Muslim

WASHINGTON - Public support for Osama bin Laden and militant violence has declined markedly in several Muslim countries, although it remains substantial, a new poll shows. The poll by the Pew Global Attitudes Survey found that confidence in the al-Qaida leader "to do the right thing regarding world affairs" fell in four of six sampled countries in the past two years. Support for violence against civilian targets has fallen in five of the six countries. Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, said the results suggested that "people are tiring of terrorism in these places," perhaps because the countries have themselves suffered attacks.

NEW YORK -- It was only a coincidence last week that on the day Hillary Rodham Clinton endorsed Jerusalem as the one true capital of Israel, an American Muslim was kicked off a congressional counterterrorism commission. But you would have to be pretty dim not to notice that in some matters some Americans are more equal than others.Mrs. Clinton was only doing her duty. If you run for office in New York, city or state, you say Jerusalem is the capital. "Eternal and indivisible," she said, which means Arabs need not apply for any shared rule of the city sacred to three religions.

LUXOR, Egypt -- The tour boat from Aswan to Luxor carried 13 passengers instead of its usual 200 when Alyce Rideout took a vacation here this month from her harpist job in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.The absence of many other tourists on the voyage was startling evidence of the success of Muslim fundamentalists who have targeted the high-profile tourism industry in their continuing effort to undermine the government and replace it with an Islamic regime.And the battle is escalating.A few days after Ms. Rideout's excursion, a bloody shootout in the tourist town of Aswan between Muslim militants and police left nine dead and dozens injured.

My country's war against terrorism is being fought in many places: places like Ramadi in Iraq, where al-Qaida extremists have won support from local Iraqi tribesman, places like the provinces of eastern Afghanistan where - dismayingly - the Taliban have been enjoying a resurgence against NATO forces. Like many Americans - perhaps more than most - I follow the latest news from these battlefields with great anxiety. But my anxiety is a little different because I am a Muslim American, and, to my horror, a most important engagement with the enemy took place last week on U.S. soil.

Before Maksudal Ali decided to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, he struggled with a few questions: If the time came, could he kill a fellow Muslim? Would he be able to fit his faith's requirements into the rigid structure of a military academy? Would he face bigotry? Eventually, he made his way to Annapolis and is now one of 10 Muslim midshipmen among 4,200 student officers. Although Ali rates his experiences on campus as positive, he said there are pressures unique to Muslims at the academy.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Tottering on stilettos, Amira Shalash, a freshman at the University of Kentucky, tossed back her long, tousled hair and tugged at the neckline of her sweater, which had slipped off her shoulder. Giggling, her friends - who wear hijabs, traditional Muslim head scarves - teased her that she was not dressed modestly enough. The nine young women were gathered to learn about the nation's first Islamic sorority. The motto of Gamma Gamma Chi: "Striving for the pleasure of Allah (SWT)

Barack Obama is not a Muslim. We know this because he has told us so. We know it because there is no credible evidence to suggest otherwise. We know it despite a campaign of lies and whispers from various bloggers, pundits and head cases. Barack Obama is not a Muslim. But what if he was? Same guy, same charisma, same inspirational idealism. But also a Muslim. Not a crazy Muslim. Not a guy prone to strapping bombs to his chest in hopes of meeting virgins in heaven. A Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-type Muslim.

BIJELJINA, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Two months ago, the police paid an unexpected visit to the home of a Muslim pediatrician and his wife, a dentist. They had bad news. The city wanted to take over their three-story home for municipal offices.But the pediatrician also had a surprise for the authorities. He pulled out papers showing that he had legally changed his traditional Muslim name to a Serbian name."There was nothing we could do," said Capt. Milorad Javic, one of the officers at the scene.

JACOBABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's Jan. 12 speech to his nation has the potential -- the potential -- to be the kind of mind-set-shattering breakthrough for the Muslim world that has not been seen since Anwar el Sadat's 1977 visit to Israel. Why? Because for the first time since Sept. 11, a Muslim leader has dared to acknowledge publicly the real problem: that Muslim extremism has been rooted in the educational systems and ruling arrangements of many of their societies, and it has left much of the Muslim world in a backward state.

Local and national Muslim leaders denounced yesterday a recent speech by Pope Benedict XVI that included a 14th-century reference describing the Prophet Muhammad's teachings as "evil and inhuman" and urged the pope to carry on the outreach of his predecessor. The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations called for Muslim-Catholic dialogue and said it is seeking a meeting with the Vatican's Washington representative. "Let us all continue the interfaith efforts promoted by the late Pope John Paul II, who made great strides in bringing Muslims and Catholics together for the common good," the council said in a statement released yesterday.