Even as the vast majority of Muslims condemn terrorism, the frequency and cruelty of the assaults have led many people to ask sharp questions about the faith.
Here are some that seem to be on a lot of minds.
1. Does Islam encourage violence?
Many Muslims bristle at mere hint of this idea, noting that there are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, most of whom live peaceful and productive lives.
Here’s how Muslim human rights lawyer Arsalan Iftikhar responded on CNN after the attack that killed 12 in Paris on Wednesday.
CNN is not the only news outlet raising this question, by the way. The New York Times explored the link between Islam and violence in a front-page article on Thursday.
Iftikhar and other Muslims note that almost every faith, from Christianity to Judaism to Hinduism to Buddhism, has produced acts of terrorism.
Think about it this way: If you were a Jew during the Inquisition in Spain, would you think that Christianity is inherently violent?
Scholars say there is rarely a direct link between religious beliefs and violent behavior. Instead, terrorism is generally caused by a complex web of factors. (More on that later.)
But there’s no escaping this fact: The number of attacks committed by self-proclaimed Muslims has risen sharply in recent years.
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But the idea of an Islamic Reformation has been building for more than a decade, with some saying that it’s already ongoing and others arguing that no two religions follow the same historical path. (Christianity began its Reformation, splitting Catholics and Protestants, in the 16th century.)
Many Muslim imams and intellectuals agree, however, that the religion needs to do some serious soul-searching.
“We have lost so many of the core essentials of Islam: mercy, compassion, knowledge, patience, good manners, forbearance … and the list goes on and on,” Qadhi, the cleric from Memphis, said in a message posted on Facebook on Wednesday night.
“Indeed, it is truly sad, our state of affairs.”
Ed Husain, a senior adviser at the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, summarized the situation more succinctly, saying: “The house of Islam is on fire.”
7. How can the extremists be stopped?
Farah Pandith, a former special representative to Muslim communities for the U.S. State Department, called extremism a “generational problem.”
The jihadists aren’t recruiting 40-year-olds, she noted on Friday. They’re targeting young people, who are besieged by conflicting media images and can move quickly from Internet inflammation to real-world actions.
Nearly 60% of Muslims are under 30, Pandith said, so it’s crucial for young Muslims, parents, imams, scholars, artists and activists to muster “virtual armies” now who can counter the extremist onslaught.
“How are ISIS and Al-Qaeda building their armies? They’re building their armies with recruits,” Pandith said. “We have to stop the recruitment.”
