Read more of Kim Lawton's interview with Ingrid Mattson, professor of Islamic studies at Hartford Seminary and vice president of the Islamic Society of North America:

On the effects of 9/11:
This has been a very difficult and challenging year. Muslims have really needed to think about what they believe, what's the [essence] of their beliefs; are they willing to stand up for them in the face of both Muslims who use violence in the name of Islam and, on the other hand, other people who are distorting our religion for their own reasons?

It's been very difficult, especially for the ordinary Muslim who isn't used to being a spokesperson for Islam. They're used to just going around in their daily, normal life and not having to speak about their deepest-held beliefs. But almost every Muslim has had to do that this year, and that's challenging for anyone.

Most Americans don't know anything about Islam and will admit that. What they want more than anything is to know that their Muslim neighbor is what he or she appears to be, which is an average, nice person, and so they turn to them and ask. They ask their co-worker, they ask their neighbor: "What do you think? What do you think about Osama bin Laden, and what do you think about terrorism? I heard some things, and you're a Muslim; what do you have to say to me?" People need to answer that question.

Now there are some Muslims who might be trying to hide their Muslim identity or not appear apparently Muslim, because they're very uncomfortable answering those questions, which is natural. Many people are uncomfortable discussing deeply held beliefs with other people. At the same, I've been really proud so see how many ordinary Muslims have stepped up to the challenge of becoming leaders in their own community, becoming spokespeople for their faith and really using their conscience to stand up and say what they believe is right and what they believe is wrong.

On important issues for Muslims:
One issue is leadership. How do we really develop the kind of leadership we need in this country, in America, that will reflect our own values, our perspectives -- an indigenous leadership [and], at the same time, leaders who are qualified in our faith tradition? There are certain skills that are needed to interpret texts, to make authoritative statements about what is permitted and what is not permitted [in Islam]. One of them is facility in the Arabic language. It's important to have that. So how do you acquire a skill, a facility in that language, when you live in America? For a long time we've brought religious leaders over from other countries, and many of them have been fantastic, really great leaders; at the same time, we need to able to have those institutions to educate our own indigenous leaders here in this country.

On tensions among American Muslims:
One of the biggest tensions right now is the place of progressive politics in the Muslim community. We know that there are many challenges for civil liberties in the United States, that the rule of law is really undergoing a lot of tension. There have been a number of rulings in courts about the validity of using secret evidence. We know that there are many people who are being detained whose names are not known to the community, to lawyers, to civil rights groups. This is very troubling. But how does a Muslim speak out about those issues without appearing to be sympathetic to the terrorist[s], without appearing to be sympathetic to violence? It's a very difficult issue, and there's a lot of discussion about the strategy for standing up for civil liberties, for the rights of Muslims in this country, without appearing to be sympathetic to violent people.

On diversity within Islam:
Islam has always been a very cosmopolitan religion. Islam is a worldwide religion and has had institutions in place for centuries that have dealt with diversity in the tradition. For example, the annual pilgrimage [to Mecca] is one event for 1,400 years now where Muslims from all over the world have met each other, [since] the medieval period, when most people didn't travel. You had Muslims from all over the world coming together, getting to know each other [and] each other's languages and practices. Diversity is not a new issue to the Muslim community. At the same time, America is a pluralistic country, and American values help support a diverse community, and there's a really nice harmony between Muslim values, Islamic values, and American values. That's one of the reasons the Muslim community is so strong in this country and has been -- not always; I mean, of course there are some tensions -- quite successful in overcoming ethnic tensions and tensions between different groups to focus on the strengths and commonalities, to build a community that is helpful, that is united on the important things.

On modern culture:
There's always an issue, no matter where Islam is practiced, of what part of culture can be accepted and what part can be rejected by the Muslim community. There are many cultural practices throughout the world that are very good -- in America, for example, the tradition of strong families. At the same time, every culture has some negative practices that must be rejected.

What happens over time is that some people will use religion to support their oppression of other people. That's happened with Islam. We know that, frankly, in some societies, the religion of Islam was used to justify the oppression of women. It's not as widespread and as terrible, I don't think, as the common person might think that it is, probably not any worse than it was for women in premodern Europe or America, but it is true.