'Forgive them': 12-year-old Christian girl burned alive by ISIS

'[Y]ou have two choices, you are to leave now or you are to pay the Jaziya.'

A young martyr was murdered in her home by Muslim extremists belonging to the Islamic State.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Though news of the young girl's death is not new, it is a perfect example of Christian persecution and God's loving forgiveness.

According to Express, human rights advocate Jacqueline Isaac reported the ugly death of a beautiful young girl.

A Christian mother and daughter were home one day, when the daughter stepped into the shower. The mother heard a knock at the door and was face-to-face with ISIS militants.

Isaac explained the situation, saying: "The ISIS foreign fighters were at her door and they told her, 'you have two choices, you are to leave now or you are to pay the Jaziya [a fine for not being a Muslim].'

"She said, 'I will pay, give me a few seconds my daughter is in the shower.' They said, 'you don't have a few seconds' and they lit the house with a torch from the bathroom the daughter was showering in."

The home was encompassed in flames within moments but both mother and daughter managed to escape.

Unfortunately, Isaac reported: "The daughter had fourth degree burns and the mother took her daughter, scrambling, doing anything to save her. Rushed her to the hospital and her daughter died in her arms.

"The last thing her daughter said: 'Forgive them.'"

Though many martyrs before the girl, who was believed to be around 12-years-old, have forgiven their persecutors, the girl's final request shocked her mother - then the world.

One of Jesus' last words, recorded in Luke 23:34, were, "...Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing..."

In her faith and wisdom, the girl met the Lord after choosing to forgive the men responsible for her untimely death. Unbeknownst to her, the powerful words touched her mother's heart, and hearts around the world.

A spokesman for Open Doors, a Christian charity, stated: "Iraq is one of the most difficult places in the world to be a Christian, and thousands have been forced to flee their homes by the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

"Sadly this is just one more example of the atrocities being committed by extremists in this region, but I regularly hear of incredible stories of faith like this where Christians forgive their persecutors."

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