How Her Upscale Islamic Life in Saudi Arabia & Dubai Took A Dark Turn ft.  

I have British friends that have worked in Dubai. They fall into 2 distinct groups. Those that loved it, liked the lifestyle, the extravagance, the wealth. Those that hated it, saw the inequality, saw how much of a facade it was, saw the fascism.

Thanks for being so brave Nuriyah! My ex used Talaq as a weapon against me, and there are many crazy stories that I have from my marriage! He was preaching in mosques and secretly had girlfriends and a porn addiction. Of course, as he is a man he had the full support of his mosque and family, and I was portrayed as crazy. Last month I got full justice from the courts here in the divorce process. The ex got a full telling off by the judge! Would I have gotten justice in a Muslim country? Nope, never! I have 5 kids and he had wanted to discard me and take them to Pakistan. Our culture and religion totally support this disgusting, degrading treatment of women. I recently started an Islamic Trauma Healing online space for Muslims with Religious Trauma as I had difficulty getting the support I needed. Becoming religious really hurt me. I'm happy you are speaking out, so other women have this awareness. Never knew Dubai was that bad. Thanks for sharing.

One of the things that I love about Shelise is she actually lets the guest tell her story. The questions she asks are more to help clarify things as opposed to putting her own inference. It’s very organic.. keep up the good work❤

Iranian descendent here, I can confirm similar things happening under the Islamic repubic in Iran.

I was in riyadh in the 90s as a child but because we were non Muslims we didn’t go to the mosque. Omg I can’t believe people would pray to god and then watch someone get murdered. This is insane!!!

Cults 2 Consciousness has always been a great show but since you've been back, the quality and continuity has been outstanding! ❤

Going to Islamic countries even as a tourist should be considered an extreme sport 👀

A nurse I work with worked in Riyadh at a hospital overlooking an oval where punishments took place. She said she could see people being decapitated from there. She also commented on the number of women admitted classified as attempted suicide who had stab wounds to their backs

She was so much luckier to have a great family, than most women are. ❤

Anytime someone needs to escape a horrible situation and can’t bring their animal, my heart breaks even further. So proud of this strong woman for how far she has come.

Most families in Islamic countries don't support their daughters she is lucky

My mother's coworker who had american citizenship but had been born in Saudi, was detained because she was frustrated at the airport and muttered something bad about the country, she was able to get out because she worked at a Navy hospital close to Washington DC and was an american citizen. This woman grew up i it, and left for good reason. The western liberal college women converting to Islam baffles me.

Protect Nuriya at all cost. So well spoken and she speaks the truth. Love that this is finally becoming mainstream, sad it's taken so long but better late than never. Shalise thank you for bringing this to the masses! Love Nuriyah ❤🇬🇧

I am so afraid for the women that speak out who have lived through Sharia Law. I am deeply saddened that there are so many women living through this. Instead of males that are fighting ages claiming asylum in America we should be taking all these women who are in these situations around the world.

In January 1991, I was in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, with the U.S. Army. My fellow service members and I were allowed to go to Saudi stores in Dhahran without chaperones. On Fridays, my U.S. Army company commander warned us before going to the stores. He said if we were in the stores after Friday prayers, the mutawa (religious police) with long sticks would round us for the weekly amputation and beheading. And we had to comply with the mutawa. I left the stores long before the punishments happened and was back in the U.S. military area at al-Khobar Towers.

I could walk from my home to The Clock Tower. (Chop Chop Square). I went there but never on Friday. The thing that frightened me the most was the Islamic Police. (The Religious Police)(Wutawa) They could just pick you up off the street. I walked almost every place. The few times that I took a Taxi was with several other females and we always stayed together. I got out in a very tricky way....sh%#ting a brick until the plane was in the air. THEN they kept calling me in North America to return and I was threatened with the statement (The Saudi government has a long memory)...I would never set foot in any Middle Eastern country all these years later

It is so powerful and validating to hear this experience from a non-Saudi and a younger generation woman. I am honored to have connected with these two incredible women, Shelise and Nuriyah- so grateful to have been a guest on both of your shows. Let’s keep the conversation moving with this level of truth, integrity, and courage 🙌💪💛

