By CLAYTON PARK

On the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11, Omar Ibrahim, a 17-year-old who attends Shorecrest High School, was getting ready for school when his brother called to tell him to turn on the TV.

Ibrahim was shocked to see the image of the World Trade Center burning from having been hit by two airline jets that he and the rest of the world would later learn were hijacked by terrorists.

Even though he is a native-born U.S. citizen who has lived here all his life, Ibrahim, who is of Egyptian descent, braced himself for what might happen next: Muslims, like himself, getting blamed by angry Americans who assume they must be in on this.

Fortunately for Ibrahim, he hasn't been harassed - at least not yet. "I know a lot of people at school and they know me for myself," he said.

To those who don't know him, Ibrahim would like to set the record straight: "In Islam, we believe in respecting each other and for our community. The people who did this (the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11), whoever they are, I believe they should be punished."

But while Ibrahim has avoided retaliation, the same can't be said for his place of worship: the Idriss Mosque, located at 1420 NE Northgate Way.

On the evening of Thursday, Sept. 13, as two Muslim men were leaving the mosque, they smelled the odor of gasoline coming from the parking lot west of the building. There they confronted a 53-year-old man who held a red gas can in one hand and a small handgun in the other.

According to the police, the suspect pointed his gun at the worshipers and pulled the trigger. The gun failed to go off. The suspect then ran west through the parking lot and into the front yard of a nearby house where he fired a single shot at the ground. One worshiper got in his car to chase the suspect, while the other worshiper called the police. The worshiper in the car spotted the suspect getting into a vehicle at the parking lot of a nearby QFC grocery. The worshiper tried to block the suspect's vehicle, but the suspect rammed his car and drove off, heading east on Northgate Way.

The police arrested the suspect after he lost control of his vehicle and hit a telephone pole. The suspect was identified as Patrick Michael Cunningham of Snohomish County.

The next day, members of the Church Council of Greater Seattle held a press conference in front of the Idriss Mosque to announce the formation of an effort called "Watchful Eyes," which invites volunteers of all religious faiths to take turns guarding area mosques to discourage the unfair targeting of innocent Muslims.

Alice Woldt, the Church Council's acting director, told the gathering: "We are here today standing together in solidarity ... to condemn acts of vengeance and to prevent acts of terror against each other and against places of worship."

Rabbi Jonathan Singer of Temple Beth Am, located in Wedgwood, said: "Muslims, Christians and Jews - all of us make up the fabric of American life. We ask Americans to act like the best of Americans."

Hisham Farajallah, operations director of Idriss Mosque, thanked the Church Council and neighbors for their support before adding: "We strongly condemn that crime (the terrorist attacks) which occurred. We consider it a crime against humanity. The title of Islam is about love, peace and compassion - not what happened."

The speakers stood amid a colorful sea of flowers, American flags and hand-lettered signs (with messages such as "Punish terrorists, not Muslims" and "Hate Free Zone") donated by supportive neighbors and other well-wishers as well as members of the mosque.

Taufik Ridani, a 25-year-old college student from Morocco, who moved here three years ago and now lives in Ballard, waved a small American flag as he stood on the street corner in front of the mosque, along with several others, to wave at passing cars. Several cars honked back to show their support.

Dressed in a gray jacket, slacks, tennis shoes and a blue baseball cap, Ridani said he looks forward to becoming a U.S. citizen, adding that his wife is an American.

"There are six million Muslims in this country," Ridani said. "Lots of my friends are serving in the U.S. military. Whoever is doing this evil (the terrorist attacks), I will fight against them, even if they are from the Middle East."

Esam Gedawe, a 39-year-old computer engineer from Egypt who moved to the U.S. with his family 17 years ago and is now an American citizen, noted with sadness that the World Trade Center was "one of my most favorite buildings."

While he, like other Americans, is angered by the attacks, Gedawe said retaliation isn't the answer. "We need to spread love, justice and peace to BOTH Palestinians and Israelis. The bottom line is, violence creates more violence, but love creates more love and peace creates more peace." (