Saudi Arabia is the center of Islam. Not only is it the birth place of Islam, it is one of the essential pillars of the faith to travel there. If one would like to see real Islam, they should not look no further than the source of the faith in Saudi Arabia.
American President Donald Trump traveled to the Islamic Kingdom last month and western media highlighted the wealth and modernity of the nation, but behind the facade are the dark female prisons known as Dar Al Reaya or “Care Homes.”
Dar Al Reaya are dark torture centers where women are sent by their families or husbands when they disobey, have sexual relations not allowed by Islam or are absent from home. Young girls as young as 7 years old are sent there or as old as 30. The facilities promise to train the women to behave like good Muslim women. There are 11 such nightmarish homes around the nation.
Most of the women who have escaped, report having been forced to the center because of misbehaving, dress code infractions, or traveling in public alone. The centers have also been used to cover up incest and rape.
Survivors have described the conditions of the prison like facilities as having small rooms with a bed, a Quran and a toilet – if you’re lucky. The cells are not cleaned, stink and are rodent-infested.
None of the women who have escaped have shared about any kind of systematic rehabilitation, only Islamic teaching and torture. Phones and communicating devices are strictly prohibited, keeping women from calling anyone for help.
According to Fawzia al-Otaibi, a women who escaped from Saudi Arabia, “No one dares to tweet or speak about these places. No one will ask about you when you go there. They make the victims feel ashamed.”
Sarah Al-Yahia, a women currently campaigning to abolish the homes, said her father threatened her when she was a little girl that he would send her to a Dar al-Re’aya if she didn’t obey his sexual abuse.
Above is a picture of Dar al-Reaya from outside posted on X. Photos are extremely rare as there is no technology allowed inside the facility and no windows to see from outside. Photos are videos posted on X are one of the few ways to see what goes on inside, because when women share their stories on YouTube, they are quickly taken down. There is a massive effort by media outlets to keep this information from going out for fear of spreading ‘Islamaphobia.”
BTJ is familiar with these efforts as we have published several books and videos about testimonies of how women are regularly treated in Islam – not just in Saudi Arabia, but in other Islamic countries from Sudan in Africa, to Iran in the Middle East, or to Pakistan in Asia. It is not a cultural problem, it is an Islamic problem and is not “phobic” to say so.
Below are rare photos that are reportedly from inside.
Below is a video of women trying to escape the facility. Outside crowds can be heard cheering as the authorities capture them.
One women who has chosen to go by the name Farida reported to ELLE that she went to the police in 2020 to report abuse, “After I went to the police, desperate for help, they called my abuser into the police station to sign a pledge, approving my detainment in Dar Al Reaya.” Only Farida’s abuser could approve of her release.
One woman, who declined to be named, reported that she was held together with her two year old after she went to the police to report abuse. Her two year old daughter was “hit by the staff for crying and made to watch when I received lashes.” After more than two months in the torture center, her abuser finally permitted her and her child to return home to him.
Women are forbidden from speaking to each other. They are not allowed to smile or laugh. Showing any sign of happiness is punished.
Meals are served twice a day at 6am and 1pm and according to Farida, they are laced with sedatives to keep the women compliant throughout the day.
As punishment, women typically receive between 100 and 150 lashes, but the lashes are spread out over time allowing women to heal from one set of lashes before receiving the next.
“Flogging happens at Dar Al Reaya every Thursday,” according to one woman that goes by the name Asma. “There are minors inside and pregnant women who are victims of rape and incest and they will receive lashes also.”
Each lash is administered by a man who will hit the women between the neck and the lower back. After each flogging, the stripes are observed by a male islamic scholar, who ensures that proper Koranic teaching is upheld.
Saudi Arabia’s treatment of women is based on the purest form of Islamic teaching. To distance Saudi Arabia from the practice of Islam is like attempting to distance the Vatican from the teachings of Catholicism or Potala Palace from the teachings of the Dalai Lama.
The darkness of Islam is being actively and aggressively hidden, but the Truth of God’s Word illuminates the wickedness which is why BTJ is currently supporting missionaries in Saudi Arabia. Continue to pray for the women who are victims of Islam in Saudi Arabia and for the missionaries who are preaching the Good News in the region.