My ex is pakistani from birth. Our daughter is half norwegian. His family, very traditional. Even living here in Scandinavia. He had to follow his family in the end. Doing their thing. Against his own will. He was forced to stop his contact with our daughter after some years. Pakistanies often push away children they have with none pakistanies. But he was not strong enough to continue contact after she was 18. And he changed totally after this. Lots of "children" experience this. Today im happy i did get away from it. And my daughter is Free❤ Thank you both for sharing this. Its not surprising to me, but its very sad indeed. Wish you both all the best. Brave young woman❤ Ine, Norway.

"This is the best way one can die...." Makes my skin crawl at the "death cult vibes" I get.😔

I had a phase where I became fascinated with Islam. I bought books and clothes and even began learning Arabic. I’m so grateful I woke up and realized what I was supporting. These interviews just go to show us that us westerners have no idea what we’re getting into. We have freedom and we can’t fathom that many other countries don’t, to a point where I became supportive of the very thing used to take away other less fortunate peoples’ freedom

As a pagan this channel is a real eye opener. A lot of brave people on here. This woman’s story was freakin horrifying. Thanks for allowing sacred space.

Wow I had heard about culters who have cut off limbs for stealing but to hear someone from this community telling her side of what she's lived in. With her telling her side of the story it makes me open my eyes to more of things I never knew what was truly going on

Shalise..On behalf of everyone thank you to you and Jonathan for the work you 2 put into these..this channel is amazing, informative and eye opening. I tell everone who will listen about it ❤❤❤❤❤❤

It's horrifying that such things still happen and people are lacking basic human rights. Thank you for telling your story and raising awareness❤

This story needs to be made into a movie. My heart was POUNDING during the part when she was trying to get on the airplane. It is so horrifying to think about how differently it could have gone if she hadn't been able to escape. Thank you for sharing your story. This needs to be told everywhere so people can see the horrible consequences of a society that only values women as property.

The feelings of muslims always get hurt when someone speaks the truth about Islam and prophet....

It's so telling how certain folks in the comments are defending Islam saying, "noooo she's lying and doing it wrong!" Your holy book prescribes extreme violence for transgressors and is HORRIBLE about women. There is absolutely nothing wrong with believing in Allah/God, but let's not pretend that the majority of modern interpretions are all wholesome, peaceful, and moral.

