Read more of Kim Lawton's interview with Imam Yahya Hendi, the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University:

On the challenges facing Muslims after 9/11:
[There are] two challenges. Number one [is] the challenge of integrating within the American system and being a part of it, despite all the anger, frustration, and rejection, in certain cases, of Muslims being active in the public square. The other challenge is our ability to be honest with ourselves. Within the Muslim community, there are things that need to be changed in terms of how we have conducted ourselves, how we have spoken publicly, how we have led our Islamic institutions. Both challenges have been very demanding.

Our focus before September 11 was issues of concern to Muslims overseas -- the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iraq, Kashmir, issues of that sort. Muslims need to be also part of America. We are a part of the American fabric, and if that is the case, there are issues in America, that Americans care about, that we need to be a part of -- issues of domestic violence, inner city violence, domestic abuse, issues of environment. Issues like that Muslims need to be aware of and be a part of having a solution for.

On reasons for Muslim reluctance to become involved in American life:
Number one, the fear of the other. Number two, the fear of assimilation. Number three, the fear of losing your identity. Muslims may have been afraid that the more integration, the more assimilation, the more we lose our identity. Some of it is because about 45 percent of the Muslim community in America is made of immigrants -- people who come from overseas and, therefore, they want one day to go back home. So America did not become their home, unfortunately, and only recently, their children pushed them to see America as their home.

Muslims in America are frustrated with the way Islam has been portrayed in the public media and in the private media, in the public square. Muslims do not see themselves as inherently violent. Muslims do not see Islam as a religion of violence. On the contrary, Muslims see Islam is a religion of peace that teaches forgiveness and love. However, we are misunderstood, and therefore the challenge has been how we can reintroduce ourselves in a language that is familiar [to] our fellow American neighbors.

Some went as far as questioning our loyalty to America and how we identify ourselves. We are fully Muslims, we are very proud of Islam; however, we are also fully Americans, and we are very proud to be Americans. I believe many Muslims in America believe that we can be both; we can be fully Americans and fellow Muslims.

On whether Muslims have spoken out against terror since 9/11:
I believe moderate Muslims have been speaking out. I have in my home hundreds of books written by moderate Muslims [about] their views of Islam, their views of America, of the West and of the relationships between the East and the West. However, most of the focus has been given to the minority view, not the majority view, and therefore, many people believe and think that the majority view is really the minority [view], and the minority is the majority, and that is not the case. What I would challenge on the [television] screen here [is for] moderate Muslims to speak up more than ever before; even if they have been, we need to be more active. I believe because of September 11, many moderate Muslims started the 1,000-mile road of education. We need to educate our fellow neighbors about the truth of Islam, but we also need to educate about Islam our fellow Muslims, who might not understand what the religion is all about. I believe there is enough ignorance about Islam among Muslims and also among non-Muslims, and therefore education should focus on non-Muslims and Muslims as well.

On the practice of Islam at home and abroad:
There are practices in Muslim countries that are perceived by many to be Islamic. However, when [Muslims] come to America and see these things not being done or being done in a different way, they start questioning their identity, the "Islamicity," if you will, of these activities. That forces them to go back and search and look [again] and reevaluate their practices, and I have known many people who have given up on the practices that [they] have believed for years to be absolutely from the Qur'an, and when they came to America, they realized that it is not from the Qur'an -- the practice of dealing with women, [for example]. In many Muslim nations, some people do believe that women should not be educated. Coming to America, looking [again at] the Qur'an, looking [again at] the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, who spoke very positively about the need to educate women, people changed.

America is built on the freedom of religion and the freedom of expression. People have the right to question things, will have the right to reevaluate things without being afraid of what might happen to them from the government. In many governments, in many countries, people do not have that privilege, and because we have that privilege in America, we are free to argue and reargue about issues that we have believed to be sacred and [that we] discovered just recently are of no sacredness or holiness.