Taking Back Islam

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Does the Bush administration's foreign policy, specifically in Iraq, need to change for this kind of strategy to take root? Or is it just the way foreign policy is articulated that needs to change?

Both. The Bush administration and, to a certain extent, the Clinton administration, have not engaged American Muslims, not solicited the help of American Muslims in articulating their policies to Muslims around the world. If American Muslims champion U.S. policy, then those policies will resonate in the Muslim world. The chances of misperception would be far fewer. Of course, the policies themselves have to be based on justice and developing mutual understanding and enhancing the voice of the poor and the dispossessed.

There is a public relations campaign under way in the Muslim world encouraging young Muslims to pay closer attention to normative values. How far along is that campaign?

I do anticipate that it will get larger. Before the London bombings, the understanding was that terrorists are marginal people: We don't know who they are; they operate within the fringes; they're isolated and cut off from society. But when it was revealed that the perpetrators were homegrown boys, that they were operating within the society, and that they had a seemingly normal life, it jolted people. Yes, we have always condemned this; yes, we have always spoken out against this; yes, normative Islam has always denounced terrorism and extremism in all their forms. But we all need to do a better job. We are seeing a tremendous amount of activity at all levels: posters, public service announcements, ads, official condemnations, and conferences for religious leaders and youth. The message is, and has to be, that we live in an interconnected world where societies are not homogeneous. Even within one religious faith, there is great diversity of understanding. We have to evolve into a realm of understanding that there are shared destinies. It is not just that we are living on a shared planet; our destinies also are shared. Where we go is interlinked with what others do. I can't ignore that. I cannot live in isolation. I have to engage. I have to develop common values. Once we start talking in this language, this momentum of interfaith dialogue and understanding is going to assume a greater space in public life.

Radicals have a charismatic figure in Osama bin Laden. Does normative Islam need a charismatic voice of its own to emerge?

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