Wad Khalafalla had never planned on visiting Saudi Arabia, but at some point she started to feel like she was being drawn there.
As a Muslim, she technically had a religious obligation to go, but for much of her life, Khalafalla, 32, said she didn’t feel connected to her faith.
“Religion is sometimes taken from a place of fear, and it’s fear-based education and learning. I put it up in a nice little box in the corner and was like, ‘yeah, I’ll come back to that in another time,’” she told USA TODAY. But after a series of events and encouragements from friends and family starting in 2020, she finally went on her first trip there in 2024.
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