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Former Muslim creates documentary to find and capture American ISIS jihadi

Palestinian-American filmmaker Hazem Farraj appears in a screen capture of the trailer of his documentary "The American: The Search for Al'Amriki." | YouTube/Hazem Farraj

A filmmaker, who converted from Islam to Christianity, is making a documentary film about his efforts to find a white American man, who joined the Islamic State terror group in Iraq, and bring him to justice.

Hazem Farraj, a Palestinian-American who was abandoned by his family when he became Christian as a teenager, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for his upcoming documentary titled "The American: The Search for Al'Amriki."

The film chronicles his advocacy on behalf of ISIS victims and his pursuit of a terrorist known as Abu Abdullah Al'Amriki (Abu Abdullah the American), who reportedly abandoned his Christian faith and left the U.S. to join the extremist group.

Farraj initially heard about Al'Amriki while he was doing relief work with the Somerset Foundation in Iraq in 2014.

"As an ex-Muslim, it was fascinating to see that this man from the West had the complete opposite story of my own, except with utterly opposing views," Farraj told The Christian Post.

In September 2015, a 20-year-old Yazidi woman testified in the U.S. Congress that she had been taken captive by Al'Amriki, who kept her as a sex slave. The young Yazidi girl, who asked to be called "Bazi," said that Al'Amriki showed her pictures of his family and claimed to be a teacher in the U.S. Bazi was eventually rescued after five months in captivity, but Al'Amriki remains at large and continues to hold several other girls captive.

"What we know about Abu Abdullah Al'Amriki is very limited since the FBI has an ongoing investigation," Farraj noted.

"We know he is a male, 30–35 years old, has a wife and two children. According to Bazi, he was proud of his conversion and ultimate role as an ISIS propaganda tool, stating that 'he left Church and found life' within his newly adopted Islamic beliefs," he added.

Farraj said that one of his goals for the documentary is to bring people together for a "challenging, overdue conversation" about the nature of Islam and its implications for the West. He is also hoping that the film will lead to someone recognizing the composite sketch of Al'Amriki and supply the FBI with a name.

The film also recounts Farraj's struggles as an ex-Muslim human rights activist who is now viewed by his Islamic family as an apostate because of his conversion to Christianity.

Farraj suggested that Christians should compare the red letters of Jesus with the Islamic texts within Islam to see the real distinctions between the two worldviews. He believes that when people see the differences, the believers in Jesus will find that there is a true spiritual power behind Christ's words.