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The dilemma facing most Muslims is that this war pits us against ourselves. For guidance, we need look no further than the lessons from the time of the Prophet Muhammad. In Mecca in the 7th century, the Prophet faced off against his own tribe, the Quraysh, for worshipping false idols. In much the same way, modern Muslims are pitted against people worshipping false idols of hatred, violence and intolerance. After he fled Mecca, the Prophet heard a chapter of the Koran called Al-Nisa (The Women), which said, "O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice as witnesses to God, even if it may be against yourselves, your parents or your kin." With this philosophy, he built a vibrant, inclusive community and returned to Mecca to claim the city that is today the heart of Islam.
The rest of the Muslim world is watching how reform takes hold in the American Muslim community. Throughout the world, Muslims have been forced to explore the meaning of their beliefs. But as Malika Zeghal, a visiting scholar of Islam at the University of Chicago Divinity School, points out, it is in America, with its freedoms, that Muslims can reform not just their souls but also their communities. "In the rest of the world, Muslims are making change in the inner world," she says. "American Muslims also feel empowered to make change externally."
The test is here and now for the building of a new, 21st century Muslim community, based on the principles Islam gave us in the 7th century. Reform is inevitable, but it won't come easy.
Asra Q. Nomani is a journalist and the author of the forthcoming Standing Alone in Mecca, about women's place in Islam