Nora Akachar is celebrating these days: her successful radio show and the three-day festival of breaking the fast, which begins on Wednesday. To be with her Suhoor Stories To listen, you had to get up early, but apparently quite a few did. Every morning, an average of 160,000 Dutch people tuned in to listen to Europe’s only daily Ramadan radio show. Broadcast by NTR, the Dutch public broadcaster. Seven Muslim presenters invited guests at dawn (Suhoor), when Muslims have breakfast for the day of fasting, to “demystify” Ramadan for the general public, as presenter Nora Akachar says in an interview with SZ.
“My goal is to normalize Ramadan, but also to normalize Muslims on television and radio. We want to tell our stories from our perspective,” says the 39-year-old, who also works as an actress and TV presenter. Last year she hosted the program “Rara Ramadan”, a quiz about Ramadan, also broadcast on public television. For years there were only negative stories about Muslims; Muslims were scary and caused nothing but problems. “Little by little, we are showing that we are global citizens, that no two Muslims are the same and that we bring love, positivity and sociability,” says Akachar.
Europe’s first Ramadan broadcast appeared in politically charged times: In the Netherlands last year, the Islamophobic right-wing extremist Party for Freedom (PVV) under the leadership of Geert Wilders won. As a Dutch woman of Moroccan origin, it was a real shock for her, says Akachar. “It hurt me. Two million people voted for him. I thought: Do these people really see me as a threat?” She now believes that many voted for him in protest, but racism has never been so open. Akachar believes that a show like Suhoor Stories That’s why it came at just the right time to clear up prejudices.
The production company Rose Stories, for which Akachar works as a creative producer, didn’t have to look long for a channel. The episodes are now also available as a podcast. For example, an entrepreneur named Kadir talks about his successful business with halal sausages or a spoken word artist who works as a teacher. Their last guests were a Muslim couple who are successful business coaches. “We talk about current events, about life in the Netherlands and yes, there are also good recipes,” says Akachar.
There was also a lot of laughter on the show, for example about the never-ending questions from non-Muslim Dutch people that Muslims hear year after year during Ramadan. Right at the forefront: “Not even water? It’s still a question!” says Akachar, sounding surprised. She finds one question particularly funny: “Some people ask me in all seriousness whether we take a shower during Ramadan because you could also take in water there.” In any case, she hopes that a few new questions will come up next year. Because the response was so good that she couldn’t imagine that Europe’s first Ramadan morning show was a flash in the pan.