On August 31, the Star Tribune featured an article by Ahmed Tharwat titled "The inescapable conclusion: Americans hate Muslims." I beg to differ with the title that Star Tribune editors choose for this article.

Americans (including seven million American Muslims) do not hate Islam or Muslims. Islam is now very much part of the mosaic of the American society. It is true that there is a fringe element in the American society that is shrill and virulently Islamophobic. But to conflate these Islamophobic groups with all Americans is not only wrong but dangerous. The groups behind the campaign against Park51 project are being exposed, and the inescapable conclusion is that these groups do not represent an average American. People of conscience and the mainstream interfaith community have come out strongly in support of the American Muslim community. The number of statements and efforts in support of the Muslim community are far too many to list here. A case in point is the plan by a Florida church to burn Qur'ans on 9/11. In response to this new low being pursued by an extremist church, several Florida churches will be reading from the Qur'an at their Sunday service on 9/12. What a wonderful and edifying response to hate! The vast majority of the American Muslim community is taking the high ground by being steadfast against these provocations. Our country has witnessed such acts of intolerance throughout our history against Blacks, Japanese, Jews, Mormons, Catholics, and others. However, we have gotten things right in the end, and the Muslim community will need to draw deep from its reserves of patience to persevere and uphold the highest standards that Islam teaches. The campaigns against mosques around the country that are led by fringe hate groups are ideologically and politically driven. I am afraid we will continue to see their crescendo increasing at least until the elections in November. But, in the end—as with waves of intolerance toward other minority groups—the American sense of justice and fairness will ultimately render these hate groups powerless.