And if the imam and the Muslim leadership in that community is so intent on building bridges then they should voluntarily move the mosque away from ground zero and move it whether it's uptown or somewhere else but move it away from that area the same as the pope directed the Carmelite nuns to move a convent away from Auschwitz.

But 85 percent of the mosques have extremist leadership in this country. Most Muslims the overwhelming majority of Muslims are loyal Americans.

There is a widespread difficulty in the Muslim world which has to do with how the people are taught about examining their own history. A whole range of stuff has been placed off limits.

Those in the west who dismiss the repressiveness of laws against women in countries like Iran no matter how benign their intentions present a condescending view not just of the religion but also of women living in Muslim majority countries as if the desire for choice and happiness is the monopoly of women in the west.

One of the great strengths of the United States is... we have a very large Christian population - we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.

Do not look down upon any Muslim for even the most inferior believer is great in the eyes of God.

The increased presence of Muslims in Italy and in Europe is directly proportional to our loss of freedom.

Pakistan not only means freedom and independence but the Muslim Ideology which has to be preserved which has come to us as a precious gift and treasure and which we hope other will share with us.

I have no doubt that given a real choice the vast majority of Muslims and Arabs like everyone else will choose a free society over a fear society.

Given my last position that I was the first U.S attorney post 9/11 in New Jersey I understand acutely the pain and sorrow and upset of the family members who lost loved ones that day at the hands of radical Muslim extremists. And their sensitivities and concerns have to be taken into account.

The first responsibility of the Muslim is as teacher. That is his job to teach. His first school his first classroom is within the household. His first student is himself. He masters himself and then he begins to convey the knowledge that he has acquired to the family. The people who are closest to him.

I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived in Muslim countries.

There is a split between Muslims who want to practice their faith in peace and tolerance with other religions and other people and these extreme radical fundamentalists who have shown a total lack of tolerance for people with different views starting with people who they don't think are good Muslims and going on to include Christians and Jews.

If there are Muslims who believe that they've got to kill Christians to make a way for the Islamic faith in the West not only would they be disappointed but it will lead to conflict there's no doubt about that.

I don't really go down one path. I wouldn't call myself a Buddhist or a Catholic or a Christian or a Muslim or Jewish. I couldn't put myself into any organized faith.

There are a lot of Christian fundamentalists there are a lot of Muslim extremists. Every religion - Mormonism - has something way on the side that's completely using the religion as some weird backbone for their twisted faith. It has nothing to do with their religion.

Dawkins considers that all faith is blind faith and that Christian and Muslim children are brought up to believe unquestioningly. Not even the dim-witted clerics who knocked me about at grammar school thought that.

The hajj is one of the five essential practices of Islam when they make the pilgrimage to Mecca Muslims ritually act out the central principles of their faith.

Ever since the Crusades when Christians from western Europe were fighting holy wars against Muslims in the near east western people have often perceived Islam as a violent and intolerant faith - even though when this prejudice took root Islam had a better record of tolerance than Christianity.

It's possible that the 2012 general-election race will be the least overtly religious one since 1972 the last campaign before Roe v. Wade and the rise of Jimmy Carter brought evangelicalism into the political mainstream. That's because faith remains a complicated issue for Obama who is still wrongly thought to be a Muslim in some quarters.

In America now let us - Christian Jew Muslim agnostic atheist wiccan whatever - fight nativism with the same strength and conviction that we fight terrorism. My faith calls on its followers to love one's enemies. A tall order that - perhaps the tallest of all.

Moderation is part of faith so those who accuse Muslim schools of fostering fanaticism should learn a bit more about Islam.

It is part of my faith as a Muslim to try to help those who are suffering from poverty or economic or political injustice.

I am totally against the idea that a Muslim woman should not have the same opportunities as a Muslim man to learn to open up to work help shape the future. To close Islam down to a sexist approach is totally intolerable and ridiculous. It's not Islam.