Story highlights At least 50 people were killed in a nightclub in Orlando in the early hours of Sunday morning

Haroon Moghul: Muslim world must not just reject extremism in word, but defeat it in deed

Haroon Moghul is a Senior Fellow and Director of Development at the Center for Global Policy . His next book, How to be a Muslim, will be out in 2017.The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) After attacks like the one in Orlando early Sunday morning, many turn to Muslims in expectation of an answer. An explanation, or maybe an apology. At times like this, many Muslims turn to each other in despair, looking for answers, too. Well, I have one.

Condemning terrorism is a woefully inadequate response to a persistent menace. We could condemn every attack, in every part of the world. Just last week, there was a terrorist attack in Istanbul. But it wouldn't make a significant difference because -- and here's the key -- it is a fundamentally reactive strategy. It cedes terrorists the power to set the agenda.

Haroon Moghul

One of the reasons we got here is because there is a huge disconnect in too much of the Muslim world between what we want to see, and what we're actually capable of bringing about. Much of the Muslim world is dominated by violent, oppressive governments, some of which spend liberally to support their interpretation of Islam. Sadly, they have enough cash to crush more compassionate and intelligent alternatives.

As a result, there are hundreds of millions of Muslims who go unrepresented, who have almost no institutions that can realize our different hopes and dreams. Aid our co-religionists. Advance our concerns. Defend our various causes. Provide quality education. We are underperforming on almost every level -- regionally and globally -- and that's the terrible, tragic reality. How else is it that a small band of vile extremists have come to dominate the conversation about Islam, except that we have let this happen to us? Let's take a long, hard, awkward look in the mirror.

But then let's ask ourselves what it would take to turn the corner.

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