Junaid Tariq, age 23, said he's heard that bin Laden's terrorist network al-Qaida was behind the attacks. "But I don't know, and really don't believe that bin-Laden gave the order," Tariq told newspaper Aftenposten on Friday. "At any rate, I don't think it was Muslims who did it."
That's because Islam advocates peace, Tariq said, and Muslims are taught not to take human life. "Those who were behind the airline attacks shouldn't call themselves Muslims," said Tariq's friend, Rehan Maajid, age 32.
"It could have been al-Qaida, but it's difficult to say," Maajid continued. "There are still lots of holes in the stories around what happened. I think al-Qaida exists, but Muslims shall not take a life. Islam is the religion of peace, and if you take a prisoner, you're supposed to treat them like an equal."
Masoom Zubair, leader for a Pakistani youth organization, says many Muslims feel unjustly suspect when terrorist attacks occur, something they neither have been involved with nor support.
The leader of the Muslim student organization in Norway, Awais Mushtaq, shares the doubts of imam Zulqarnain Sakandar Madni that it was al-Qaida who was behind the attack on the World Trade Center, contending there are only "indications," no hard evidence.
Several Muslim politicians, however, are trying to tone down the debate in Norway over Zulqarnain Sakandar Madni's comments. "The damage is done," Afshan Rafiq of the Conservatives told Aftenposten, adding that he thinks it was "unwise" of the imam to raise the issue.
"An imam has a special responsibility to build bridges between people, which this certainly hasn't done," he said. Khalid Mahmood of the Labour Party agreed.
"I don't support the imam on this issue," he said. "An imam should be a spiritual leader, and should be very careful in commenting on political issues in the community."
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and the cabinet minister in charge of immigration issues, Bjarne Håkon Hanssen, have both criticized the imam's remarks.
"There is freedom of expression in Norway, people can say what they believe," Støre told Aftenposten. "But when that's said, this amounts to speculation... with which I completely disagree."
Hanssen said he fears the imams' doubts will now spread, which could in turn make life more difficult for Muslims in Norway.
"It can also make it harder for them to get a job," Hanssen said. "It can be scary for many (Norwegians) when imams in Norway come out with something like this."
