David Cameron has rejected criticism by some Muslims of a letter sent to mosques in England urging them to do more to root out extremists and prevent young people being radicalised.
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said it wanted Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to clarify the request - and asked if, like "members of the far right", he was suggesting that Islam is inherently apart from British society.
In the letter sent to more than 1,000 Islamic leaders, Mr Pickles and communities minister Lord Ahmad stressed that he was "proud" of the way Muslims in Britain had responded to the Paris terror attacks but added that there was "more work to do".
There are fears about the spread of terrorism after the attacks in the French capital that left 17 people dead and the arrest of more than two dozen people in anti-terror raids in Belgium, Germany and France.
Mr Cameron has stepped in to defend the letter.
Answering questions after a speech in Ipswich, the Prime Minister said: "I think it is absolutely right to write this letter, to say that we all have a responsibility to fight extremism.
"Anyone who reads this letter - and I've read the letter - will see that what he is saying is that British Muslims make a great contribution to our country, that what is happening in terms of extremist terror has nothing to do with the true religion of Islam. It's being perverted by a minority who have been radicalised.
"But everyone needs to help with dealing with this problem of radicalisation.
"Anyone, frankly, reading this letter, who has a problem with it, I think really has a problem. I think it is the most reasonable, sensible, moderate letter that Eric could possibly have written.