New York Times publishes Christian testimony about former jihadist – with qualifiers
By Mark Ellis, Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
NEW YORK, NY (ANS - April 5, 2017) -- In the New York Times
Saturday Profile on March 24th, journalist Patrick Kingsley introduced a
subject that rarely appears in the gray pages of the liberal eminence –
a profile of a jihadist who had his life transformed by Jesus Christ.
Even as the Times broke ground with such a daring subject, Kingsley could not help but qualify the remarkable conversion with this:
“But
these are subjective claims, and many would reject the characterization
of Islam as a less benign religion (than Christianity), much as they
would reject Nusra’s extremist interpretation of it (Islam).”
It
seems Kingsley was shocked when he stumbled upon an Istanbul basement
filled with 22 Christian refugees – many of whom were former Muslims.
“It
was quickly clear that this was no ordinary prayer meeting. Several of
them had Islamic names. There was an Abdelrahman and even a couple of
Mohammads. Strangest of all, they jokingly referred to their host — one
of the two Mohammads — as an irhabi. A terrorist,” he observed.
Kingsley
began to speak with Bashir Mohammad, 25, who had once fought on the
front lines of the Syrian civil war for the Nusra Front, an offshoot of
Al Qaeda.
While
Kingsley noted that some refugees fake their conversion to Christianity
for immigration purposes, “Mr. Mohammad’s particular experience,
however, does not fit easily into this narrative. He lives in a
majority-Muslim country, has little interest in seeking asylum in the
West and treads an unlikely path followed by few former jihadis.”
Mohammad
grew up a Muslim family in northern Syria. At 15, he went to hear
jihadist preachers and was persuaded by their extreme interpretations of
Islam.
When
the civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Mohammad initially joined the
Kurdish forces fighting for autonomy. He was “traumatized by the deaths
he witnessed on the front line, which in turn re-energized his interest
in the extremist versions of Islam that he had learned about as a
teenager.”
Joining the Nusra Front
In
2012, Mohammad joined the Nusra Front, a group that seeks to establish
an extremist state. As a Nusra fighter, he witnessed extreme brutality.
“His
colleagues executed several captives by crushing them with a bulldozer.
Another prisoner was forced to drink several liters of water after his
genitals were tied shut with string,” according to the account in The
Times.
Mohammad
was willing to accept such horrors because “these people were the
enemies of God, so I looked on these executions positively.”
When
Mohammad went home for New Years in March 2013, apparently his temper
frightened his relatives. He became enraged when he witnessed what he
believed were blasphemous celebrations — outside the Islamic tradition.
During
his leave he isolated himself with his new fiancée, Hevin Rashid. Both
she and his parents tried to persuade him not to return to the front
line, but he ignored them.
After
he went back to the front, something happened that altered his
perspective. Through binoculars, he viewed Syrian government soldiers
executing prisoners with a bulldozer and concluded there was little
difference between their behavior and that of his fellow soldiers.
“I
went to Nusra in search of my God,” he told The Times. “But after I saw
Muslims killing Muslims, I realized there was something wrong.”
Leaving the war
He
left the fighting and returned home. After he and Hevin were married,
they fled to Istanbul, along with 2.5 million other Syrians exiled in
Turkey.
Still
a fervent Muslim, Mohammad prayed so loudly his neighbors complained.
“When are you going to turn into a prophet?” they asked him.
He insisted Hevin cover her hair and neck with a veil, and planned for her to wear a full-face covering.
In
early 2015, Hevin developed a serious illness. As her health declined,
Mohammad spoke by phone to his cousin Ahmad — the same cousin who had
taken him to jihadist lectures as a teenager. Ahmad now lived in Canada
and had become a follower of Jesus – a stunning turn of events!
Mohammad
was even more shocked when Ahmad asked if he could put the phone close
to Hevin, so a small group of believers could pray for her.
Photo
captions: 1) The cross around Bashir’s neck. (Photo: Patrick Kingsley,
NYT) 2) Bashir Mohammad. (Photo: Patrick Kingsley, NYT). 3) Mark Ellis.
About the writer: Mark Ellis is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net), and is also the founder of www.GodReports.com,
a website that shares testimonies and videos from the church around the
world to build interest and involvement in world missions. Previously,
Mark co-hosted a TV show called “Windows on the World” with ANS Founder,
Dan Wooding, aired on the Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network (http://hsbn.tv/), which is now co-hosted by Dr. Garry Ansdell, Senior Pastor of Hosanna Christian Fellowship in Bellflower, California.
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