As the annual hajj pilgrimage begins, we check in with BBC reporter in Mecca, Shahzeb Jilani. We also talk with the State Department’s Special Representative to Muslim Communities, Farah Pandith, about her work and whether or not she plans to make the annual pilgrimage to Mecca this year. It’s all part of our continuing series on Faith in America.

As the nation learns the details of the shooting on the Army base in Fort Hood, Texas, reactions are pouring in. To sort through the reactions we speak with Kate Dailey, health and lifestyle editor for Newsweek.com; our own Ibrahim Abdul-Matin on local Muslim reaction to the shooting allegedly by a Muslim soldier; and Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Here is President Obama's reaction to the tragedy:

Major Nidal Malik Hasan is the alleged shooter in the rampage at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas; 13 people are dead and 31 injured. The suspected shooter is an American soldier, a psychiatrist and Muslim. He had told relatives that he had been harassed for being a Muslim during his military career. To discuss how the Muslim community is reacting to the news we speak to Ibrahim Hooper, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The FBI is reaching out to local imams and community leaders in Detroit after the leader of a radical Islamic group was killed in an FBI raid late Wednesday night. We discuss local reactions and the charges filed against others targeted in the raid with Craig Fahle, host of WDET's Detroit Today, and Victor Begg, chair of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan.

Late Monday afternoon, a London court found three British Muslim men guilty of conspiracy to murder by plotting, three years ago, to blow up planes bound for North America. The men planned to smuggle liquid explosives disguised as soda bottles on board at least seven airplanes. We speak to the BBC’s Defense and Security Correspondent Rob Watson with details about the case.

One of the five pillars of Islam, “zakat,” is the giving of a small percentage of one’s income to a Muslim charity. President Obama, in his Cairo speech, said that he is "committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat." The practice of zakat came under scrutiny under the Bush administration, when seven charities were closed down and jailed leaders accused of helping fund terrorist organizations abroad. Many Muslims fear that if they give to a religious group, they may be accused of funneling money to terrorists. What steps are needed to make it easier for Muslims to practice this important part of their religion?

The Takeaway talks with Jennifer Turner, the Human Rights Researcher at the ACLU. She’s been interviewing Muslim donors and charities the past year for the ACLU and has talked to many in the Muslim community. Also joining the show is Asra Nomani, she is a Professor of Journalism at Georgetown University and author of "Standing Alone: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam," and she's here to talk about her struggles with giving to Muslim charities as part of her zakat.

President Obama called for a new beginning for the relationship between the U.S. and the Muslim world. How is the Arab world reacting: what did they want to hear about Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, and women's rights? And what do they want to happen next? The Takeaway turns to Amir Moussa, the Secretary-General of the Arab League and former Egyptian foreign minister, Marcus Mabry, the international business editor for the New York Times, and Muna Shikaki, a correspondent for Al Arabiya, an Arabic news network.

There are more than seven million Muslims in the United States, and they overwhelming supported President Obama in the election. To learn about what they anticipated, and what they heard, in today's speech, John and Andrea talk with Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, a Takeaway contributor, Hanien Hassan Hannesy, a resident of Egypt, and Asra Nomani, journalism professor at Georgetown University and author of Standing Alone in Mecca: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam. Peter Awn, director of the Middle East studies program at Columbia University, is also offering commentary.

Miss the President's address? Watch it here:

Speaking at Cairo University, President Obama touched on issues including Iraq, women's rights, economic development, and religious tolerance. For more analysis on relations between America and the Muslim world, we turn to Professor Peter Awn, director of the Middle East studies program at Columbia University and Noah Feldman, professor of law at Harvard and author of The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State (Council on Foreign Relations).

As the last stop on his first Presidential tour of Europe, President Obama heads to Turkey. This visit is seen as another step towards engagement of the Muslim world. Turkey was once a strong strategic ally of the U.S., but the relationship has drifted in the last few years. This trip to Ankara is seen as a move to renew the partnership. For more, we turn to Dr. Gulnur Aybet, a specialist on Turkey at the University of Kent in England to discuss the President's visit and his efforts to reach out to Muslims in Turkey and around the world.

A rift is growing between the FBI and the leaders of prominent Muslim-American groups over allegations that the feds tried to infiltrate a mosque in Irvine, California using a paid informant. Now, several Muslim groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), one of the largest Muslim American civil rights organizations, are threatening to cut off ties with the FBI over the use of what they call "McCarthy-era tactics." It's unclear how much damage the current rift may cause to the relationship formed by the FBI and Muslim groups in the wake of the September 11th attacks. The Takeaway talks to Alexandra Marks, a senior writer with the Christian Science Monitor, who has been following this story.

For more, read Alexandra Marks article, FBI and American Muslims at odds, in the Christian Science Monitor.

After 9/11, the word Muslim became synonymous with terrorist and un-American and Muslims in America faced a wall of prejudice. Eight years on, what does it mean to be an American-Muslim? Our guest, Dilara Hafiz spent three years writing The American Muslim Teenager's Handbook with her two teenage kids, Yasmine and Imran, trying to answer this question. Told by American publishers that the book would not sell well, and by Muslim publishers that they were too progressive, the book was released independently. It received rave reviews including a write-up in the New York Times and great sales numbers on Amazon. Simon and Schuster released the book nationwide yesterday.

Here is a video of Imran and Yasmine Hafiz introducing their book:



Other Muslim teens living in the United States have turned to the internet to reach out to the world. For example, a Youtube show called Being a Muslim Teen in America. Episode one is below: