We have only one house. (Webbsite).

For Washington DC it was a first--30,000 Muslims in the city for the convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) over Labour Day weekend in September.

I'd first heard about it in June when I met Nafeesa Syeed', an aspiring journalist in her junior year at Georgetown University. Learning she was from Indianapolis, I asked if she knew someone I'd met a few years ago--Dr Sayyid Syeed, Secretary General of the ISNA. `He's my father,' she replied. She told me he would be in Washington for the convention. Indeed he was, and we had a warm reunion.

Given the currents running through today's world, the prospect of the Convention stirred the imagination. My curiosity spurred me to obtain press credentials that would let me move freely about the massive Washington Convention Center where delegates gathered from across the US and Canada.

I was overwhelmed by the warmth and hospitality. Rahman Kahn of Chicago, Chairman of the Muslim Voters of America, expressed his gratitude for the generosity and friendship he'd found from Americans since moving here from India. Seeing I needed a place to sit in a crowded hotel restaurant nearby, a Turkish Muslim student, Selda Kapan, invited me to share her table. Soon two Muslim women from Egypt--both, like Kapan, connected to American universities--joined us for a wide-ranging discussion.

What struck me from the outset was the deep hunger of these men and women to reach out to those of other faiths. For example, a banquet on the opening night featured guests from other faith traditions, including former Congressman Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches. Then, as the convention began in earnest the next day, speaker after speaker denounced those responsible for the havoc wrought on 11 September, 2001.

It became clear that many Muslims hold the hijackers responsible for the economic blows they suffered. A northern Virginia businessman told me he had had to close his office and lay off workers in his computer enterprise as a result of 11 September. However for some, perhaps most, Muslims, the economic impact was temporary. As passions cooled, their businesses picked up.

One of the more striking personalities at the convention was Ingrid Mattson, the first woman Vice-President of the ISNA, who teaches at the Hartford (Connecticut) Theological Seminary. A Canadian, she surely stirred many when she told how she, as a Muslim, and her two sisters--one Jewish, one Christian--managed to get on in her family, which also includes four brothers. `We had only one house,' she said.

One panel was on `Muslim/non-Muslim relations', with the guiding principle: `An Islamic society is based on the value system of Islam with due recognition of the rights and freedom for people of other faiths and beliefs.'

The convention programme covered many topics far removed from 9/11 or interfaith relations or any of the issues we customarily read or hear about. For example, one panel was devoted to `achieving peace between parents and children'. Another: `Achieving spousal peace.' There was a sense that no matter what our faith, we in this `one house' are all the same underneath. We share the same struggles, face the same temptations and need each other.

A footnote to the convention came in a phone chat with Dr Syeed about six weeks later. He called my attention to a major article in USA Today written by his daughter. Her article about the convention was headlined `Making peace personal', with the subheading, `Jews, Muslims and Christians reach out and discover "the enemy has a face".' Her interviews showed people from the three Abrahamic faiths struggling to understand, trust and forge friendships with one another.

She wound up her story by quoting one of her interviewees as saying that while interfaith organizations can help, `Peace has to start in people's hearts.'

Robert Webb is a former columnist and editorial writer for the `Cincinnati Enquirer'. He lives in Alexandria, Va, USA.