Marc Parry: The day after federal agents arrested the imam of Masjid As-Salam, 20 men gathered on the green carpet in the mosque's back room. No one else had dared to come.
It was Aug. 5, 2004. The FBI raid was over. The media frenzy wasn't.
The governor had gone on TV talking about "terrorists among us." A horde of reporters had staked out the Central Avenue storefront mosque. Someone had to go out to face the cameras.
What should they say? And who should it be?
The men could have suggested the mosque's president, or another elder. They didn't. They picked a 25-year-old from Albany, three years out of RPI.
Faisal Ahmad climbed onto a chair on the sidewalk outside the mosque. He had abandoned a promising IBM career to study his religion. He wanted to be an American Islamic leader. He was about to see what that could mean.
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