The parents of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, an American who converted to Islam, released parts of their son’s letter written during his captivity.
The parents of the 26-year-old American held by ISIS released parts of a letter Monday that their son had written to them during his captivity in June.
Indiana native Peter Kassig, is a former U.S. Army Ranger who became a Syrian refugee aid worker and started his own group called the Special Emergency Response and Assistance (SERA).
He voluntarily converted to Islam last year and changed his name to Abdul-Rahman after sharing a cell with a devout Syrian Muslim.
In the letter to his parents, Kassig wrote, "I am obviously pretty scared to die but the hardest part is not knowing, wondering, hoping, and wondering if I should even hope at all."
In a press release, Kassig's parents, Ed and Paula requested the media to use their son's Islamic name Abdul-Rahman and not his birth name Peter.
According to the release, Kassig's friends said that his "journey toward Islam" began before he was taken captive. He had observed the month-long Ramadan fast last year and spoke of "the great impact this spiritual practice" had on him.
He also admired and respected the Syrian Muslims he worked and lived with during his time as a medic and aid worker in Lebanon, they said.
"If I do die, I figure that at least you and I can seek refuge and comfort in knowing that I went out as a result of trying to alleviate suffering and helping those in need," Kassig wrote in the letter.
Abdul-Rahman Kassig working as a medic to help a wounded man.
Courtesy the Kassig family
His parents said that after Kassig's time with the U.S. military he felt he was called to be a peacemaker. He went to Lebanon to work as a medic and humanitarian worker.
In a 2012 letter to his parents, Kassig told them that "The truth is sometimes I really
think I would like to do something else, but at the end of the day this work is really the only thing that I have found that gives my life both meaning and direction."
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/1truFBZ
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