Sohail Ahmed (pictured) was taken to an Islamic spiritual healer at the Abu Ruqya centre in East Ham, London, to 'cure' him of his homosexuality.

A former young jihadi who once dreamt of carrying out a terror attack on Canary Wharf was forced to undergo an exorcism by his father after coming out as gay.

Sohail Ahmed was taken to an Islamic spiritual healer at the Abu Ruqya centre in East Ham, London, to 'cure' him of his homosexuality.

Inside, the healer read passages of the Koran while blowing on the 23-year-old, insisting that his traditional Islamic method of 'treatment' - known as ruqya - had helped another young man who'd claimed to be gay but was now married to a woman.

When his father became distrusting of the man, Mr Ahmed was then made to endure further exorcisms at home.

The mental torture led him to attempt suicide, only to be stopped by his shamed father who found him in his bedroom as he was tying a noose.

The young activist at that point chose to leave his family, and has since turned his back on Islam.

His experiences, he claims, have left him convinced that the religion will never be able to accept his homosexuality.

Mr Ahmed told The Times: 'At one point during the ruqya, I felt an urge to just start thrashing out.

'I had to suppress it. I still don't understand it today.'

Aged 17, Mr Ahmed had fantasies about blowing up Canary Wharf as he found himself radicalised by Islam.

However, he was also discovering that he was gay - an issue the former Queen Mary University student's family deeply struggled with.

His father took him to the east London Abu Ruqya shop after reading about it online.

According to its website, it claims to specialise in 'healing' those suffering from black magic, demonic possession and many other types of 'sorcery and witchcraft', conditions most traditional Muslims believe in.

His father took him to an east London Ruqya centre after reading about it online. According to its website, it claims to specialise in 'healing' those suffering from black magic, demonic possession and many other types of 'sorcery and witchcraft', conditions many traditional Muslims believe in

The so-called treatments - for which they even provide instructions to create your own ruqya water (pictured) to bathe in at home - have become increasingly popular of late, in particular with Muslims who have had their ailments dismissed by GPs and doctors.

The so-called treatments - for which they even provide instructions to create your own ruqya water to bathe in at home - have become increasingly popular of late, in particular with Muslims who have had their ailments dismissed by GPs and doctors.

But Mr Ahmed's experience of being exorcised left him on the brink of taking his own life.

He said: 'It got too much for me. That's when I realised I have to leave home or else I would have killed myself.'

He added: 'I understand the Muslim viewpoint on homosexuality. A mosque saying we accept LGBT people - this is not going to happen in my lifetime. It's a long process.'

According to charity groups and social media campaigns, many Muslims struggle with coming out as gay.