Rana Ahmad

Rana Ahmad is an ex-Muslim atheist, author, and refugee worker.
==Personal life==
Rana was raised in Saudi Arabia as a Sunni Muslim, and was forced to wear the hijab at age 9 and the niqab at age thirteen. Rana attended an all-girls school. She was married at the age of nineteen. She began to suffer depression, and question her religion. Online, she discovered atheism and philosophy, and became an atheist at twenty-five. Because it is illegal to own atheist books in Saudi Arabia, Rana downloaded them onto a memory stick, keeping it with her at all times to avoid being caught. Her husband became abusive, and she subsequently got divorced. After her family forced her to attend the , she secretly photographed a piece of paper with the words “Atheist Republic” written on it, and sent it to the organisation. They acknowledged it, and helped. Rana fled from Saudi Arabia in 2015, via Turkey, Greece and the Balkan route, to Germany. Her family were unaware of her plans. She was given support for her escape by the , the , and .
===Germany===
At a refugee shelter in Cologne, Germany, she was threatened by other refugees for her apostasy. With the help of , she found an apartment in Cologne. In Germany, she changed her name to protect herself and her family, and began studying physics. Her escape to Europe is told in her book entitled ‘Ici les femmes ne rêvent pas’, which translates to ‘Here, women do not dream’.
==Atheist Refugee Relief==
Rana is a co-founder of , a registered non-profit organisation. They fight for human rights and humanistic ethics. Atheist Refugee Relief also help find housing, language and integration courses, and physical and psychological therapy. It is the only organisation in Germany that explicitly advocates for the rights of ex-Muslim refugees.
== YouTube ==
All of Rana's videos are in Arabic.
== Trivia ==
* The name Rana Ahmad is a pseudonym.
==References==
Category:Saudi Arabian YouTubers
Category:Vlogging YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2015