The events of September 11 unfolded in front of our children. It was immediately clear that, whatever horrors might follow, the 21st century now had an icon that would be as enduring as the Titanic had been to the 20th century. Those pictures will be shown for generations as a dreadful turning point in world history.

As the twin towers fell, Islamophobia rose. The comfortable West sometimes sees God as a last resort, mostly to be ignored but nice to have around for emergencies (the “999 God”). It is uneasy about Islam because Islam takes Allah seriously all the time. But taking God seriously all the time is not the same as fanaticism.

War is permitted in Islam in self-defence, only under well-defined limits, rather like the Christian doctrine of the “just war”. “Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not trangress limits” (S.2.190). An Islamic commentary exempts from attack all women, children, old and infirm men. So there is no Islamic justification for the attack on New York: it was not defensive; the military were not the targets; it was not to restore peace and freedom for the worship of Allah, which already existed in the USA.

In distancing themselves from the attacks, British Muslims weren’t running scared - they were simply putting the record straight about Islam. The extremist Muslims involved in the attack are like extremist Christians or any other extremists willing to bomb or kill to advance a religious cause - untypical of the religion.

The events impact on RE lessons, which pick up children’s questions and comments, reflecting anxieties at home and the child’s experience or ignorance of Muslims. Attempts have been made by the British National Party to encourage parents to withdraw their children from RE lessons about Islam. Teachers who are insecure in their own knowledge about Islam will have a hard time of it. Yet even here, as in all RE, teachers are not expected to “defend” religions against non-religious views of life, or vice versa. Instead they have to present religions fairly, in such a way that faiths could recognise themselves in the classroom portrait.

Open-ended RE recognises the power of religions on the planet and seeks to inform and to start to engage students in the truth claims religions make. Such RE is just as vital in a single-faith-based school as in a “secular” school.

September 11 constitutes a case for RE, global RE, to try to bring about a world in which religious and non-religious people do not behave tribally, but treat each other with respect, using words rather than weapons to debate the massive issues which divide them and finding common cause in the search for justice and peace.

Terence Copley is Professor of RE at the University of Exeter