There is always a very real danger that extremists - in any form, from any creed or culture - will sour the patch for others and lead people into lazy stereotyping and generalisations.

That is especially true of British Muslims, the vast majority of who - it hardly needs to be said - are law-abiding and decent, but who find themselves sometimes stigmatised by the perceptions of their culture fuelled by the actions of Islamic extremists.

Through fear or ignorance, many people might even unconsciously lump the entire British Muslim population into a "them and us" scenario for events and rhetoric spurred by individuals or groups who are simply not representative of the whole culture.

It is quite often - though obviously not exclusively - men who lead the charge, either on the extremist front or on the critical and blanket reaction to groups such as Islamic State in the Middle East and home-grown terrorists.

So it is fitting that women are attempting to drive some measure of common-sense through the middle of the whole situation, with the two-day conference to be held in Bradford, organised by the Muslim Women's Council.

As organiser Bana Gora, chief executive of the group, points out, it is not the responsibility or obligation of British Muslims to apologise or answer for the actions of extremist or terrorist groups.

What they are saying about attitudes in Britain today and how we can tackle them to move forward with peaceful social cohesion makes a lot of sense - and it is great for Bradford that the city often held up by a lazy national media as a stereotype of "racial unrest" is the venue for this progressive debate.