Safe to say Nicole Sherbiny's new friend on 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way doesn't run any risk of abandoning her to buddy up to Nicole's husband Mahmoud.
The American fashionista and her like-minded new pal Nouran met in a meditation class, and Nicole invited Nouran to introduce her to Mahmoud after he insisted on meeting anyone with whom his wife was spending time. Suffice it to say, the meetup was a disaster, with conservative Mahmoud feeling challenged by Nicole's modern friend.
Like Nicole, Nouran doesn't wear a hijab or cover her body modestly. These have been the biggest sources of tension between Mahmoud and Nicole, and Nicole's refusal to wear a hijab was a particularly thorny disagreement.
On Sunday's episode, the get-together immediately started on a sour note when Nouran said it was "a bit weird" that Mahmoud needed to meet her.
"My impression about Mahmoud is he's very stereotypical," Nouran told cameras. "The typical Egyptian man ... he feels safe in this [modesty] zone and feels like there's threat outside of this zone because he doesn't know anything else."
The conversation quickly turned to religion.
Mahmoud shared that his religious beliefs led him to deem it inappropriate for Nicole to attend coed yoga class. "I'm not going to feel comfortable if she stretch[es] around men," he explained. "I don't want to be a rude person. You can do that, but I don't like it — any man look to my wife when she stretch."
Nouran countered that the men would there to practice yoga, not stare at women, asking him, "So now you're blaming the wrongdoings of men on Nicole, or on women? Because men are looking and staring and fantasizing, then women should accommodate to that?"
He replied, "Our relationship is haram [forbidden] if my wife does that around people."
As they delved deeper, it was clear Mahmoud and Nouran's readings of the Quran were wildly different. Touching back on the married couple's most hot-button topic, Nouran argued the religious text doesn't say a woman must wear a hijab — an interpretation Mahmoud has adamantly stood by.
Nicole stayed primarily out of the conversation, though she did jump in to support Mahmoud a few times. At the end of the coffee meeting, Nicole told cameras she was "proud" of her husband for standing up for his beliefs.
"She's a strong woman, and I was actually really proud of my husband," Nicole said. "He didn't storm off and be mad, he just told it like he knows it and never wavered from who he is, which is really standard Mahmoud."
She added, "At the same time, I'm worried nothing will ever change. And I need things to change in order to be happy here."
Though Nicole thought the day went well, Mahmoud had a different opinion. "Nouran is like the worst girl ever I've met in my life, I think," he told cameras. "If you're Muslim, you have to take all rules. I hate people that take the parts you like and lose what you hate."
He added later, "I don't trust her much."
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on TLC.
.jpg "'90 Day' Drama: Mahmoud Expresses Dislike for Nicole's Feisty Egyptian Friend, Calling Her the 'Worst Girl I've Met")
