Between worlds: Young Muslim women in Germany

DW (English)

Miriam and Tua, two young Muslim women who grew up in Germany. They tell their very personal stories.

Transcript

00:00So, a woman can't be a legend if she's wearing a headscarf?

00:16Why not?

00:17When I look at the women in my family, they're superheroes.

00:24We've never had a headscarf-wearing Muslim superhero.

00:29And if someone steals the idea, I'll flip out, I swear.

00:38Many people think the headscarf or Islam has no place in Germany.

00:45Go back to where you came from, they say.

00:47Well, I've got a German mom.

00:50Born and raised in Germany.

00:51I am here.

00:52And this is where I come from.

01:10I'm Toal Fowal, Egyptian fire.

01:13I'm a Muslim woman of my own volition, not oppressed.

01:18I'm an actress.

01:21The first of my kind.

01:23I was born in Egypt and lived there until I was almost ten.

01:27Then we moved to Germany, to Berlin city.

01:42My faith plays a very big part in my life.

01:56It's a guideline, helping me to be a good person.

02:04I don't know many actors who pray while they're working.

02:09They're afraid because they already come across as different and they don't want to

02:14appear any more so.

02:16They prefer to do it at home.

02:20The fact that I still get fewer casting requests is because I'm the first actress with a headscarf.

02:27It's not that I get any clear answers from casting directors or the people who make the

02:31decisions, but it's definitely a case of, yes, okay, she won't remove her headscarf

02:37or do any scenes involving kissing or sex.

02:41I think that's totally unimportant, but that's the way it is.

02:44You're immediately at a disadvantage.

02:54I'm Miriam Zouhari.

02:56I'm 28 years old, a single mother to an almost three-year-old son, and I've been wearing

03:00the hijab for almost two years.

03:11Religion wasn't really that important in my childhood and youth.

03:15My dad's Moroccan and my mom's German, so I pretty much grew up with both religions.

03:27I didn't have that much experience of Islam as a child, apart from whenever I saw my Moroccan

03:32aunts and uncles.

03:37My parents decided we should go our own way and pick the religion we identified with the

03:41most.

03:48Being pregnant was the main reason for me wanting to explore the issue more deeply because

03:52I was thinking a lot about how I would raise my child.

03:55I wanted to find out for myself what values I'd like to instill in my son.

04:00How do I want to bring him up?

04:02What kind of man should he become?

04:10After my husband and I split up, that was the start of a new chapter for me.

04:14And I thought, okay, that's what I want now.

04:17I don't have to ask anyone anymore or ask if my husband thinks it's okay.

04:24And so that was my first day.

04:26I went out in a hijab for the first time.

04:30It may sound strange, but I felt totally free.

04:32It was so liberating for me.

04:48I'm very glad I took the step when I did.

04:50Not just the separation, but also wearing the hijab.

04:57I'm very proud to have done it.

05:14So this is the shisha bar, just for women.

05:18Only women are allowed here over the age of 18, and I think it's just really nice because

05:23it's a relaxed, safe space for women, where you don't have to watch out what you say.

05:29A shisha bar you can walk into, and it doesn't feel like you're on a catwalk with everyone

05:33staring.

05:34You can just chill with your girls, and if you like, you can go a little bit wild, but

05:40halal-style.

05:41The stereotypical white German society sees a veiled woman as an oppressed woman, weak,

05:51because she allows herself to be oppressed.

05:55Within the Muslim community, you're untouchable, so to speak.

05:59You can't make any mistakes.

06:01You can only wear the headscarf a certain way.

06:05But we're also living in a patriarchy.

06:07So men can make mistakes, but women can't.

06:11And me?

06:12I'm too German for the Muslim community, too open.

06:15And for the Germans, I'm too Muslim.

06:19Have you all had a pedicure?

06:24My feet aren't done, oh well.

06:31She kept the headscarf idea a bit of a secret at first.

06:35Initially she kept it to herself before more or less confronting us with it and said, well,

06:41that's how it is now.

06:46The people I know reacted positively.

06:51There were questions from my friends and family.

06:54Why had I decided to wear it, and whether I was sure?

06:57But when I reassured them that I'm doing it out of conviction, that I'm totally sure,

07:04they all said they would support me.

07:07So the responses were positive.

07:13As far as faith goes, you're Christians, I'm Muslim.

07:18Then we've also got someone who doesn't really believe in anything.

07:21But that never affected the friendship, or us as moms.

07:32You were actually brought up with Islam, or more or less culturally forced to grow

07:36up in an Islamic environment.

07:38And then pretty much at the same time as I said I was wearing the headscarf, you said,

07:42I'm going to have my children baptized.

07:45Yeah, it's true.

07:53And you?

07:56Why are you here?

08:01How could you allow all this?

08:10The feeling that you're not doing enough in your job, that's what scares me the most.

08:15Regardless of what you do, you win prizes.

08:18One of the most important prizes in Germany, in your first ever role with no acting experience.

08:23You're a natural.

08:25They all say that.

08:26But where are the jobs?

08:28Can you still take someone who can't act that well and give them jobs because, I don't know,

08:34you're so stubborn you can't imagine that you'll get more out of a woman with a headscarf

08:38than just the headscarf?

08:58In my close circle, there's really no one who's Muslim, who I could turn to.

09:03Do you want more?

09:06Is that enough?

09:09For sure, it's difficult because you're completely alone with it.

09:13In the morning you know you're the only one getting up so early to pray.

09:19Or I'm the only one making sure we don't eat any pork.

09:23Everyday things like that.

09:27It makes me feel anxious sometimes.

09:34All by yourself?

09:39In Germany you're always somehow the foreigner.

09:42And in Morocco, of course, you're always the German.

09:47You can't speak the language and always need dad to translate.

09:51In Germany we are seen as Mediterranean and in Morocco we are too white.

09:56So where do we belong?

10:00I feel more at home in Germany.

10:03Life here is pretty secure.

10:12Even in the worst case scenario, where he would suffer because he is a Muslim man, he

10:17can't find a job or a circle of friends.

10:21You're still never alone.

10:29Are you a lion?

10:31I'm a lion.

10:37From the Muslim perspective, it's difficult.

10:41Because it's assumed that if someone doesn't follow the Muslim faith, you won't be seeing

10:44them in paradise.

10:47That's why it's natural for me to want him to adopt my beliefs.

10:54But considering his heritage and my faith, depending on what he chooses, he'll certainly

11:00be confronted with problems at some point.

11:04But I believe that he can still lead a really good life.

11:16I don't see my future here.

11:20Because I don't feel at ease here with my appearance, my heritage or my religion.

11:31Because I can't imagine a future with children here, at any point.

11:43Also because I can't imagine finding a suitable partner here.

11:50Then where?

11:51That's a good question.

11:53Because there's racism and discrimination everywhere.

11:56But I might go to London for a few years, initially.

12:00Because I've been there and I had a feeling that things were better there.

12:05He has done good.

12:06He has done good.

12:07Yeah.

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