Book Review: Son of Hamas

I have to say: the title and cover of this book is what caught me.  It was listed as a bestseller on Amazon.com under the “Religion and Spirituality” section; so I clicked on a few reviews, and ended up buying and reading it over the past week.

Son of Hamas is the autobiography of Mosab Hassan Yousef, eldest son of one of the founders of the Palestinian terrorist organization, Hamas.  Mosab grew up in the organization–steeped in Islam–through all of his childhood years, learning to hate and want to kill Israelis.  One day, while on his way to school, he was captured by one of the Israeli intelligence services, and through many events, became a trusted informant and spy against Hamas, while still acting a terrorist.  In the midst of everything, Mosab is given a Bible in the Arabic tongue, and invited to a Christian Bible study in Jerusalem.  Over time, Mosab accepts Jesus Christ as God and Saviour: rejecting the teachings of Islam, and embracing the love of God.  Mosab, still, continued to be one of the Israeli government’s most valued sources, and through him, dozens of terrorist plots were foiled, perhaps saving multitudes of lives on both sides of the conflict.

As a whole, the plot of Son of Hamas moves extremely fast, almost too fast in my opinion.  The narrative could have been many pages longer.  Nonetheless, the books leaves the reader feeling like he is actually a part of this gripping thriller, almost to the point where it seams like fiction: though most of the story has happened even in my recent memory.  Political and military secrets are revealed, surprisingly, even though the conflict is still very much alive today.  As an Islamic, Arab, Palestinian, Mr. Yousef captures the feeling of his people extremely well–making the reader better understand their culture and traditions, and how they affect the world today.  He also shows true compassion for his people, and the true answer to the conflict in the Middle-East: Jesus Christ.