IN THE NAME OF ISLAM

August 2005
		The July 2005 suicide bombings in London's transit system and attacks in a resort town in Egypt have stoked the debate within the Muslim community about why so many perpetrators of terrorist attacks are Muslims and what ordinary believers in Islam can do to keep people from killing in the name of their religion. Four Muslim thinkers answer your questions.

Forum Introduction Does Islam ever justify the killing of innocents? Why don't Muslims who commit terrorist acts see that violence is counterproductive? Does U.S. foreign policy take the correct approach to influencing the rise of democracy in Muslim nations? Do most young Muslims in the U.S. feel they are integrated into U.S. society? On the NewsHour, did you read from the Quran or an interpretation? How can one foster dialogue with the broader religious community? How can we stop terrorism at its source? Why do militant young Muslims obey someone with no official clerical standing, like Osama bin Laden? What literature can I read to better understand the teachings of Islam? Is there a theological authority that is recognized by all or a great majority of Muslims? What's the difference between Islam and Muslim?	Albert Frank of Kingston, Pa. asks: Please explain again the difference between Islam and Muslim. Is Islam a religion and are Muslims people who believe in and practice Islam? Imam Shaker Elsayed responds: You are right, Islam is the religion and Muslims are people who understand, believe, and practice Islam properly, i.e. according to the text, not according to their whims. Professor Salim Mansur responds: You pretty well got it right. Islam is to Christianity what Muslims are to Christians. Islam is the faith-tradition and the word "Islam" means "peace" and "submission," hence "peace through submission to God (Allah in Arabic), the Lord of the Universe, the Master of the Day of Recompense." "Muslim" means a person who has made such a submission, at least in its outward form. The inner reality of the faith in the heart and mind of a Muslim is only known in its fullness to God, and the glimpse of what such submission means in daily living is to be found in his or her daily conduct. A Muslim at peace through submission to the overwhelming reality of the universe sustained by the mercy of a just and benevolent God, the same one and only God of Jews and Christians, will be, one should expect, at peace with himself, his surroundings, his family, his neighbors. From this you may deduce that all those Muslims clamoring in so many different ways for rights, for recompense, or at war with their surroundings as is Osama bin Laden and all of his supporters and sympathizers are furthest from Islam since they have no peace in their hearts and minds.