A former acolyte of radical Islam is now a committed Christian, describing himself as a 'jihadi who turned to Jesus'.
Bashir Mohammad, 25 shared his story in a profile this weekend by the New York Times.
Less than four years ago, Mohammad was fighting in the Syrian civil war for the Nusra Front, a radical Islamist group born of Al Qaeda. Now he is a fervent convert to Christianity, leading weekly Bible reading groups.
Mohammad is clear that his journey was not expected: 'Frankly I would have slaughtered anyone who suggested it,' Mohammad says of his radicalised former self.
Mohammad grew up in a Muslim family in the Kurdish region of Afrin, northern Syria. As a teenager he listened to extreme jihadist preachers and followed radical interpretations of Islam with interest, after encouragement from his cousin.
He later joined the secular Kurdish forces fighting in Syria's civil war, but was disillusioned by the deaths he witnessed, which turned him back to the teachings of radical Islam.
'When I saw all these dead bodies,' he said, 'it made me believe all these things they said in the lectures. It made me seek the greatness of religion.' A friend invited him to join the extremist group the Nusra Front.
He witnessed intense brutality and torture, including seeing captives crushed by his colleagues with a bulldozer. 'They used to tell us these people were the enemies of God,' Mohammad said, 'and so I looked on these executions positively'.
For a time Mohammad was deeply indoctrinated in the group's philosophy. Eventually, having seen genocide on both sides of the war, he had had enough. 'I went to Nusra in search of my God. But after I saw Muslims killing Muslims, I realized there was something wrong.'
The cousin who had once inspired Mohammad with Jihadist teachings later became a Christian convert, and in time Mohammad would follow his lead once again. When Mohammad's wife Hevin Rashid became seriously ill in 2015, his cousin's intervention though his Christian prayer group moved an initially skeptical Mohammad.
An intrigued Mohammad sought an evangelical missionary called Eimad Brim, through whom he converted. He felt welcomed at churches, and was calmed by reading the Bible. Both he and his wife reported experiences of God in their dreams.
His defection from the jihadist group has made Mohammad a target from fundamentalist former-colleagues. He said he fears he may not be safe, but insisted that he trusts God.
'There's a big gap between the god I used to worship and the one I worship now,' Mohammad said. 'We used to worship in fear. Now everything has changed.'
