A Muslim Enlightenment?

Quite the life-adventure, that of Mosab Hassan Yousef. A complete turn-about in culture, ideology, religion, his entire view on human relations and personal responsibility. He does argue otherwise, however. Since he espouses his father, the founder of the terrorist group Hamas, as a well-adjusted humanist. His father for whom he has a deep love and respect "lived his life as an example of what a Muslim should be".

It is not revealed how his father might, if he were still alive, receive that characterization. Although the rest of Mosab Hassan Yousef's family will have nothing whatever to do with him. They have spurned him, completely disassociated themselves from him, disowned him utterly. He is an apostate, and worse, an unforgivable turncoat.

He left the fold but before that, he soiled himself irremediably by betraying it. To none other than its stark enemy. He became a secret agent for the opponent of Hamas. He was, after all, raised with all the normative values of his people. A Palestinian of Arab descent, he was taught to abhor Jews, their ethnicity, their values, their religion.

As a traitor to the values of Palestinians, who see themselves as victims of Jewish Zionist aggression that resulted in the catastrophe of the nakba blessed by the United Nations which has since that fateful time in 1948 nursed and coddled the Palestinians as perpetual foreign-funded 'refugees', his actions are unspeakably unforgivable.

"How can you go wrong by saving a person's life, regardless of their political agenda, their colour, their race, who they are? A human life - you can't go wrong saving that", he insists. "These words I am giving you with lots of pain. Because this is the painful truth. Most of the fundamental issues that we face as Arab nations are connected to one thing, that is the absolute control of religion over people's lives.

"I take a stand against Islam. There is no way, trust me, to moderate Islam, to neutralize it, to make it fit into this new world that we live in. Unfortunately, Islam has a whole system that does not believe in separation between state and church; that does not believe in coexistence with anybody who does not believe in the theology of Islam. In fact, it does not have any harmony within the religion itself."

This is an impassioned young man who believes he had an epiphany that opened his eyes to reality. He was a devout Muslim, raised by a father whom he characterized as humble, loving, forgiving, helpful and prayerful. And this was the founder of Hamas. Hamas, though, Mr. Yousef is quick to say, does not represent his father's values and his wishes.

"My father was Islam to me. He reflected the beautiful side of Islam, not the cruel side that required its followers to conquer and enslave the earth." When Mosab Hassan Yousef was imprisoned in an Israeli jail for his anti-Israel activities, he was exposed to Hamas leaders' behaviour in prison. They were mean, petty bigots who tortured the weakest and most vulnerable, he said.

"I came to the conclusion that there is no hope to reform Islam. This is why, when we go to Muslim countries, we see all this ignorance and see all this persecution and torture, and beating women, and killing people and terrorism. The entire world situation today is because there is no way to reform that religion."

He is now an evangelical Christian. And he lives in California where he has been given political asylum. For he candidly divulged in his autobiography, Son of Hamas, published last year that he was an undercover informer for ten years for Israel's internal security service, Shin Bet. He warned his handlers of planned terror attacks, assassination plots and where wanted Hamas leaders could be found.

"I wish I were in Gaza now. I would put on an army uniform and join Israel's special forces in order to liberate Gilad Shalit."

Gilad Shalit no longer needs rescue. But this son of Hamas founder Sheik Hassan Yousef, requires tight security and anonymity to safeguard his life from revenge assassination attempts. He has a speaking engagement in Toronto on Wednesday sponsored by B'Nai Brith and Chabad; security will be tight.

"This is a story of growth. Our people, Palestinian people, need to learn from the Israeli experience. We are talking about a small nation that suffered from persecution. The Holocaust killed six million Jewish people, but this nation did not seek revenge. For many years it was focusing only on surviving, moving on and seeking life over death. This is why Israel is a prosperous country. Why don't we learn from Israel? Instead of seeking revenge and just wanting to destroy things that we don't know how to build?

Labels: Human Relations, Islamism, Israel, Terrorism

posted by Pieface @ Monday, November 14, 2011