When studying at university in the US, I took a class on Islam (because I knew nothing about it), which was taught by a female teacher who wasn't Muslim, but seemed to know basically everything about Islam anyway. She taught it very apologetically, talking about how scientific Muslims used to be before the Crusades killed all of their intellectuals, how spiritual it is that they pray five times a day, and how we should all admire them and try to be more like them regardless of our religion (mind you, this was a Catholic college, so assumedly, most of the students were some sort of Christian denomination). However, she glossed very casually over a lot of the treatment of women, saying things like, "Female circumcision is just a misunderstanding of the text," etc. Then, she brought in the Islamic leader of the area (a man), who spoke to us about the misunderstandings of Islam, how he's trying to help their reputation recover, etc. but then when he went to leave, our prof said, "Even though he's a good friend of mine, he still will not shake my hand because I'm a woman-- but that's okay!" At the time, I was very impressionable and thought that that must just be how it is for them and that maybe they all feel differently about it than I did. Now that I'm watching this series on your channel, I'm starting to think twice about assuming that Muslims are all okay with this treatment, and maybe there's more to it than just what a liberal arts college can teach. I used to want to go to Dubai so badly, but when I started to hear about all of the very conservative laws, I let that dream die. I thought about how I couldn't hold hands with my partner in public, and that I couldn't even book a hotel room with someone of the opposite sex whom I wasn't married to. Even in the most religious, backwoods areas of the US, you never will be told that you can't book a hotel room with your partner if you aren't married. Seeing how celebrities like Lindsay Lohan have begun to completely change their identities after living in Dubai made me question just how deep this rabbit hole went, but hearing of your experience, it makes perfect sense. It really brands itself as this Instagram utopia, but in reality, it's just really oppressive and shiny. I really never thought much about people's personal choice to convert to Islam until I watched a RU-vidr (that I had previously watched for years but seemed to disappear off of the face of the Earth) tell her story about how she was more or less tricked into converting to Islam and moving in with her husband overseas, and how she had to escape from both him and the country at the same time whilst keeping their children safe. A similar thing happened to a friend of mine (also from the US) who took that very same Islam class with me. She had a really rough home life and struggled with her mental health whilst in university, but when she discovered our Islam class, she became *very* involved in the culture. Eventually, she met a Saudi man whom she officially converted to Islam for in order to marry, married him, and then moved with him back to his home country. I had been keeping in touch with her online until one day, all of her social media profiles disappeared, and I never heard from her again. I still wonder what happened to her, but I know that if she did have trouble getting away, she would have no one back in the US to save her; her family had no money, she barely had any living relatives, and aside me and a handful of classmates, she didn't really have any friends. I think that it's a lot more complex than an outsider can truly understand, but to act as though it's just a "different culture" and to assume that people of that world are just okay with everything is ignorant. I realize now (especially after these past few interviews) that a lot of what westerners have just begun to gloss over are serious issues that need to be addressed. There are literal humanitarian crises happening that westerners just don't want to acknowledge because they've been made to feel that they don't have the authority to speak about them, and it's such a disservice to those living through things like this, especially women who have *no* voice in all of this. I think that if we'd be just as concerned about a woman being controlled within Christianity, we should be concerned about a woman being controlled in *any* culture, *anywhere* in the world. It's terrifying to think that we've just turned our backs to an entire people crying out for help based on their geographical location.

What she says around 1:10:22 is very similar to how I felt when realizing what this religion really is. Thanks so much for these videos - this support is needed. I left Islam almost 15 years ago. I was raised very religiously and prayed five times a day, fasted, ready Quran, etc. I was born and raised in the west but even so I don’t feel safe letting my family know. My father let me know if one of his children leaves we will be disowned and he also said if someone leaves they should be shot. It took me about 3 years of learning to finally leave Islam. I used to stand up for the religion but then started to think about it logically - it’s obviously man made to serve their prophet. I’m much older now but am still in the closet. I pretend to believe because of fear of what my family and the community would do. Thankfully I was able to marry a “convert” because I knew if I married someone who followed the religion it would be game over for me. I just wanted to move out of my parents house so I could have a bit of freedom. Please keep spreading this information. You are all so brave & you are helping those that need it.

Imagining someone praying for hours and then going out to watch such cruelty… my GOODNESS …. Sadistic people can just walk amongst them

She is not just very pretty and intelligent, but also tremedously brave. What an incredible journey!

The difference in her story to many other Muslim women is that she had family support leaving an abusive marriage. Secondly when she became an apostate her family respected her decision and didnt disown her. These two things aren't the norm in Musim cultures it's a rarity.

Listening to this is stomach churning. These poor women, our sisters , have to live under such violence and suppression, all in the name of a screwed up religion run by sociopathic men.

So many women who don't have money or family support would never have been able to escape this or maybe even realize that they truly deserve to live their own lives :(

Break the silence. Break the cycle.

Thank you for coming on Nuriyah! You are a gifted storyteller. I’ve learned quite a bit today.

Nuriyah, i'm so glad you got out safe! I too deconstructed because of a divorce. I got out of a toxic/abusive marriage and seeing how my religion failed me led me to do the same as you. I am blown away by the similarities between our experiences even though I was raised in conservative Christianity. Good gravy. Thankfully because i was divorcing in America i didn't have to deal with police abuse and sharia law. But irnwas still super scary and traumatic because I thought i was wrong to leave an abusive relationship.

