As Brownie troops meet and Little League baseball games draw cheerful crowds of multiple faiths throughout the mosques of America, Muslim community leaders are hard at work grappling with innovative ways of engaging their nation for its betterment. For the six to eight million Muslims of America, civic engagement and community development were on the front burner before Sept. 11, but today there is increased invigoration to participate.

Since Sept. 11, Islam and Muslims have become the focus of much scrutiny in the public eye: many wonder how Muslims can participate in the war on terrorism. Here at home, voices in the mainstream media are asking why Muslims don't condemn the extremist terrorism that occurs in their name. Muslims, on the other hand, have felt their condemnations have not been heard due to their lack of resources and access to mainstream media outlets. Today, that perception is changing fast: more and more each day, American Muslim leaders clearly and unequivocally condemn all forms of violence which occur in the name of Islam.

On both sides of the so-called "Muslim- West" divide, those with extreme views push the idea of a clash of civilizations. They base their arguments on what suits their domestic political and ideological interests, fomenting unrest and distrust as they spread misinformation. In the Muslim world, extremists argue that the "clash" is best seen in the alleged war on Islam waged by the West, with the intention of ridiculing and destroying the vestiges of greatness that these cultures once had. In the West, there are those who incite and instigate the Muslims of the world in defense of so-called values that are at odds with Islam. Those who occupy the extremes of discourse around the world (on both sides) are the ones that benefit from the "clash of civilizations."

But the American Muslim experience has proven that the "clash" is a fallacy. Generations of Muslims have demonstrated that there is neither dissonance nor friction between the founding principles of Islam and those of the United States. That is, one can be both 100 percent American and 100 percent Muslim, and be fully engaged in American society.

In a post-Sept. 11 context, the Muslim American community is poised to make a unique contribution to the nation. In that pursuit we look to other faith communities for partnership and cooperation for an inclusion into national debates on policy and politics. Christian, Jewish and Sikh communities have extended their hands for such engagement, in Washington, D.C. and around the nation. In many ways, Muslims in America serve as the modern-day litmus test of the nation's integrity. As our civil rights and liberties are bolstered, so too will the founding principles of the nation be bolstered to serve both our homeland security and the cohesion of our pluralism as a nation.