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I'm Krista Tippett.

Dramatic headlines convey a predominantly violent picture of global Islam.

This hour, we'll hear voices from the traditional and evolving center of this faith since 9-11.

And I'll speak with esteemed Muslim scholar Sayyid Hossein Nasser.

He brings a broad, religious and historical perspective to hard questions about Islam and the West

that have lingered uncomfortably in American life these past five years.

All this talk of clashes civilizations is very unfortunate.

There are civilizations with an S. Yes, not one civilization is going to dominate the whole world.

I believe in the deepest sense that the destiny of Islam and the West is intertwined, not opposed to each other.

This is Speaking of Faith. Stay with us.

I'm Krista Tippett.

Islam is the second largest religion in the world and the faith of over 1.2 billion people.

But until September 11, 2001, Islam did not figure largely in the imagination or education of Americans.

What has U.S. culture learned about global Islam in the intervening five years?

And what do we still fail to hear and see?

This hour, we'll explore the evolving and traditional center of Islam.

From American public media, this is Speaking of Faith.

Public Radio's conversation about religion, meaning, ethics, and ideas.

Today, hearing Muslim voices since 9-11, if 9-11 hadn't happened, I suspect that I would not have spent so much time these last five years in conversation with Muslims.

My conversation partners have been Asian, Arab, African, and North American by origin.

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