*Her Arabic script is at the bottom.*
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Melissa Krawczyk
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What was early life like for you?
Doha Mooh: There is meant to be a real life, whether early on, or later, but in Saudi, there is no life for a woman. Frequently she has no say in it.
Jacobsen: How was religion important in early life for you?
Mooh: Religion was not important to me in my life, but society, though its customs, traditions and the government, forced it on me and made it important.
Jacobsen: When did you question Islam?
Mooh: I was questioning really early!! I was young and after Kindergarten I entered school and discovered that at the age of six, the girls were separated from the boys to prepare them for religious instruction.
Jacobsen: What arguments make Islam false to you?
Mooh: I don’t call them arguments. I see it logically. Why would the God of mercy create me as a deficient girl, as they claim? Why is it permitted for a man to marry another wife without considering his first wife’s feelings? And a lot more.
Jacobsen: What is the general status of women in Islam?
Mooh: The general status! Well, in Islam you can own a girl and treat them as you treat a piece of furniture, or a car, or anything you own, and she can’t act on her own.
Jacobsen: When did you find ex-Muslims? How is this community important for you?
Mooh: I have seen an Ex-Muslim in everyone who questioned religion for the sake of justice and equality. I found an Ex-Muslim in myself when I rejected the commandments of religion. Society nurtures the generations of tomorrow.
Jacobsen: How did you get asylum? What is the story there? What is your current status now?
Mooh: I left the religion of Islam and this puts me in danger of being killed. I have the right to be in a country that protects me and protects my family. Now I live in an apartment here temporarily, until my necessary legal application procedures are finished.
Jacobsen: What is the proper way to get ex-Muslims asylum?
Mooh: The correct way is the legal way, of course, not cheating.
Jacobsen: How can people reach out ex-Muslims who are in a difficult time of life respectfully?
Mooh: It is easy to access them on social media pages. There are those who are forced to claim that they are Muslims, and Arab feminists and homosexuals and others who are suffering and afraid of the volume of threats and intimidation and insults and cursing, and these things are frustrating and painful.
Jacobsen: Any final feelings or thoughts based on the conversation today?
Mooh: I think there is so much to be said, but I just want to say that every human being has the right to live in dignity.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Doha.
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Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the Founder of In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal and In-Sight Publishing. He authored/co-authored some e-books, free or low-cost. If you want to contact Scott: Scott.D.Jacobsen@Gmail.com.
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