LOS ANGELES AND FORT WAYNE, IND. — In Los Angeles, Salam Al-Marayati found himself smiling as he watched President Obama enumerate Muslim contributions to civilization and to the United States.
In Dearborn, Mich., home to the nation's largest Arab American community, leaders quietly cheered Obama's speech in Cairo, hoping it would usher in new American attitudes toward them.
And in Washington, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations praised Obama for repeatedly quoting the Koran and for his promise to fight "negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear."
Even as the politics of Obama's speech reverberated Thursday through the Muslim world, back home the address offered inspiration to U.S. Muslims seeking a more positive image for their community, one they said had been tarnished by perceptions of religious extremism in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
"I came away feeling confident that this president does take seriously his role in opposing stereotypes of Islam," Al-Marayati, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council, said after rising at 3 a.m. to watch the speech on television.
Al-Marayati predicted that Obama's address would help debunk "myths about Islam and Muslims [among] the American public."
Muslim leaders interviewed Thursday said the attitudes of many non-Muslims toward members of the faith in the United States have been mixed over the years, and hostile at times, particularly after Sept. 11.
Many Muslims have long complained of being vilified and mocked in popular culture in this country. More recently, they have protested what they call a concerted effort by the FBI to infiltrate mosques in a search for extremists.
Despite surveys showing that most Muslim Americans are mainstream and middle-class, that profile remains largely unknown, they say, eclipsed by news accounts of the activities of a small number of violent extremists.
With his speech at Cairo University, Obama sought not only to extend a hand of peace to Muslims in the Middle East but also to dispel animosity toward those on American soil.
Obama told his audience that the U.S. is home to nearly 7 million Muslims, who enjoy income and education levels that are higher than those of the average American.
"Islam is a part of America," he declared. "And I believe that America holds within her the truth that regardless of race, religion or station in life, all of us share common aspirations."