I love Nuriyah. I’ve listened to her tell her story over and over again in various interviews and never get bored 😂 I’m an ex Muslim female living in the UK and Nuriyah is such an inspiration to me ❤❤

I hated that this podcast had to come to an end. What an amazing woman with an amazing story. This grandma just wants to give her a big hug

You are such a fantastic interviewer, Shelise. Straight up, thoughtful & original; it's impressive.

I taught at a university in Saudi for over two years. As a single woman who lived in a small very conservative town and didn’t live in a compound, it was rough.

Sad to say, but Mohammed sounds like the earlier version of LDS' Joseph Smith.

Something that applies to all of us, Muslim or not, is that abuse is not just physical abuse. I'm an educated woman, and still thought that abuse could not happen to "someone like me". I had a very narrow view of what abuse is. In the meantime, I went thru years of emotional abuse that I was trying to "normalize".

I’m so happy to hear she had the support of her family!!!! I was raised Muslim and thankfully have very moderate Turkish parents. I married a Muslim Lebanese and through him I learned deep Islam and am no longer supportive of this cult. It’s tough because being a Muslim is what I’ve known for 35 years but I just can’t label myself as someone part of this. Having supportive parents means the world. Also, my husband and I are on the same page…thankful for that as well. The way she speaks about how the thought process is just engrained in you with living your daily life, sayings, conspiracy theories etc. Is so true. You have to stop yourself from that way of thinking. For me the biggest thing was getting over the fear that Islam teaches. We were raised to fear and try to stay away from the fire of hell. It’s definitely an adjustment.

Even muslims from other countries, i heard , saying Saudi Arabia is fucked up when comes to laws

Imagine if Nuriyah did not have a British passport, she would be trapped with this man, or arrested. Shame on Dubai authorities for being so oppressive & misogynistic. I really appreciate Nuriyah's courage to speak up. I am Jewish, I know how radical and dangerous the Islamists can be.

Yes!!! This channel is on fire!!! I have been loving your guests lately! Off to buy some C2C merch!

Interesting how I grew up in Texas and the way she describes her s3x education is exactly the same as what I experienced.

As a Catholic middle eastern … every thing she said is 100% right

What a fabulous conversation!!! Thank you for sharing your journey with us

This is so 7th Century. This absurd way of thinking needs to be demolished!

A really interesting discussion. Thank you so much! Two brave ladies! 🙂 By the way, I have posted this great discussion on my blog.

13:05 Nuriyah is referring to migrant workers that come to Saudi Arabia from poor Asian and African countries. SA of domestic maids is rampant in these places justified via Sharia and dysfunction because of strict segregation.

Shelise! I am not a Muslim (raised Catholic, currently Quaker), but as an outsider I understand the difference between Shia and Sunni Muslims as kind of like Brighamite vs other sects of Mormonism. There are fundamentalist Brighamites (FLDS) and "liberal" Brighamites (LDS), but they are different from non Brighamites in that they chose to follow Brigham Young after Joseph's death. Shia muslims followed the Prophet's cousin when he died (and believe bloodline is important) whereas Sunni muslims followed his friends and companions, but there are both fundamentalist and liberal people in both groups!

I respect this young lady for exposing the misogyny in men to the point where women are accused of being crazy. It has happen in Europe as well. She is right there is an abuse of power. I would encourage to read Dr. Asma Lamrabet - Women in the Qur'an: An Emancipatory Reading. Her book is an eye opener.

Her parents are her biggest blessing ❤

I hope you reach out to the western converts/reverts who are boasting about hijab and naqab and dreaming about sharia in western countries ,If you see tik tok its filled them , I do not understand what is happening.

Dear NURIYAH KHAN, Did you ever think WHY a team of FOUR (4) MALE POLICE OFFICERS (MUTAWAH) used to come to your house? As you said (Hope I understood it correctly.), they were trying to CHARGE YOU of ADULTERY. They NEEDED FOUR MALE EYEWITNESSES! So, they came WELL PLANNED and WELL PREPARED!

Western converts forget that they have a choice to wear hijab or not because the constitution of western countries which protects them from someone enforcing religious rules on them. In Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and many other majority Islamic countries, women do not have the option to not wear hijab. They are either enforced by a religious police (Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia) or by the common public who will make women wear a hijab or burqa; otherwise, they cannot walk on the street. I hope someday the reverts open their eyes.

