The following remarks were delivered on Sept. 23, 2001, at the Interfaith Prayer Service held at Yankee Stadium. Imam Pasha is the spiritual leader of the Malcolm Shabazz Mosque in Harlem and the first Muslim chaplain of the New York City Police Dept.

With God's name, The Merciful Benefactor, The Merciful Redeemer, it is God we beg for assistance, we beg for strength and guidance, and His mercy. We witness that He is one and we witness to all of His messengers and Prophets.

Dear God, Creator of all things in heaven and earth, guide us this day to bring comfort to those who have lost loved ones and give hope to those who are still waiting to hear.

We, Muslims, Americans, stand today with a heavy weight on our shoulders that those who would dare do such dastardly acts claim our faith. They are no believers in God at all. Nor do they believe in His messenger Muhammad, the prayers and peace be upon Him. We condemn them and their acts, their cowardly acts, and we stand with our country against all that would come against us.

We are members of one human family, one human dignity, one human worth. That worth that God has given to us, the goodness that He has created us in, no single group or nation will be able to destroy that. We are one with the Creator of the heavens and the earth. We are one with members of faith, both Jewish, Christian, and others here today and those who are absent. We are believers.

We will not be deterred. So let those of you who are here today take this word out that we are one America made up of all the beautiful faces and beautiful persons and beautiful colors, and that's what makes us unique in the world and we will not change.

God is bigger. God is greater.

These families here today, we are here for you and we will forever be here for you. We are among those who are saddened and troubled by the world we have today. We call on all of our religious leaders, all of our political leaders, we call on all good people: This must stop. We cannot tolerate oppression of any type.

I close by saying a short Surah from our holy book the Qur'an. And it says in its English translation, in that Surah, which is called "Time Through Ages," it says, "By Time, Verily mankind is in loss, Except such as have Faith and do righteous deeds and join together in the mutual enjoining of Truth and of Patience and Constancy."

May God guide us. May God bless our mayor, our governor, and our president and all of you. Do not allow the ignorance of people to have you attack your good neighbor.

We are Muslims, but we are Americans.