local mosque, who were indicted on 19 counts of money laundering and promoting terrorism. The pair were caught in a government sting in which they are alleged to have conspired to launder money through their organizations as part of a fictitious plot to assassinate the Pakistani ambassador to the United Nations.

The Albany case has shocked many in the Muslim community, which is 5 million to 7 million strong. Though some blame an overzealous government intent on entrapment, the indictments come as the latest in a series of blows to US Muslim credibility in the war against terrorism. These setbacks have prompted many religious leaders to take visible steps to repair that credibility. For example:

• On a radio talk show in February, Rep. Peter King (R) of New York, a member of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, claimed that 85 percent of mosques have extremist leadership and that "no [American] Muslims are cooperating" with law enforcement in the war on terror. Muslim groups quickly rebutted the charges.

• In May, the beheading of Nicholas Berg by terrorists in Iraq prompted The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, a major lobby group, to open an online petition drive called "Not in the name of Islam." More than 684,000 Muslims signed on to decry such atrocities.

• Also in May, law-enforcement officials and officials of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) launched a five-step program aimed at helping the nation's 30 largest mosques and hundreds of others. The five-step program aims to teach Muslims how to contact law enforcement if they suspect terrorist activity in a mosque; reemphasize that terrorism is not a valid means of struggle in Islam; and develop skills to detect criminal activities.

"The broad concept is to create a different culture in the mosque, one of greater responsibility, of watching out for this activity," says Nader Elmakawi, an MPAC spokesman. "We want mosques to maintain accurate and audited financial records that are open to the public to ensure that all the money comes from legal sources."

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