Muslims are essential to the global fight against terror, and there is quite a bit that we are contributing to this noble fight. First of all, many individual Muslims and Islamic organisations have condemned acts of terror timed and again. Just because it is not reported by the media does not mean it didn’t happen. In the wake of the Toronto arrests, Canadian Muslims expressed gratitude that the plot was foiled and even cal-led for a summit on extremism among Muslim youth.

In 2004 the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) launched the ‘Not In The Name of Islam’ campaign. This is a petition drive designed to distance Islam and Muslims from the violent actions of fringe extremists. It was started in the wake of the horrific beheading of American Nicholas Berg in Iraq. CAIR has also launched a series of public service announcements of the same name.

Now of course there are many pundits who angrily say that Muslims just talk. And what good is just saying that these acts of terror are bad and that the terrorists are not Muslims? But I know that Muslims are doing much more than just issuing press releases and signing petitions. Also in 2004, the Muslim Public Affairs Committee officially launched the National Anti-Terrorism Campaign, a three-pronged plan to teach mosques and Muslims how to prevent and report hate speech and hate crimes. More than 600 communities across the country have joined this campaign since its inception. — Beliefnet.com