105 – Why Juli Jalaluddin of Malaysia Left Islam 15 Years Ago

Friendly Exmuslim Podcast

For this episode, I was joined by Juli Jalaluddin who was gracious enough to share her life story with us. Juli was born in 1972 and grew up in Malaysia. In this interview, we covered Juli’s religious background in Malaysia and the role that religion played both in her personal life and that of her family. Juli also recounted how she started having small doubts about Islam that she kept pushing aside until she went to Colorado for further studies.

The conversation then moved to how Juli’s small pilgrimage to Mecca as an agnostic person. We discussed how underwhelming Meccah is and Juli’s experiences in Meccah. We also talked about the safety concerns that a lot of women who have visited Meccah have raised. Juli also shared how this experience further solidified her doubts about Islam and pushed her to become an atheist.

We also talked about how Muslims tried using online doxxing campaigns to force Juli back into Islam and the fallout of those campaigns. Juli also recounted the pressure campaign from her family to try to silence her and how she ended up cutting them off for a while. We also discussed the impact of Islam in politics and the day-to-day lives of people, especially in Juli’s home state.

This was such a laid-back interview with one of the pioneering activists in the ex-Muslim community and I invite you to take a listen!

Her story: https://cattastrophenomenon.wordpress.com/

Her Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmiliedeStrange

Her Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilie.destrange

YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/HVdKKP2gvBA

Timestamps:

0:00 Introductions

1:47 Juli’s religious background and what sparked her skepticism

7:46 Juli’s journey out of Islam and her encounter with other religions

14:44 How Juli’s home state which is under Islamic rule forced her and her family into conformity.

19:06 Juli’s journey to Meccah as an agnostic and how her experiences there further fueled her questioning of Islam.

25:50 Channel announcements.

26:36 Julie’s experiences in Meccah (continued)

32:50 How ultra-conservative / ultra-religious societies breed sexual frustrations and foster a system of sexual harassment

36:30 Islamic rituals borrowed from ancient Pagan cultures.

39:08 Julie’s thoughts on the Kaaba. Do people from other religions feel the same sense

44:04 Classsismand racism in Meccah during religious pilgrimages

48:00 Is Malay special rights similar to the apartheid system?

51:00 Malcolm X’s opinion and experience at the Hajj in Meccah

54:12 Did Muhammad teach racism?

54:12 Did Muhammad teach racism?

55:27 Julie’s life after the trip to Mecca

56:28 Joining online communities for ex-Muslims and being doxxed and how Julie’s family responded to this incident.

1:09:05 How Julie cut off her family to give herself space to deal with her personal issues.

1:13:26 How Julie left Malaysia and moving to Norway.

1:15:02 The campaign to expose mutards in Malaysia.

1:16:38 Julie’s second instance of being doxxed by a tabloid reporter in Norway and the fallout it caused in her hometown.

1:23:50 How big is the underground ex-Muslim community in Malaysia?

1:25:44 The impact of the internet on making information and supportive community more readily available.

1:28:43 Would Juli envision herself setting up an organization to help ex-Muslims? The importance of community

1:36:20 Did Juli get any online threats?

1:42:43 Does Aceh practice Hudood?

1:43:56 How Abdullah and Juli came across each other

1:46:01 The impact of Islam on Malaysian politics and day-to-day life.

1:49:33 Final remarks