Musician Ali Noor accused of sexual harassment, says he is 'truly, deeply sorry'

Rock band Noori's lead vocalist Ali Noor has been accused of sexual harassment by a journalist, who came forward with her story on Friday via screenshots shared on Instagram.

The popular musician on Saturday morning apologised, saying he was "truly deeply sorry".

Ayesha binte Rashid, a journalist associated with Soch Fact Check and previously the Herald, posted screenshots of a WhatsApp message she sent to a phone number saved as Ali Noor on May 15, 2021.

"How to apologise without taking responsibility with Ali Noor," the post's caption read. The post was taken down and reuploaded to her account with the caption "Guys, the post is literally everywhere now, having Insta remove it off my profile won't take it out of the public domain."

In the screenshot, Ayesha's message to Noor starts with, "Hey Ali Noor. This is Ayesha binte. I've been thinking long and hard about what to say to you and I've finally found the words. You emotionally manipulated me and what happened in the back of my car while we were driving to the airport was sexual harassment. You should know that. You are a sexual harasser and predator."

"I’m never going to say this publicly because I have too much respect for Ali Hamza and Kami," the message from 2021 read. "I’m telling you this because you should know that people see through your bulls**t and you don’t scare anyone.

"And lastly, I hate you. You’re a womanising piece of sh*t with a God complex who is all talk yet doesn’t even have the proactiveness to break out of his toxic patterns. You may have fame but you don’t have any creative integrity and you haven’t made music in a long time that feels true to even yourself [...] mostly though, I feel sorry for you.

"It takes a real painful kind of self-hatred to exhibit the hypocrisy you’ve exhibited, a real sense of fear of accepting your true self."

The screenshot shows Ayesha having blocked Noor on WhatsApp after sending the message. The next screenshots show her receiving a message from Noor via a WhatsApp number saved under his wife's name. "Thank you for a serious wake up call and realisation," it reads. "You don't know but your message came at a time when I most needed it. It was like divine intervention, perfect timing, completely serendipitous."

The message went on to say how much Noor felt her pain. "[...] You on the other hand need to forgive. First yourself and then others around you. I'm the smallest fish in your sea of torment, you know it. But I am the most affected one. Please let's start again, maybe this event and consequent realisations were only meant to bring us closer."

In the final screenshots, Ayesha asks Noor to "please just leave me alone".

"My forgiveness is nothing more than a way to assuage your guilt so here it is: I forgive you. I don't hate you anymore. I've gotten it out of my system. I'm more and more indifferent to you. But when you message me like this and don't respect my boundaries, the trauma is just refreshed for me. It's unkind and selfish of you."

Ayesha's posts on Instagram don't specify when the incident took place or why she chose to come forward at this time. When reached out by Images, she said she did not have any further comment at this time.

Ali Noor responds

When contacted by Images, Ali Noor initially said he would address the allegations in a few days but then posted on his Instagram stories on Friday evening. He did not deny the accusation or the screenshots shared by Ayesha.

As part of a "letter" addressed to his grandmother via his Insta story — which has now been deleted — he wrote "today I put the teaser and release date of the video and song. But as I was doing that, I got a message from newspapers that I have been accused of MeToo by Ayesha binte and my screenshots of apologies have been put up [...] Anyway I am so glad she finally put it out."

"Finally my boredom is going to end and I might even become more famous. But you know I never gave a f**k about fame."

He then continued his letter and spoke about other matters, including his fans and music.

In his second story, posted Saturday morning, he directly addressed Ayesha and tagged her Instagram account.

“After deeply deliberating various responses, I came to the conclusion that the only right response is that I am truly deeply sorry,” he wrote.

“I cannot fathom your pain and only apologise once again. I am not an ill-intentioned person and am definitely a work in progress. I hope that you can find some relief in my apology. Baaqi Allah Malik [the rest is up to God].”

Messages of support

Ayesha via an Insta post on Saturday thanked people for all the messages of love and support.

"They do mean a lot. But the fact is that for the past one and a half years, whenever I have been able to share my experiences with those around me, the support has been lacklustre as best and hypocritical at worst,” Ayesha wrote.

“One of the first people I spoke to had many choice words to say about Ali Noor. A few weeks later, I opened Instagram to see a story he had uploaded of a jamming session with Ali Noor in a studio setting.”

She narrated similar incidents with three others — her best friend, another friend and a local yoga studio — whom she had told of her experience and who had commiserated but continued to associate with him.

"What is it about celebrities that causes us to turn the other way and ignore the pain they cause?" she questioned.

"When is that line crossed us for as a society? Is it only when a women is murdered or is it when someone is called out publicly and a media circus is created?"

"The point of all this is to remind you to please, please always hold yourselves and your loved ones accountable."

She ended her message with a request that people check in on those in their lives who are struggling. "Make them feel seen and heard and held. We only really have each other."