A round of soul-searching among Muslims

If it happened in Britain, could it also happen here?

That question has preoccupied American Muslims in the month since four bombs wreaked havoc in downtown London - three of them carried by men who were born and raised in a tolerant and multicultural Britain. The attacks challenged the assumption, widespread in the Islamic community, that terrorism is largely an "import" brought by radicalized Muslims from nations outside the West, not something that could entice homegrown Muslims.

Muslim Americans from all walks of life say the question has resonated through their community - in mosques, around dinner tables, in chat rooms online. While the discussions have led some to ask whether their community has been too tolerant of extremist speech, it has prompted others to warn that the US may inadvertently stoke any latent extremism by treating its Muslim citizens with suspicion or dislike.

"We are actively engaged in this ideological war ... [and] it's healthy these debates are taking place," says Edina Lekovic of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (M-PAC). "They're certainly not comfortable, but they are necessary."

For the most part, the soul-searching has not changed the widely held view that Muslims raised in America - and those who've chosen to make their home here - are very unlikely to attack their own country.

Many US Muslims say America does a better job of integration than does Europe. There, some groups rage against the current immigration wave, which is largely Muslim, and parliaments debate women's right to wear hijabs. Moreover, the European Muslim community is generally not as well-off as Muslims in the US.

"In England there is more of a class structure. [Muslims there] came from less educated backgrounds and brought their less educated imams with them," says Omer bin Abdullah, editor of Islamic Horizon magazine.

But the terrorists behind Sept. 11 - including Osama bin Laden - came from educated, well-off families. Their ideology isn't rooted in the cast-off frustration of the poor, but rather in a feeling of solidarity with fellow Muslims fighting the West, whether they're Palestinians in Israel or insurgents in Baghdad.

Many American Muslims feel that solidarity as well. Often, this means they disagree with US policy, such as support for Israel, the Iraq occupation, and post-9/11 domestic security measures they see as aimed at their community. "The US has placed itself in a corner: It insists that other governments stop, prevent, and even help it to fight terrorism, and yet [it] arms such practitioners of state terrorism as Tel Aviv," wrote Mr. Abdullah in The American Muslim Online.

Although that article roundly condemned terrorism, some worry the case it presented against America and Israel dangerously parallels the arguments Al Qaeda and other groups use to justify their attacks. Furthermore, American Muslims recognize that non-Muslims may see such views as proof of a fifth column in their midst.

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