I was an American in a mainstream Christian church. I wish I’d had Google back then. I stayed 25 years. The church I left would have LOVED to have these laws.

Thank you for sharing. I love that you distinguish between what the actual Quran and Hadith say and what many who call themselves Muslim believe. You can absolutely condemn Islam without hating all the people who think they are following various versions of it. Many Muslims don’t even realize what all the Quran says. Thank you for bringing the truth to light.

I requested this interview on Twitter. I'm so glad to see it happened!

She is so amazing!! This kind of independent thinking and honest inquiry into dogma is soooo refreshing.

I hope this goes viral. I want innocent muslims to see the truth of islam.

OMG I just got to the airport part and bawling my eyes out😢😭. I'm so glad she's safe.

In India we just had general elections. So there was an email from the community motivating people to go vote. I thought to myself who do we vote for? A party begging for Muslims votes and promising them the return of triple talaq and the right to hijab. Forget it. Better that party lose.

She deserves every happiness a free country can offer her. Narrow escape! 😲 Hats off to her.

Be careful exposing Islam. Stay safe! Thank you for your work on cults.

Nuriyah is an incredibly intelligent and powerful young woman whose story needs to be transmitted more broadly. Keep it up Nuriyah - the world needs you.

Thank you, Shalise for giving these people a big platform to speak about these bad things going on in religion/cults! I'm so happy all these people are alive and mentally okay enough to share their stories. Take care❤

Saudi Arabia used to fund wahabi Islam throughout the world, esp to madrasas (religious schools) in South Asia. It is one of the big reasons you see lynchings in Pakistan over rumours of blasphemy and you see increased rates of violence in india against the rest of the population (though the western media only reports the reactions by the rest of the population)

Thank you for your work. Both of you!

Keep 👏🏼 Calling 👏🏼 Out 👏🏼 Islam 👏🏼

Thanks for platforming ex-muslims, especially giving light to women's experiences. It is SO important.

I was glued to this real horror story with a happy ending...she is a great speaker. Thank you for having this young woman on your podcast. Divine intervention helped her without a doubt🙏.

As an EMDR therapist I am so glad to hear you were able to reprocess. ❤

This interview was eye-opening and informative. I learned a lot. Thanks for sharing!

Yes! I love Holy Humanist!!

WOW. We need part 2. There is so much to learn about!!

Loved this interview. Each one is so good and relatable in some way.

Very distressing but also very inspiring. Thank you both so much.

I agree with many of the things you are saying. I was an American Christian woman married to a Saudi man. We met in America then moved to Jeddah in 1996 with our 5 children I stayed within the national population no compound!! Sometimes I worried about my safety but thank God nothing bad happened🙏 Because the last two years there he was not a good husband/Father. We barely had food he would just leave and not come back for days at a time so me and my kids would wander the streets to just get out of the house!! Play in empty parking lots etc go to a few stores on my own!! We did use the street drivers/taxis now I see how dangerous that was by what you said. The men there have no self control over their sexual lusts. The windows there have bars on them and if you stand at the windows and a man may see you I had guys masturbate if it was night!! It was disgusting I would just go grab some eggs and throw them at the guys and then just moved away from the windows!! I stayed for 7 years and I was finally free to go with my 5 kids back to America to God be all the glory 🙏🙏🙏 He’s never seen his kids since or paid for them!! But I can relate to what life is like there. I hope things are better there for women now?? I know a lot of foreign women stayed because of their kids I’m glad I got out 21 years ago✌🏼

Wow. When she talks about how she would read her religion's holy book in a language she didn't understand it reminded me of how the Catholic Mass was said in Latin until late in the 20thcentury so no-one knew what was actually being said.

I wonder how many of the Ladies from there would do with a Man that loves and respects them and treats them as a equal and a Queen? I know my Wife of 25 years did RIP. Maybe one day i can find love again. Till then I wish this Lady and others like Her the best in life. Do what brings you joy and happiness in life Beautiful lady

Thank you Nuriyah for having the courage to expose Islam for what it is.

