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