Hajar Alariachi: From Halal Girl to Halal Mama

Photo: Hajar Alariachi, one of the Alariachi sisters from Dutch TV show, The Halal Girls.

The headscarf-wearing Alariachi sisters from the popular Dutch TV show The Halal Girls (De Meiden van Halal) are back on TV after a decade to examine how things have changed in the Netherlands for Muslims and their children.

A lot has changed for Esmaa, Jihad and Hajar, the three sisters who hosted The Halal Girls (2005–2006), in which they spoke to people with different views in an attempt to create understanding through communication. Hajar, the youngest of the three, says that now that they are married and have families, their priorities have changed, and so have their concerns about the society they live in.

“Before, I thought about how I would deal with this climate of intolerance. Now, I worry about what the future will bring for my daughter. As a Dutch Muslim of mixed heritage, where will her place be in our society? Will she be discriminated against in the job market because her name is Medinah?”

The signs are troubling. There are reports of Islamophobia in Europe, and the influence of Dutch anti-Islam and anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders is on the rise. And now the election of Donald Trump as US President has added to the climate of fear. Hajar commented, “I am shocked that Donald Trump won the presidential election of [the United States]. I am shocked because [it shows that] there are people in the US who believe and support these hateful messages that he preaches.  A president who says that Muslims are terrorists, that they should be banned, that they shouldn’t be allowed in the country and that all Muslims should be registered is definitely not acceptable.”

“Now, [in the new show] our attitude is ‘we are here. Deal with it. We were born here, raised here and had our children here’,” said Hajar. However, they do want to dispel the negativity, and that’s why speaking to people is a big part of the sisters’ new show, The Halal Mamas (De Mama’s van Halal), which premieres on 27 November.

Photo: The Alariachi sisters in the Netherlands is back after a decade with their new TV show, The Halal Mamas (De Mama's van Halal).

The show consists of four episodes, each exploring a different theme. The first one is about parenting. They speak to several people about their experiences raising children and having a career. The second deals with self-image. Hajar says that, because of social media, people tend to portray themselves the way they want to be seen: always happy and beautiful. She says that this has a negative impact on young and impressionable people, and that is why they want to discuss it on the show.

The third episode explores the concept of freedom of speech: is their speech limited? What decides what you’re free to say? Does everyone have the same freedom of expression? This episode is an interesting follow-up to a 2007 television appearance by the sisters that was voted the “TV Moment of the Year” in the Netherlands.

It was a conversation between the girls and Dutch comedian Hans Teeuwen about freedom of speech versus sensitivity to others’ feelings. They wanted to know why he insulted people’s religious sentiments. He wanted to know why they thought that religious people have a monopoly over the truth. A few minutes’ worth of TV provided enough fodder for a debate that would last a decade and is still going.

In the last episode of The Halal Mamas, as a lead-up to the Dutch elections in March, the sisters will speak to a lot of politicians from different parties and decide who to vote for.

Hajar says that as headscarf-wearing young girls who were practising Muslims and of Moroccan origin, they struggled to prove that they were Dutch in their first show. Born and brought up in Amsterdam, educated, liberal and open to discussion, they wanted to show people that they weren’t so different from the majority. The show did well, as the girls presented a voice and a look that hadn’t been represented on national TV in Europe before. Hajar says that they were invited abroad, to Sweden, Spain, Italy and Lebanon, for people wanted to understand how these young women in headscarves had captured an audience.

Hajar says it is disheartening to see that they are talking about the same issues 10 years later, and the situation seems worse than before. But she’s still shooting for the programme, and she says that it remains to be seen whether they will find their concerns addressed by the people they speak to.

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