My story! I am an Ex-Muslim, became and Atheist. I was visited by an Angel of God.

[Prince]

In fact, once i was trying to buy a beer from a local liquor store, which is the only place where you could purchase alcohol here in Dubai. Upon entering the store, the owner asked me for my liquor license...

So how is Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (peace be upon him) doing? He seems like a reasonable guy on TV with the BBC. Yet that may or may not be the truth. He indicated the religious climate was more severe in his youth than it is now.

But I doubt I could live where religion is mandatory. The problem isn't so much reliable text restoration (Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle, bible, Quran) if you don't have original copies, but realizing the text is thousands of years old. It may be a bit out of date. Modern Jews & Christians have solved this problem by allowing interpretation to change with the times; many Prebyterian branches don't follow John Wesley (1758) or John Calvin (1558) anymore even if they trace their roots back to these fellas' readings.

Dude, when you put it this way Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (peace be upon him).

(peace be upon him) is a given title to a deceased person, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is still alive. From the age of four he was forced into learning Islamic Studies, private tutoring. That's why he grew up in a strict religious environment. He is a cool guy, as he revolutionized the city of Dubai, 15 years ago, Dubai, only had two towers, surrounded by desert. Now, it contains hundreds of buildings, houses and malls. 'Arab Money', in fact the tallest tower in the world (Burj Khalifa) where is situated in Dubai, he gave it away to Abu Dhabi's ruler Khalifa. He owe's him a huge 'debt'. 

Well, Dubai is a place for business only. nothing more! thousands of foreign people love to fly to Dubai only for the sake of investing. Tourism is blooming in here like crazy... Religion is mandatory in Arab nation because it is considered part of the state itself. cannot be separated. Even at schools Islam is a priority topic, its like an identity. 

By the way, there are Churches in Dubai as well. Don't be surprised, even pagan temples for Hindu. There is one thing which i find it really disturbing in UAE, that the ruler of the city of Sharjah, enforced a strict law that if anyone who memorizes the whole Quran, will earn a valuable reward. To encourage people to indulge in reading Allah's book to humanity. Philosophy is not allowed in UAE, KSA and Qatar. But, recently they opened a new library where u can purchase philosophy books in Dubai. In general, even in Jordan, philosophy studies must be conducted without criticizing Islam. That is why its prohibited in most countries. 

I studied philosophy by downloading books, the only way available back then.

AnyHow, UAE is a country of 'contradictions'.