This is a remarkable story. As you read – and you simply must read this – look for how he highlights ideas and their consequences. Also, the need to examine your religion to see if it is actually true (whether that be Christianity or Islam). Finally, notice, this isn’t a game for him; he is not playing church.
Here is a teaser from the interview:
JONATHAN HUNT: Aren’t you terrified that somebody is going to try to kill you for saying these things — which would be approved of according to parts of the Koran?
MOSAB HASSAN YOUSEF: They got to kill my ideas first, (and) that’s it, they’re already out. So how are they going to kill my idea? How are they going to kill the opinions that I have? … They can kill my body, but they can’t kill my soul.
JONATHAN HUNT: You’re not afraid?
MOSAB HASSAN YOUSEF: As a human, you know, I can be very brave now, I’m not thinking about it at this moment and I feel that God is on my side. But if this will be the challenge, I ask God to give me enough strength.
JONATHAN HUNT: Have you been threatened?
MOSAB HASSAN YOUSEF: No, not really. Honestly, most Muslims and Muslim leaders here in the U.S. community, European communities, they are trying to get ahold of me. They are calling my famiily, my mother, and asking for my contacts. They are telling her, ‘We want to help him.’
JONATHAN HUNT: They think you need help?
MOSAB HASSAN YOUSEF: Yeah, they think that Christians took advantage of me, and this is completely wrong. I’ve been a Christian for a long time before they knew, or anyone knew. I love Jesus, I followed him for many years now. It wasn’t a secret for most of the time, and this time I just did it to glorify the name of God and praise him.
They’re not dealing with a regular Muslim. They know that I’m educated, they know that I studied, they know that I studied Islam and Christianity. When I made my decision, I didn’t make it because someone did magic on me or convinced me. It was completely my decision.
What a powerful illustration of courage in both thinking and life.