Army Spc. Naveed Ali Shah was at his base in Iraq when he got a disturbing e-mail. His wife, Angela, said she and their toddler son were in lockdown at Fort Hood because of a shooting rampage.

SONYA N. HEBERT/DMN

Army Sgt. Fahad Kamal of Houston (center) prayed during Friday prayer services at the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen. 'Our religion is better than this,' he said.

"This is ridiculous," Shah messaged back. "I'm in the war zone, not you!"

His family was fine, but as a Muslim in the U.S. military, Shah remained rattled by news that an Army psychiatrist and Muslim had been identified as the assailant. He used his blog and Twitter to offer his horrified reaction, both as a soldier and Muslim.

He also made the case, as Muslim soldiers have grown used to doing, that his patriotism should not be in question.

"We are Americans first, and that is why we join the U.S. Army," he elaborated by phone.

Army Sgt. Fahad Kamal of Houston prayed Friday at the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen and said the massacre leaves Muslims in the military with much to overcome.

"I feel let down. Our religion is better than this. I prayed for guidance, for power to overcome this," said Kamal, a medic who served in Afghanistan.

Shah and other Muslims with a U.S. military background agreed that the Fort Hood shootings – whatever the motivation of suspect Nidal Malik Hasan – only complicate a difficult situation for Muslims who want to defend their country.

"It's a question of perceived conflicting loyalties," said Ian Benouis of Austin, a West Point graduate who converted to Islam after his Army tenure and stays in touch with Muslims on active duty.

The Department of Defense's latest survey shows 3,540 self-identified Muslims in the U.S. military. But the number is probably higher, since the survey is voluntary, a department spokesman said.

When Syed Ghalib of Frisco joined the Air Force in 1995, feeling he needed discipline, he encountered no other Muslims in the ranks. At various stops, he was drafted to give talks about the faith, something he did gladly.

He recalled a certain young recruit once said in front of him, "Let's go over there and blow 'em all up." But they became close friends, and he attributed the comment to immature exuberance.

Ghalib described his Air Force experience as "very, very positive," but noted that he left before 9/11.

"That is when the atmosphere became more tense," said Mikal Abdullah of Austin, an Army Ranger from 1999 to 2003. "Your loyalties were called into question, your patriotism. It wasn't everyone, but you felt it."

Abdullah said that his and other Muslim soldiers' experience after 9/11 would be "very close" to what Japanese-American soldiers went through after Pearl Harbor.

Thursday's shooting may heighten tensions, even if the motive for the attack remains obscure.

"It will be used by people who want to create divisiveness and further those questions about Muslims in the military being patriotic," Benouis said.

Groups representing Muslim veterans were quick to condemn the shootings. So was James Yee, a former U.S. Army chaplain and a Muslim. But he said harassment on racial, gender and religious grounds occurs more than is reported.

"That I know from firsthand experience as a chaplain who often dealt with these issues from soldiers, as well as experiencing it for myself," said Yee, who served at Guantánamo Bay and was accused of mishandling classified documents. Charges were eventually dropped.

Hasan had reported to Killeen police in August that another soldier vandalized his car and told his apartment manager that a "Praise Allah" bumper sticker was destroyed.

Staff writers Sonya N. Hebert and Ed Timms contributed to this report.

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