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domination.
    The father of the movement from which Al Qaeda and like-minded organizations would spring, Qutb, who'd been hung in Egypt for sedition in 1966, also had a lot to say that spoke directly to young black men living in Harlem. " The white man in Europe or America is our number-one enemy, " he'd written. "The white man crushes us underfoot while we teach our children about his civilization, his universal principles, and noble objectives.... Let us plant the seeds of hatred, disgust, and revenge in the souls of these children." Heeding that advice, Khalifa had enrolled his son, Abdullah, in the madrasah established at the mosque.
    Now, as he stood outside the synagogue, Khalifa imagined the seeds being planted in his son's mind. If it was the will of Allah, Abdullah would someday blossom into a American mujahideen like his father.
    He wondered what his wife would have to say about that. He'd met Miriam Juma soon after joining the mosque. She and her family were illegal immigrants from Kenya who'd come to the mosque hoping to find work as well as a place to worship. The imam had noted the way that Khalifa looked at the sixteen-year-old, and after several weeks of negotiations with her father—and repeated reminders that such a union would help her immigration status—a marriage between Khalifa and Miriam was arranged.
    Miriam was unlike any of the women Khalifa had known in Harlem. As a wife, she knew her place and did not argue or "sass" him; she had his meals ready for him when he returned home from the mosque, where he earned a meager living as a member of the imam's "security team," and quickly bore him a son. She was a model of female Muslim propriety—she wore the hajib, a long scarf that covered her hair and shielded her face, as well as loose-fitting gowns that modestly hid the curves of her body when in public.
    Miriam had hoped that their son, Abdullah, would go to public school kindergarten when he turned four that previous fall. But she did not fight Khalifa when he insisted that Abdullah be enrolled instead in the madrasah.
    Only when he began talking about jihad and fantasizing about going to Afghanistan or Sudan to train with Al Qaeda did she argue with him. Islamic extremists were not true Muslims, she insisted. "They are apostate, and doomed to hell for killing innocent people ... especially making war on women and children, which the Qur'an forbids. These fatwas are false absolutions that twist and bend the law for their own ends. Their fatwas have no legitimacy with true Muslims, only the ignorant who cannot read and therefore do not know the Qur'an. "
    As she spoke, Khalifa felt doubt, and that made him react angrily; he told her to be quiet. But Miriam was not to be silenced on this matter. "Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance," she insisted. "We greet each other, and even strangers, with 'salaam,' which means peace. Osama bin Laden, Sheik Rahman, and these others are nothing more than murderers who use the Qur'an for their own political ends."
    Miriam pointed to her own father, Mahmoud Juma, as the sort of Muslim man Khalifa should try to emulate. "He works hard to support his family," she said. "And worships Allah in his prayers five times a day without strutting around with his chest puffed out saying, 'I am mujahideen and going on jihad' when he has a wife and children who depend on him. He lives his life by the Qur'an. He doesn't need fatwas to absolve him of things that he knows—that every human knows—are sinful. Murdering people in the name of Allah is a sin that will never be forgiven. "
    Khalifa stormed out of the apartment and went to the mosque to pray. He had grown to love his wife—he was even surprised at the tenderness he felt toward her—and when he prayed he thanked Allah for her. When he was honest with himself, it was at such times that he saw the true beauty of his faith. He had noted how content his fatherin-law was to have the opportunity to make a living, even