Christians have been persecuted for hundreds of years because of their faith in Jesus Christ. They have been victimized and murdered by a variety of groups, such as the Romans, the Soviet Union, and ISIS. Recently, Muslims have been converting to Christianity because of the horror of what ISIS is doing to them and in the world.

NBC News interviewed a man by the name of Farhad Jasim who said, “If ISIS represents Islam, I don’t want to be a Muslim anymore.” He later elaborated and said, “their God is not my God.” Heidi Perez, a devoted Christian with an extensive knowledge of the Bible states that,

“According to Muslim leaders, they feel that ISIS has misinterpreted Islam into a religion of harshness, brutality, torture, and murder. As a result of the terror and violence that Muslims have experienced on themselves and their families, it has caused them to doubt and question their Islamic faith, and many are converting to Christianity.”

It is forbidden to convert from the Muslim religion to Christianity, so those that have converted are at extreme risk of torture, death, or both. Ms. Perez talked about the history of Christian persecution saying, “During the time of the French Revolution, the government denounced Christianity and persecuted and put to death many of the faith.” She continued saying, that later on, “the Soviet Union under the leadership of Lenin, set out to eliminate all religion, and Christians were imprisoned or executed for their faith.”

It’s been said that the majority of Muslims who convert to Christianity do so because of how their families have been personally affected by the actions of ISIS. The Catholic charity, “Aid to the Church in Need,” approximated that 700,000 Christians fled Islam in fear of their lives. The percentage of how many Christians remain in Islam, 4.6% of the population.

Jasim stated that he was tortured by ISIS for not knowing the “basics of Islam” and was threatened to read the Quran, the book of Islam. After this, Jasim stated that he started to investigate Christianity and that it was what he was looking for, after experiencing firsthand, the ruthlessness of ISIS.

If you ask a Christian who has been a believer for some time, they will most likely tell you that it’s not a “religion” but more of a relationship one maintains with God. Christianity is based around Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God who died on a cross for the sins of all the world. Perhaps what attracted Jasim was the peace, love, and hope, that a person feels in their relationship with God.

When a Muslim breaks away from their past religion they also break away from their families. The same can be said of those who practice Scientology, once a member leaves, they are seen as exiled or “disconnected” from their families and friends who remain in the church. After a Muslim converts to Christianity, they loose all connection with their families and are separated from them, which upsets Jasim as he knows he may never speak to his family again. But perhaps that is the sacrifice one must make in order to be safe and to have a relationship with the one true God.