Exclusive: “Maryam” is a British woman who has moved to Syria to join the anti-Assad rebels. She can use a Kalashnikov and would like to fight, but has had to settle for the life of a jihadi’s wife.

She’s a tall young woman, dressed in a hijab, complete with face veil, firing a gun. She speaks with a London accent, and calls herself “Maryam”.

It’s not her real name, but her commitment to the jihad is real enough: “These are our brothers and sisters and they need our help.”

Maryam shoots a Kalashnikov for the camera, and then fires off a revolver. She’d like to fight, to become what she calls a martyr. But she’s not a frontline fighter. She’s a fighter’s wife, with weapons for her own protection.

The latest pictures from Syria reveal a new insight into the lives of British citizens who’ve travelled to join the campaign inside rebel-held territory in the country’s north.

Exclusively obtained by Channel 4 News, they were filmed by Bilal Abdul Kareem, an American Muslim convert who’s living among western jihadi fighters and their families inside Syria, documenting their lives.

He says he wants to show the reality of the lives of these foreign jihadis.

Maryam’s marriage to her fighter husband, Abu Bakr, was arranged by his mother three months ago. She didn’t meet him until after they were married.

He’s Swedish, and born a Muslim. She’s British, and converted to Islam four years ago.
‘Sacrifice’

“I couldn’t find anyone in the UK who was willing to sacrifice their life in this world for the life in the hereafter… I prayed, and Allah ruled that I came here to marry Abu Bakr.”

Until her recent departure from the UK for Syria she lived what she describes as an okay life.

When she was younger she liked to watch football on TV. She studied psychology and sociology at college, and says compared to others on her road she was rich, although by British standards she was poor.

She says her parents know she’s travelled to the war-torn country, but they don’t know the detail of what she’s doing.

Hers is a choice she wants other Muslims to make: “You need to wake up and stop being scared of death… we know that there’s heaven and hell. At the end of the day, Allah’s going to question you. Instead of sitting down and focusing on your families or your study, you just need to wake up because the time is ticking.”

READ MORE HERE: http://www.channel4.com/news/syria-rebels-jihad-british-foreign-assad

SOURCE: CHANNEL 4 NEWS

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