Dear NURIYAH KHAN, Its always a pleasure seeing you happy and smiling despite all that in the past! Every time I hear/watch you I learn some more details. I am a CHRISTIAN who was BORN in PAKISTAN, GREW UP in PAKISTAN, and STUDIED MANDATORY ISLAMYAT/ISLAMIC STUDIES (Quran + Hadith + Islamic History, etc.) in school. Yes, I learned how to READ ARABIC and MEMORIZED QURAN VERSES and SURAHS and some HADITHS (AHADITH) as well. Even as a CHRITIAN I had to UNLEARN A LOT of ISLAM that I studied in school and OBSERVED/EXPERIENCED while GROWING UP/STUDYING along with MILLIONS of MUSLIMS after getting to The West where much more information is available and freedom to read it. By the way, I NEVER BELIEVED in THE CORE (FUNDAMENTAL) BELIEFS of ISLAM and had a good amount of access to the information that DEBUNKED ISLAM (Quran + Hadith)! Still, it was a bit challenging to disprove THE MUSLIM MYTHOLOGY and BASELESS CLAIMS without information about the counter viewpoint and THE DANGER (especially as a CHRISTIAN) associated with such information. There was NO INTERNET at the time and I was in PAKISTAN! Despite all this The Lord Jesus Christ gave me a lot of COURAGE and WISDOM as a young man to respond to many STRANGE, INSANE, and DERROGATORY questions and comments MUSLIMS directed at me! Keep smiling and keep it up, Dear NURIYAH KHAN! I watch and share your videos wherever and whenever I can. God bless you! BE SAFE!

Nuriyah, you story was terrifying but more than anything the support you got from your parents was so wholesome. I really love your parents so much and how much they care about you

Funny thing that reminded me of this channel today is that one of the Church of Jesus Christ higher ups was on local tv and they asked him about "Do you guys respect atheism and other religions plus people that wants to leave yours at some point" and he went like "OH ABSOLUTELY" 😅 Cult of consciousness says otherwise bro!

That was so powerful. Thank you for all you do for the people freeing their minds, bodies, and souls from the grip of the “religious lie”

19:36 This reminds me: I am a non-muslim and more-or-less straight woman living in a very liberal western European country where many women show much skin in the summer, which is considered totally normal. Yet, I remember a time when I was on a bus and I saw a woman walking in the streets dressed in what I believe to be an abaya - she was covered in black from head to feet (maybe her hands were covered, too, I don't really remember) - and also her face was covered, except for the eyes. Then, suddenly the wind took the hem of her dress and made a part of her white ankles show for a brief moment, and I remember how shocking - and naked - that innocent glimpse of bare skin felt. It was almost like watching something really forbidden and pornographic, and even though I have no interest in other women's ankles and probably see them all the time in the summer without really noticing it, I am sure I must have really starred. It was almost like I couldn't help it. When I react like that, I am not surprised that men get totally obsessed. It's like the forbidenness makes everything much more s***ly loaded than it really is.

Equating islam with christianity is a big whoopsies, i hope people are slowly waking up that you cannot compare the two

This was a fantastic interview!

Lovely conversation!! Thank you for sharing!

What a lovely guest. Very interesting and very easy to understand. Xx

Thank you for sharing!❤

Omg I was thinking recently how amazing it would be if you interviewed Holy Humanist! I've been watching her for some time now and I came across this channel recently and it cover already two or three people I've been thinking have amazing stories. You guys never disappoint ❤

Such a beautiful and strong woman speaking the truth about Islam and about the wrong done to her!!

I lived in Ankara, Turkey growing up and the men acted the same. They would stalk and follow us. It was very scary.

I've seen a video of a woman who tripped while coming out of the mosque and she dropped her qu'ran, she was beaten to d€@th 😮😢

We must keep talking, openly, and allowing any and all voices to come forward and be heard, to get past these dark practices still happening in this world. Shelise, you are doing amazing work.