(Falls Church, VA) -- An imam with the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque where accused Ft. Hood shooting suspect Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshipped has commented on the church-member relationship.

Imam Johari Abdul Malik said the man accused of last weeks massacre isn't the same man he knew who worked at the mosque.

The imam added, quote, "to go from that individual to the person that is now projecting these words from Yemen is a shock." The imam said he does not believe the mosque "read him wrong" but rather something had happened to Hasan.

The Dar Al-Hijrah mosque is where two of the 9-11 hijackers reportedly worshipped.

The imam doesn't deny that link but, he said the mosque has more than three-thousand worshippers each Friday.

He said the mosque and people who worship there shouldn't be condemned because of a few bad apples, comparing it to calling a visitor to Manhattan a criminal just because someone who lives there once committed a crime.

He said the mosque teaches the Koran, tolerance and service, adding it's not a place where anyone will be provoked to violence.

　

(Copyright 2009 by VERTEXNews/Newsroom Solutions)