Fifteen federal agents surrounded Laura Jaghlit's home on the morning of March 20. Nearly five hours later, she says, after they ransacked her home, the agents left with bags filled with her family's possessions: credit cards, ATM cards, birth certificates, bank statements, cassette music tapes, assorted books.

A schoolteacher, Jaghlit was born in Minnesota and converted to Islam 13 years ago. Her husband, Mohammad Jaghlit, also an American citizen, has been active among several local Islamic schools and organizations. She says during the sweep one agent said he hoped he didn't find Osama bin Laden inside the house.

"It was just a joke, but if my husband had said that, it wouldn't have been a joke, it would be a serious issue."

Asked about the bin Laden comment, Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs, which oversaw the raid, says he cannot "confirm that that's accurate."

He did confirm that people at two of the targeted homes were handcuffed by agents, "to ensure safety at the premises." He says one woman indicated an intent to flee, while another person was trying to destroy computer CDs.

"No one involved in this is against investigations, if there is a reason. But not this way," says Jaghlit. "There was no reason for this except to strike fear into people."

"Everybody in the community feels that if respected organizations can be targeted, none of us are safe," says Louay Safi, director of research for the International Institute of Islamic Thought in nearby Herndon, Va., which was also raided. "To us it looks like a fishing expedition."

For instance, the warrant issued on March 20 sought information regarding "Khalil Shikaki ... and any other individual or entity designated as a terrorist by the President of the United States." Shikaki's name appeared on the warrant alongside Osama bin Laden's. Yet Khalil Shikaki is a pro-peace Palestinian with a Ph.D. from Columbia University, and among the region's most respected pollsters and commentators. A contributor to Foreign Affairs magazine, where he has sharply criticized the Palestinian Authority, he's also director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah, and has worked closely with Jewish organizations.

"It's absolutely astonishing his name was dragged into this situation involving the raids in Virginia," says Lewis Roth, executive director of Americans for Peace Now, a Jewish organization. "The irony is the warrant was issued just as he was flying to London to participate in second-track diplomacy in an effort to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians."

"Khalil Shikaki is a brave and honest spokesman for values, politically and otherwise, that America claims to support," adds Gideon Rose, managing editor of Foreign Affairs. "He's a rare voice of sanity and objectivity in a very difficult environment."

Perhaps the confusion stemmed from the fact that Shikaki's estranged brother Fathi Shikaki was secretary-general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. But he's been dead for seven years.

Asked about Shikaki's inclusion on the warrant, Boyd at U.S. Customs would only say that a federal magistrate judge reviewed the evidence submitted for the raid request and found probable cause for action.

Simultaneous raids on two highly respected religious institutions that day also stunned American Muslims. The first was Leesburg, Va.'s Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences, the only school the U.S. military uses to train and endorse chaplains to guide the armed forces' growing Muslim population.

"The thanks they get was to be raided," notes Jaghlit.

Also targeted that day was the Fiqh Council of North America, also in Leesburg, "the highest religious body for Muslims in North America," says Safi at IIIT.

The Fiqh Council issues religious rulings "to help Muslims be good Americans while living Islamic-ly," says Safi. He notes the council made news last fall when it ruled it was the duty of all Muslims in the United States military to join the war on terrorism in Afghanistan.

"Why target organizations like these?" asks Safi, who says the reaction among Muslims to the council's being raided would be the same as that among Catholics, for instance, if the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were ever targeted by agents. "It's not a shadowy organization you raid with guns."

While the evidence presented to the magistrate judge remains under seal, federal officials speaking anonymously to the New York Times and the Washington Post recently suggested the goal of the raid was to uncover possible money-laundering activity by the Muslim organizations. Specifically, agents were looking into the finances of Sulaiman Abdul Aziz al-Rajhi, one of Saudi Arabia's wealthiest and most prominent families, which financed several of the schools and charities targeted on March 20, and whether those groups then sent financial support to terrorist organizations such as al-Qaida and Hamas.

Agents were also looking for ties between the Virginia sites and the World and Islam Studies Enterprise, or WISE, a University of South Florida-based think tank founded by USF professor Sami Al-Arian. One of the organizations searched, International Institute for Islamic Thought, helped finance WISE.

Although he's never been charged with any crime, federal authorities have claimed Al-Arian and his think tank enjoyed direct ties with Palestinian terrorist groups and even helped fund them. The president of USF recently announced she intended to fire the controversial professor for going on Fox's "O'Reilly Factor" without making it clear that his views did not represent those of the university.

In a rare public confirmation of an ongoing inquiry, the U.S. attorney in Tampa, Mac Cauley, issued a statement last month confirming that Al-Arian remains the focus of an "active and ongoing" investigation.

Muslims involved in the Virginia raids expressed surprise at the Al-Arian connection, especially if the government's goal was to stop the flow of money from American organizations to terrorist groups; Al-Arian's think tank has been defunct for seven years.

"There's a great deal of disappointment that raids happened the way they did," says Norquist. "And I don't think the Muslim community is overreacting."

As for the Bush endorsement that some Muslims now wish they could recant, leaders suggest it was an important learning experience. "It was not a mistake to start the process," says Marayati. "Speaking to various members of the community, people still want to have a voting bloc so we need to continue to make endorsements."

Conceding some regrets, Awad at CAIR stresses the positive from the 2000 election: "We mobilized Muslims nationwide to vote in one direction and succeeded. That was a strategic achievement." And rather than turn people off, he says, the experience will lead to further participation. "There will be more Muslims voting in the next election than ever before. We have learned a lesson: To gain respect you need to be more organized. We can't afford to waste votes."

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