Pretty ridiculous story of an insanely brave man, Mosab Hassan Yousef. For those of you who don’t know, leaving the Islamic tradition in strict practicing societies brings the penalty of death (often literally) and at a minimum you will likely never know your family again.
Yousef, 30, said he realized the true nature of Hamas and radical Islam during a stint in an Israeli prison. He renounced his Muslim faith, left his family behind in Ramallah and converted to Christianity.
“Islam is not the word of God,” said Yousef. “If you want to be offended it’s your problem. But you know something? Go study. Think for a second that I might be right. So wake up, look at your path, see where you’re going. Are you really going to heaven with 72 virgins after you kill yourself and kill another 20 people?”
I can’t even imagine going from recruiting and radicalizing youths as Yousef did, to renouncing your past, being disowned by your family, and needing to claim political asylum in a foreign country.
If you’re interested in getting some basic foundation in Islam, or hearing more of his story, there is a great interview I found over at sethskim.com from August 2008 (which is a news interview transcript).
Yousef will be a part of a televised special Tonight at 10pm EST on Fox News called “Escape from Hamas.” It will be re-aired several times I’m sure, check listings for details.