Until recently, an Arabic-looking person stepping onto a Prague tram or metro car barely registered a look. These days, public transit passengers of Middle Eastern descent may feel a noticeable increase in stares. The glances are wary, fearful, sometimes hostile.

After July's deadly bomb attacks in Egypt and on the London underground and a bus, venturing out can be unsettling for such passengers.

"Of course there's a difference. When some Muslims travel in the metro, bus or tram, you can see the passengers' looks, full of fear and rejection," says Karam El-Badawi, the Czech Republic's most revered imam, who leads hundreds in prayer each week in Prague. El-Badawi condemns last month's bombings and says suicide attacks are wrong in all cases — except one: When there's no other way of defending yourself.

The Czech Republic's Muslim community, whose leaders have come forward in recent weeks to publicly denounce terrorism, has found itself the focus of heightened press scrutiny after suicide bombings killed 56 people in London July 7. In the first two weeks after the attacks, nearly 200 incidents of an "Islamophobic" nature were reported in Britain, ranging from arson attacks on mosques to Muslim women being harassed, according to the Islamic Human Rights Commission, which describes itself as an independent campaign group that struggles against oppression.

Police have identified the July 7 bombers as three British-born Pakistani Muslims and a Jamaican-born convert to Islam.

Czech police say they have no reports of attacks or threats against Muslims in this country. El-Badawi, a 30-year-old Egyptian who came to the Czech Republic three years ago, hopes it will stay that way. He estimates that there are about 10,000 Muslims here, most belonging to the Sunni branch of the religion. Many came here as students and then stayed, often marrying Czechs and going into business. El-Badawi says that they have always enjoyed good relations with the rest of society.

"Right after the attacks in London and Egypt, the Islamic Foundation in Prague published a proclamation in which it clearly described these terrorist attacks as being against Islam and condemned them," says El-Badawi, sitting in a small office at the Islamic Information Center in Prague in Politicky´ch veznu? street, close to Wenceslas Square.

Not everyone at the center has been voicing such diplomatic language. In an interview with Lidové noviny July 23, Samer Shehaden, an interpreter and official at the center, voiced his opposition to the London bombings but said he is "unable to completely disagree with" the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

When asked whether Palestinian suicide attacks against Israeli civilians are justified, Shehaden, who was born in Prague and is of Palestinian origin, replied, "There is no civilian population in Israel."

El-Badawi, who studied in Egypt and knows the Koran by heart, insists that Shehaden was voicing his own opinions rather than speaking in the name of the Islamic Foundation. The imam adds that he has condemned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

Asked whether he believes suicide bombing is wrong in all circumstances, El-Badawi replies, "Yes, I reject it in all cases. Except one. If someone attacks you and takes away your land or attacks you in your own house, you must defend yourself. And if there's no other way of self-defense, then one defends his family and house."

As to whether this qualification may apply to killing civilians, El-Badawi replies, "I don't want to speak about specific situations."

If the imam is reluctant to spell out his views on such scenarios, Mohammad Al Nabulsi, a 53-year-old Prague businessman who is a member of the Czech-Arabic League, has no such hesitations. "There is no way to justify the killing of civilians, blowing a bus apart," says Al Nabulsi, a Palestinian who came to the Czech Republic in 1970 and went on to graduate from the Prague School of Economics.

Al Nabulsi, who describes himself as a Muslim who does not frequently pray at a mosque, estimates that more than eight in 10 Muslims in this country are "believers but not practicing, just like myself."

"I would say that 99 percent of all Muslims living here are moderate. I say 99 percent since I do not of course know all Muslims living here. Personally, I have never met a person with extremist views here."

Al Nabulsi says the bomb attacks of recent weeks were "absolutely horrible criminal acts," adding that the perpetrators damage Muslims the most and make it harder for them to co-exist with non-Muslims.

The July 23 multiple bomb attacks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh "killed mostly Egyptians and probably thousands will lose their income from tourism as a result," he says.

"The long-term interests of Arab countries are damaged by such attacks. A suicide attack in London or the United States will not force the British or American government to resign. But it will certainly hurt the Muslims living there and Muslims in general. Such attacks are therefore pointless."

Muneeb Hasan, 39, chairman of the board of directors of the Islamic Foundation in Brno, south Moravia, says he is afraid that recent suicide bombings might have a negative influence on relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in this country.

The Brno Islamic Foundation was founded in 1994, and 100–120 worshippers attend the city's mosque, according to Hasan, who came to the Czech Republic from Iraq 20 years ago.

"Since Sept. 11 onward, we have rejected all terrorist acts," he says, adding, "Moderate Islam is definitely prevalent in the Czech Republic. Moderate Islam is the right Islam. According to Islam, there should not be extremism in anything."