Australian citizen Timothy Weeks, who was taken hostage by the Taliban in 2016 when he was working as an English teacher at Kabul University in Afghanistan and was released as a result of barter in mid-2019, converted to Islam during his 3.5 years in captivity.
Weeks came back to Kabul after the occupation ended in Afghanistan from his country, where he returned as Jabral Omar.
Jabral Omar, who wants to support the temporary government of Afghanistan headed by the Taliban, heal the wounds of the occupation and civil war, provide education to children in various fields and open a girls' school,
He came together with the Federation of Associations that Value Humanity (IDDEF), which continues its education and humanitarian aid activities in Afghanistan.
Educator Jabral Omar, who spoke to İDDEF TV and said, "I want the whole world to open their hearts for the Afghan people," told about his experiences and his goals.
“COMING TO AFGHANISTAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY DREAM”
Jabral Omar, who has been in Afghanistan for about 3 months said, "I am currently living in Afghanistan. I have not just started living in Afghanistan. Actually, my story here dates back to 2016. I have been working as an English teacher at universities for nearly twenty years. After serving in 12 countries around the world, my path fell on Afghanistan. Coming to Afghanistan has always been my dream. Because when I was little, my grandmother always told me Arabian Nights. That was my main motivation for coming here."
“WE HAVE HEARD CIVILS KILLED FOR A LONG TIME”
Telling about his experiences while in detention, Omar continued as follows:
"Especially during the occupation of Afghanistan, prison conditions were difficult and this was a very dangerous place. I was imprisoned in a town inhabited by Pashtuns. It's in a town in the south of the country, where there are constant heavy bombings. I was imprisoned throughout the whole process, we were constantly taken to the tunnels. There were constant raids and night operations. We've heard for quite some time that civilians have been killed. It was a very delicate situation that could explode at any moment. Not only by the invaders, but also by Daesh. Daesh was constantly causing trouble, and that was another issue that put me in trouble when I was held hostage."
“I PROMISE TO GOD TO HELP THE CHILDREN HERE”
Saying that he returned to Afghanistan to do educational work and open a school for girls, Omar said, "I returned to Afghanistan because I promised God that I would help the children here. I am a teacher and when I was imprisoned, many of the children in the region either had no education or could not get enough education due to impossibility, so I promised God that if I survive, then I will try to return to Afghanistan and help the children."
“I NEITHER VICTIM NOR SOMEONE WITH STOCKHOLM SYNDROME”
Omar states that the only thing that leads to Islam is Allah and that he accepted Islam for several reasons.
"The first is that I was arrested and spent a long time with the Taliban. To be precise, I spent 1,192 days with them. Like any community, the Taliban have their good and bad, but 90 percent of my time with these people was a discovery for me. Compared to my old life, this time I encountered a completely different world. I have also seen people who truly live by faith. This faith was Islam. In my sophomore year, they gave me a few books to research. I started asking questions; I began to study religion, to contemplate, and finally, with the example of the people around me, but also with this sense of truth from my heart, I decided to accept Islam. It wasn't forced, as some people say. Here I am neither a victim nor a person with Stockholm syndrome. It was a decision I made just by seeing the people around me and came from within. Now, when you ask me, 'What led you to Islam?', only one answer comes to my mind, and that is Allah," Omar stated.