(OPINION) CBN – Bashir Mohammed claims he once fought for a militant Muslim group on the front lines of the Syrian civil war. Today, he leads a Christian prayer meeting in an apartment building in Istanbul, Turkey.
In four years, according to his wife and neighbors, he went from being an angry follower of Islam ready to kill for his faith, to a man of peace who seeks to help other Muslim converts to Christianity grow in their faith. Even he admits it’s an unlikely story. “Frankly, I would have slaughtered anyone who suggested it,” he told a reporter for the Times of India.
It was a long journey that included growing dissatisfaction with the “holy war” in Syria. As a fighter for al Nusra, a splinter group of al-Qaeda, he saw death on the battlefield and the mass executions and torture of prisoners. One day, peering through binoculars at Syrian government soldiers executing their prisoners, he realized there was no difference between him and the enemy.
Disillusioned with the idea of Muslims killing other Muslims, he deserted al Nusra and took his wife to Istanbul. Although he remained a passionate follower of Islam, he soon had an experience that introduced him to the power of Jesus Christ. When his wife Rashid became seriously ill, Bashir did the unthinkable and allowed a Christian cousin living in Canada to have his prayer group pray for her over the phone. READ MORE
