Immediately after the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks upon America, Muslim public-relations groups were quick to come to the defense of Islam as a religion of "peace" and not a religion of terror. The groups stated that such actions were not representative of true Islam but were the deplorable actions of fanatical Islamic groups who misinterpret the teachings of the Qur'an. One comment by an Islamic representative reportedly suggested on network news that Americans should just put the 9/11 incidents behind them, forget about it and move forward.

Suddenly, Islam came under scrutiny as Muslim groups scrambled to initiate public-relations campaigns that would bring forth all the good and noble teachings that could be quoted from the Qur'an. 

Meanwhile, throughout America, various public school systems issued statements to soften the view toward Islam by stating that no religion should be blamed for the attacks of 9/11.

During the summer of 2002, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) initiated a college entrance requirement whereby incoming freshmen were to read and report on a certain publication regarding the "early revelations" of the Qur'an. The publication contained select verses that apparently did not include any of the Qur'anic writings that are related to anti-Semitic and anti-Christian sentiment. (Administrators at UNC obviously failed to realize that Muslims must accept the Qur'an and teachings of Muhammad in their entirety otherwise they are not really "Muslims.") In response, many non-Muslim students objected to the reading assignment. When challenged in the courts, the University did not make the reading assignment mandatory and promptly issued a statement that would allow students to submit a "…one page response" on why they chose not to read the assigned book.