HAMZA YUSUF

September 11 was a wake-up call to me. I don't want to contribute to the hate in any shape or form. I now regret in the past being silent about what I have heard in the Islamic discourse and being part of that with my own anger.

The Islamic tradition does show some areas of apparent incompatibility with the goals of women in the West, and Muslims have a long way to go in their attitudes towards women. But blaming the religion is again to express an ignorance both of the religion and of the historical struggle for equality of women in Muslim societies.

We Muslims in the West, like Jews before us, grapple with the same issues that Jews of the past did: integration or isolation, tradition or reform, intermarriage or intra-marriage.

A democracy is predicated on an educated citizenry. You cannot have a democracy with people that are more interested in what Nicole Kidman is doing or whoever the latest fashion model is.

Islam was hijacked on that September 11, 2001, on that plane, as an innocent victim.

Much to the chagrin of the staunchly secular among us, religion shows no sign of going away. Predictions of the demise of religion, faith, tradition - and even God - have consistently been proven wrong.

I think all this Facebook stuff should just stop!

Certainly, hunger can bring out the worst in us. But it can also bring out the best.

I would rather live as a Muslim in the West than in most of the Muslim countries, because I think the way Muslims are allowed to live in the West is closer to the Muslim way.

We don't have any power other than our intellect and our hearts.

We must assert to the Abrahamic people that we are the last extension of the Abrahamic religion... There is no such thing as an Islamic tribe.

In being aware of others' hunger, we contribute to a more empathic world.

The thing I love most about going to a book store is the self-help section is the biggest section because Americans know we're screwed up. We know it. But we want to get better.

I know that people can live celibate lives. I did it myself for many years.

The Jews would have us believe that God had this bias to this little small tribe in the middle of the Sinai Desert, and all the rest of humanity is just rubbish. I mean, that is the basic doctrine of the Jewish religion, and that's why it is a most racist religion.

To be aware of others' accomplishments and the indebtedness we have to so many people is to appreciate and begin to respect all members of the human family.

You don't fight ideas with bombs.

Our world is increasingly interdependent and pluralistic, and in order to ensure a civil future, we must get to know one another.

My alignment is with what I perceive as just and fair. If it's with the Muslims, then I'm with the Muslims, if it's with the West then I'm with the West. It's about justice and fairness.

We want to counter the idea that Muslims and non-Muslims can't live together. This is not who we are or who we want to be.

People can't think when their minds are clouded with fear.

When a man wrote a political screed against the IRS and flew into its building, he was deemed mentally ill, even though it was clearly a political act. There's a double standard, which is: If his name is Muhammad, it's automatically terrorism.

I think that the idea of a war on an abstract noun is unacceptable.

The entrenched beliefs many westerners profess about Islam often reveal more about the West than they do about Islam or Muslims.

A lot of our leadership has become acutely aware of speaking more fairly, of speaking more balanced, of recognizing that hate speech in any form, even if it comes out of emotional anger, is dangerous.