More than a decade ago, at a gathering of eminent Christian, Jewish and Muslim scholars and leaders at the Georgetown University in Washington, I said that even though the civilising mission of the West had passed, it had been replaced by a new mission.

This was the mission of democratisation, one that was being pursued not only with convincing intellectual argumentation, but was backed by the mightiest firepower known in human history.

When I said that, little did I know that this firepower was eventually to be met with an even greater power, more insidious, more frightening. This is the power of hate, extreme hate that manifested itself in a form never seen before.

Unlike others, I received news about the 9/11 tragedy in trickles through (Sungei Buloh) prison guards. When the full picture finally unfolded, the magnitude and immensity of the violence was so terrifying that left me completely dumbstruck.

It was this that prompted me, a week later, to write a piece for Time magazine, entitled 'Who Hijacked Islam?'

Those who had already made up their minds about Islam being a religion for fanatics and fundamentalists criticised the essay as being way too soft. Those who were generally anti-West or more particularly anti-Bush condemned the article as a fine example of sucking up to the Americans.