Son of Hamas
Son of Hamas recounts the story of Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of one of the founders of the Palestinian Islamic organization Hamas. The book takes us in roughly chronological order from his youth in a devout Islamic family, through a growing involvement in Hamas and resulting imprisonment(s), to becoming a spy for the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet, to conversion to Christianity and eventual relocation in the United States. It’s a wild ride, written in a fairly fast-paced style and purporting to be an expose of sorts.
Several things struck me as I read. First is the confusion of life in Palestine. It’s impossible not to think of the Tower of Babel as we read of the different religious and political factions battling for control. Within individual groups, contradictory goals and methods are pursued, at times violently as members turn on one another in self-sabotage.
In addition to the political disunity is a religious incoherence Yousef begins to see as inherent. He explains,
Islamic life is like a ladder, with prayer and praising Allah as the bottom rung. The higher rungs represent helping the poor and needy, establishing schools, and supporting charities. The highest rung is jihad…
Traditional Muslims stand at the foot of the ladder, living in guilt for not really practicing Islam. At the top are fundamentalists, the ones you see in the news killing women and children for the glory of the god of the Qur’an. Moderates are somewhere in between.
It becomes increasingly hard for him to reconcile the bottom rungs of the ladder with the top rungs.
Yousef’s account of his first reading of the Bible is striking in its simplicity. Attending a Bible study out of curiosity about history, he is moved by the beauty of Jesus’ words.
I couldn’t put the book down. Every verse seemed to touch a deep wound in my life. It was a very simple message, but somehow it had the power to heal my soul and give me hope.
Then I read this: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven” (Matthew 5:43-45).
That’s it! I was thunderstruck by these words. Never before had I heard anything like this, but I knew that this was the message I had been searching for all my life.
It takes 6 years for Yousef to come to faith that Christ is the son of God, but it seems this initial encounter with the pages of Scripture seals his fate. He explains in the afterword that he is not offering himself as a teacher or role model; he is still young in the faith. But his testimony is a powerful one just the same. I think what was most remarkable to me was the way Yousef came to see that both the human parties involved — Palestinian and Israeli — were equally fallen, yet he came to love people on both sides, and to want to protect the innocent from harm.
I felt strangely unsatisfied when the book ended. There is something unresolved about it. But I suppose for any legitimate autobiography this would be the case. Our lives are unfinished.
Son of Hamas is a real page turner. It recounts a life full of more intrigue and action than I’ll ever see. But it’s above all a tale of transformation, and I recommend it as a profound encouragement about the love and amazing creativity of a gracious God.
