ABSTRACT

The terrorist attacks in the USA on September 11, 2001, in Madrid on March 11, 2004, and in London on July 7, 2005, changed the way Islam was understood in North America and Europe. The attacks also changed the lives of North American and European Muslims, many of whom see themselves in various ways as “Western.” The weeks immediately following the first attacks in the USA saw a rise in interest about Islam. Newspapers, magazines, web sites, and radio and television programs all addressed issues of Islam in North America and around the world. American Muslims both as individuals and in organized American Muslim groups condemned the attacks, and argued that the terrorists had twisted interpretations of Islam in order to justify their atrocities.