Jabir continues to keep up the semblance of belief in Islam when with his family. Occasionally, this becomes frustrating, especially as every Friday he has to pretend to go pray at a mosque, but in reality sits in his car outside a coffee shop chain, sipping a latte until the sermon is finished. Another atheist, Abdullah, mentions he is fortunate to have his family live in another part of Saudi Arabia, and is therefore free to have a weekly lie in.
Nevertheless, the consequences of Jabir or any of his co-believers being unmasked as atheists would be dire.
“If someone declared that he was non-believer, regardless of whether the government took action or not, he would be cut off by his family, he would be fired from his own job, people everywhere would talk about him and warn others about him. It would be highly likely that people would hurt him physically, perhaps murder him.”