Salma Zaman, 35, is a physical education teacher. A mum to daughters aged one and three, she lives with her bus driver husband in Huddersfield. Salma, a former Fartown High School pupil, is a committed Muslim. Here, she provides a woman's viewpoint on the events that rocked the community - and what should happen next

THIS month the Muslim community in Huddersfield has had the shock of its life.

The London bombings have been a wake-up call, they have opened people's eyes.

Now, families will definitely be keeping closer tabs on their children.

And the community will no longer assume that eveything they are learning from mullahs at the mosque is good and right.

Muslim women, particularly, have a duty to make sure their sons are not being led astray and brainwashed by extremists who use the faith for their own political means.

Parents in any culture need to keep their children on the straight and narrow - make sure they aren't taking drugs, drinking or smoking.

It used to be the case that if a child was spending a lot of time at the mosque, no-one would worry.

But now we're waking up to the fact that it's important for us to check the background of the mullahs who teach our children, delve into their past, in the same way that a youth worker would have a police check carried out.

Children and young people go to mosques to learn. And I believe they should be inspected in the same way schools are, by Ofsted officials.

Historically, Muslim mothers and fathers have put so much trust into faith leaders. And the majority of them are worthy of this trust.

We're discussing the problem minority, not the majority.

Before all this happened I had already decided that I would have my daughters tutored privately at home. It is important they read and learn the Koran but I want to know exactly who's teaching them.

I do believe that what is happening is directly linked to the anger that British Muslims feel about the Iraq war, and the treatment Muslims had from Blair and Bush - though that does not give anyone the authority to terrorise innocent victims and play with innocent lives.

Many would keep quiet about this, but I am only saying what people think.

As a British citizen, and a committed Muslim, I feel I'm in two worlds.

I love my faith and I practise it. Islam is nothing to do with terrorism and these bombings have given Islam a bad name.

I work in Thornhill, where one of the July 7 bombers came from, and the mood there is one of shock and bewilderment.

This was totally, definitely out of the blue. The bombers must have been brainwashed. I feel sorry for them as well as the victims.

But they did not feel loyalty to their country or their families, who had no idea.

Islamic children are brought up to believe that it's wrong to take any life, even a spider or a slug.

Now, opinions among the rest of the community worry me. The majority of Muslims are law-abiding, they've never been in trouble with the police, they just want to get on with their lives.

But some people will think that all Muslims are alike.

Since this happened, I've gone out of my way to smile at people and say hello.

If I see a white driver in traffic, I'll give way to them. This all makes me feel sad.

Someone said to a person I know: "Have you got a bomb in your bag?"

If they'd said that to me I'd have replied: "Hang on a minute, I'm on YOUR side. I'm not a terrorist, I have nothing to do with terrorism."

This is my country, I shouldn't have to feel like this because of the actions of those bombers.

It's time that Muslim women came out of the background, spoke up and took more responsibility for their children.

Women should take more of an active role and be more assertive.

There are lots of strong Muslim women now, well- educated and in top jobs.

But the majority are at home, in the background - they need to swim out and get to grips with life and the issues that are facing us.

Times have moved on.

Michael Howard, the leader of the Conservatives, said the Government needed to look at ways to make British Asians feel more proud to be British.

But I am already happy and proud. I'm a Muslim but I'm also 100% British.