A PBS NewsHour feature story is on the efforts of the Muslim community in the United States to reach out to Muslim youth, in order to assuage "concerns about the vulnerability of American-born Muslim youth to recruitment by terrorist groups."

The Muslim community leaders interviewed understand there are "unique issues facing American-born Muslims struggling to balance the values of American society with the teachings of Islam." The question is squarely one of identity, one of being both sufficiently Muslim and American. Muslim activist Amin Al-Sarras admits that Muslim-American youth are "confused," but he goes on to argue that, at bottom, "There is no friction between American society and Islam."

The difficulty for these Muslim leaders is to strike this balance and to permit Muslim-American to feel as if they have an identity that isn't in conflict with Muslim principles but which satisfies the American mainstream.

Interestingly, Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, offers a thought as to how the next generation of Muslim-Americans can help the youth strike this balance: "We need Americans who were born here, who watched MTV and understand American culture to be Imams.... We need the authentic American Islamic voice. It's unique."